Kentucky rises into Top 15 of final AP, Coaches Polls

Kentucky started the season No. 23 in the AP and Coaches Poll. The Cats finished the season in the top 15 of both, further proof that year one under Mark Pope was a success.

The Cats are No. 12 in the final AP Poll of the season, up six spots from March 17, the Monday before the NCAA Tournament. They’re up seven spots to No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. As you might expect, Florida is No. 1 in both, followed by Houston, Duke, Auburn, Tennessee, and Alabama. In the AP Poll, Kentucky is sandwiched between Rick Pitino’s St. John’s (No. 11) and BYU (No. 13), Mark Pope’s former squad. Louisville, previously No. 10 in the AP Poll, fell all the way to No. 21 in both polls after losing to Creighton in the first round of the tournament.

All in all, the SEC finished with eight teams in the Top 25, followed by the Big 12 and Big Ten with five each and the ACC with three. Arkansas is one of them, jumping back into the rankings at No. 20 after making it to the Sweet 16. Ole Miss also returned to the rankings at No. 18 after advancing to the second weekend. Missouri fell out of the Top 25 after losing to Drake in the first round.

Check ’em all out below. The next time we talk about the AP and Coaches Polls will be in October when the 2025-26 preseason editions are released.

AP College Basketball Poll – April 8

RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	TREND
1	Florida (61)	36-4	1525	+2
2	Houston	35-5	1464	–
3	Duke	35-4	1402	-2
4	Auburn	32-6	1343	–
5	Tennessee	30-8	1220	+1
6	Alabama	28-9	1198	+1
7	Michigan State	30-7	1188	+1
8	Texas Tech	28-9	1140	+1
9	Maryland	27-9	923	+2
10	Michigan	27-10	873	+4
11	St. John’s	31-5	862	-6
12	Kentucky	24-12	744	+6
13	BYU	26-10	712	+4
14	Purdue	24-12	704	+8
15	Arizona	24-13	639	+6
16	Wisconsin	27-10	542	-3
17	Iowa State	25-10	512	-2
18	Ole Miss	24-12	424	+8
19	Texas A&M	23-11	358	–
20	Arkansas	22-14	321	+6
21	Louisville	27-8	309	-11
22	Clemson	27-7	265	-10
23	Gonzaga	26-9	250	+1
24	Saint Mary’s	29-6	186	-4
25	Memphis	29-6	137	-9

Others receiving votes: Drake 122, Oregon 105, Illinois 80, UConn 76, Creighton 60, Colorado St. 49, UCLA 36, McNeese St. 17, Missouri 16, New Mexico 10, UC San Diego 6, Kansas 5, Marquette 2

Dropped from rankings: Missouri 23, Oregon 25

USA Today Coaches Poll – April 8

RK	TEAM	REC	PTS	TREND
1	Florida (31)	36-4	775	+2
2	Houston	35-5	744	–
3	Duke	35-4	706	-2
4	Auburn	32-6	689	–
5	Tennessee	30-8	621	+1
6	Alabama	28-9	610	+2
7	Michigan State	30-7	593	–
8	Texas Tech	28-9	582	+1
9	Maryland	27-9	469	+3
10	St. John’s	31-5	436	-5
11	Michigan	27-10	427	+4
12	Purdue	24-12	384	+10
13	Arizona	24-13	353	+7
14	Kentucky	24-12	330	+7
15	BYU	26-10	316	+2
16	Wisconsin	27-10	315	-6
17	Iowa State	25-10	280	-3
18	Ole Miss	24-12	214	+8
19	Texas A&M	23-11	195	-1
20	Gonzaga	26-9	155	+3
21	Louisville	27-8	146	-10
22	Saint Mary’s	29-6	97	-3
23	Clemson	27-7	95	-10
24	Creighton	25-11	90	+2
25	Arkansas	22-14	84	+1

Others receiving votes: Memphis 63, Drake 52, Illinois 49, UConn 41, Oregon 40, Missouri 33, UCLA 33, Marquette 18, New Mexico 11, Colorado State 9, UC San Diego 7, Kansas 6, Baylor 6, McNeese 1

Dropped from rankings: Memphis 16, Missouri 24, Marquette 25