Kentucky and Louisville Move Up 1 Spot in AP Top 25
The Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball team is back at #1 status. This marks the first time in three years, when UK was last ranked best in the nation during November 2016. This latest AP Top 25 college basketball ranking is no surprise however, since Kentucky had a strong win against then #1 ranked Michigan State.
Kentucky received 64 out of 65 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 poll, the remaining vote went to Louisville, even though they ultimately landed at #4. If you’re wondering who was the voter behind this seemingly stray vote, it was Dave Borges, who is the UCONN beat writer for the New Haven Register. He’s not the only basketball mind who thinks the Louisville Cardinals are the best team in the country.
This could set the ultimate stage for one of the biggest regular season games in college basketball in recent history! Kentucky has the potential to hold the #1 spot for several weeks, due to their schedule alone. That’s if the young squad continues to perform at the level they’ve shown in the first two games. That’s a big if in itself, however Kentucky doesn’t face a Power 5 opponent until Georgia Tech comes to Lexington on December 14th.
We all know a lot can happen over several weeks, but imagine what sort of atmosphere Rupp Arena would be like if a #1 UK faced a #4 UofL on December 28th! Nonetheless, before getting too far ahead of ourselves, Kentucky will face Ohio State during the CBS SPORTS CLASSIC, just a week prior. The Buckeyes currently sit in the 16th spot of the AP Top 25 college basketball rankings. Meanwhile, Louisville will have a solid challenge on December 10th as they face Texas Tech in the Jimmy V Classic. The Red Raiders are currently ranked 11th.
Little does Dave know he did John Calipari a huge favor. During the postgame show following Kentucky’s 91-49 rout of Eastern Kentucky, Calipari (correctly) predicted his team wouldn’t get every first-place vote, even betting dinner for fans in the audience on it.
“I know we beat No. 1 on a neutral court, did this. We will not get every vote. I promise you. I’ll take you all to dinner if we get every vote.”
| RANK | TEAM | REC | PTS | TREND |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky(64) | 2-0 | 1622 | 1 |
| 2 | Duke | 2-0 | 1538 | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan State | 1-1 | 1451 | 2 |
| 4 | Louisville(1) | 2-0 | 1425 | 1 |
| 5 | Kansas | 1-1 | 1354 | 2 |
| 6 | North Carolina | 2-0 | 1187 | 3 |
| 7 | Maryland | 2-0 | 1166 | – |
| 8 | Gonzaga | 2-0 | 1136 | – |
| 9 | Virginia | 2-0 | 1134 | 2 |
| 10 | Villanova | 1-0 | 1064 | – |
| 11 | Texas Tech | 2-0 | 888 | 2 |
| 12 | Seton Hall | 2-0 | 869 | – |
| 13 | Memphis | 2-0 | 828 | 1 |
| 14 | Oregon | 2-0 | 804 | 1 |
| 15 | Florida | 1-1 | 616 | 9 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 2-0 | 544 | 2 |
| 17 | Utah State | 2-0 | 507 | – |
| 18 | Saint Mary’s | 1-0 | 438 | 2 |
| 19 | Arizona | 2-0 | 415 | 2 |
| 20 | Washington | 1-0 | 373 | 6 |
| 21 | Xavier | 2-0 | 370 | 2 |
| 22 | Auburn | 2-0 | 247 | 2 |
| 23 | LSU | 1-0 | 237 | 1 |
| 24 | Baylor | 1-1 | 179 | 8 |
| 25 | Colorado | 1-0 | 151 | 1 |
