Kentucky men’s basketball rose to the No. 8 slot in the Week 4 AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll on Monday after convincing wins over Lipscomb and Jackson State.
The Wildcats, who jumped into the top 10 after a massive win over former No. 6 Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta, easily breezed by the Bisons 97-68 — their first time not cracking 100 points on their home floor all season — and bested the Tigers 108-59 in the latest installment of the “unity series.”
With the rise, and the fall of other conference foes, Kentucky slotted in as the third highest-ranked SEC squad in the poll behind Auburn (No. 4) and Tennessee (No. 7).
The mighty Kansas Jayhawks reclaimed their No. 1 spot after improving to 5-0, holding the spot they have held all season long. The rest of the top five was similarly unchanged as UConn, fresh off back-to-back national titles, Gonzaga, Auburn and Iowa State rounded out the top five.
The Volunteers of Tennessee saw a sizable jump to leapfrog the Cats, moving up four spots to the aforementioned No. 7 slot after beating former No. 13 Baylor — now No. 17 — by 15 points.
One spot below the Cats was Alabama, which Kentucky passed after the Tide had fallen short at Purdue a week ago before bouncing back to beat former No. 25 Illinois. The Boilermakers dropped a staggering seven spots down to No. 13 in the latest poll after losing to Marquette and the Fighting Illini dropped out of the poll altogether.
Duke, which helped spark Kentucky’s meteoric rise in the polls, found itself earning a one-spot increase after getting the better of then No. 17 — now No. 24 — Arizona on the road.
After the Tide, the next highest SEC school wouldn’t check in until the No. 18 spot, where Todd Golden’s Florida Gators remained undefeated at 6-0 and earned a three-spot increase for their troubles.
John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks were one spot behind the Gators at No. 19 and the Texas A&M Aggies followed suit at No. 20, a three-spot increase.
Two more SEC teams cracked the final standings with Chris Beard’s Ole Miss Rebels earning the No. 23 spot after being unranked prior and Mississippi State grabbing the No. 25 spot after receiving just 15 votes one week ago. Both squads are 5-0.
Outside of the rankings, three more conference foes received votes, all being led by Texas, which grabbed 57, the third highest unranked figure behind BYU and Pittsburgh, after starting the season ranked.
Down the line, Georgia earned 11 votes after stunning Rick Pitino’s St. John’s Red Storm (RV), and Vanderbilt grabbed six votes despite losing its first game of the season to the Drake Bulldogs.
A full list of the AP Top 25 for Week 4 is available below:
- Kansas Jayhawks (5-0)
- UConn Huskies (4-0)
- Gonzaga Bulldogs (5-0)
- Auburn Tigers (4-0)
- Iowa State Cyclones (3-0)
- Houston Cougars (3-1)
- Tennessee Volunteers (6-0)
- Kentucky Wildcats (5-0)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (4-1)
- Marquette Golden Eagles (6-0)
- Duke Blue Devils (4-1)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1)
- Purdue Boilermakers (5-1)
- Indiana Hoosiers (4-0)
- Wisconsin Badgers (7-0)
- Cincinnati Bearcats (5-0)
- Baylor Bears (4-2)
- Florida Gators (6-0)
- Arkansas Razorbacks (4-1)
- Texas A&M Aggies (4-1)
- Creighton Bluejays (4-1)
- Xavier Musketeers (5-0)
- Ole Miss Rebels (5-0)
- Arizona Wildcats (2-2)
- Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-0)
Receiving votes: BYU (70), Pittsburgh (62), Texas (57), Ohio State (55), St. Mary’s (52), Illinois (50), Memphis (38), Texas Tech (31), Drake (29), Nebraska (21), Michigan State (14), Georgia (11), St. John’s (10), Oregon (10), Penn State (9), Utah State (6), Vanderbilt (6), Nevada (5), UCLA (5), Arizona State (5), Maryland (4), Providence (3), Furman (2), Florida State (1), Columbia (1).
