Mississippi State, Kentucky's next opponent, soars into Top 3 of CBS Sports' Power Rankings

If you thought Kentucky’s trip to Georgia was tough, brace yourself for Saturday’s game at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are up to No. 14 in the AP Poll and even higher in other national rankings following their win at Vanderbilt on Tuesday; in fact, CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone believes Mississippi State could be a top-three team.

Every week, Boone ranks his top 16 teams in college basketball based on recent performance. Today, he moved the Bulldogs from unranked to No. 3, calling them a “legitimate contender” in the SEC. Before beating Vanderbilt by 12 in Nashville, Mississippi State opened SEC play with a 35-point win vs. South Carolina.

“Riding an eight-game winning streak that includes double-digit victories over Memphis, Pitt, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, the Bulldogs have put themselves in position in a deep SEC as a legitimate contender,” Boone wrote. “They are 15 games into the season and have suffered just one loss — the best start for the program since 2003-04.”

Kentucky also cracked Boone’s top 16, coming in at No. 11, with the win over Florida offsetting the loss at Georgia.

“Despite a 1-1 week, I moved Kentucky from unranked to No. 11 this week with props for handing Florida its first loss of the season on Saturday. The Wildcats scored 106 points in the win, and Florida, as we’ve seen both all season and of late, is the real deal.”

The SEC accounts for seven of Boone’s top 16 teams: 1) Auburn, 3) Mississippi State, 4) Texas A&M, 5) Alabama, 11) Kentucky, 12) Florida, 13) Tennessee. Again, Boone says his rankings are more of a reaction to what happened that week instead of a comprehensive look at the season. That’s why Florida ranks below Kentucky despite the win over Tennessee (“I couldn’t rank Kentucky in the top 10, and I couldn’t have Florida above Kentucky after losing to the Wildcats”).

Over at ESPN, Jeff Borzello is also buying Mississippi State stock, bumping the Bulldogs from No. 14 to No. 12 in his new Power Rankings. After hosting Kentucky on Saturday, Mississippi State goes on the road to Auburn, Borzello’s No. 1 team in the country.

“It’s officially statement time for Chris Jans’ team. The Bulldogs are off to a 14-1 start, with the lone loss coming to Butler back in late November. They own a comfortable road win at Memphis and have just three wins by single digits. But that schedule is about to get a lot more difficult. Over the next two weeks, the Bulldogs face Kentucky, Auburn, Ole Miss and Tennessee. A split would prove Mississippi State has what it takes to remain near the top tier of the league — and inside the top 15 nationally.”

Kentucky is down one spot to No. 9 in Borzello’s rankings due to the defensive issues we saw on Tuesday night.

“Kentucky’s defense is worth exploring. The Wildcats’ incredible offensive output against Florida on Saturday masked that they gave up 100 points and 1.40 points per possession in the win, including 81% shooting inside the arc. Georgia then scored 82 points and hit 1.09 points per possession. Kentucky has now allowed seven of its past eight opponents to exceed one point per possession — it didn’t allow any of its first seven opponents to hit that mark.”

One way or the other, Saturday’s game could tell us a lot.