Two losses to unranked opponents -- to South Carolina on the road, and to Florida at home -- has sent Kentucky tumbling from No. 18 in last week's AP top 25 to completely unranked in the latest poll on Monday. It's the first time since March 2014 the Wildcats have not been in the weekly rankings.
Kentucky (14-5) is dealing with a number of issues, but chief among them right now is inexperience and youth. The young Wildcats simply haven't been able to establish a go-to scorer on offense yet this season, and for large stretches of games, they go cold. Couple in inconsistency on defense and a grueling SEC schedule, and it's easy to understand how Kentucky has plummeted so quickly.
Villanova remained at the top of the poll again for the third consecutive week, receiving 63 of a possible 65 first place votes. The Wildcats (18-1) notched a pair of road victories over Georgetown and UConn by a combined 52 points, and are the only one-loss team in the Big East.
Followed by Villanova and Virginia in the top spots this week are Purdue, Duke and Kansas rounding out the new top 5 after last week's No. 4 Oklahoma hit a skid and lost twice to unranked foes on the road.
AP Top 25 poll
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 21, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
RANK | SCHOOL | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
1. | Villanova (63) | 18-1 | 1,623 | 1 |
2. | Virginia (1) | 18-1 | 1,537 | 2 |
3. | Purdue (1) | 19-2 | 1,499 | 3 |
4. | Duke | 17-2 | 1,439 | 5 |
5. | Kansas | 16-3 | 1,338 | 10 |
6. | 17-3 | 1,243 | 9 | |
7. | 16-3 | 1,217 | 6 | |
8. | 18-3 | 1,180 | 11 | |
9. | 17-2 | 1,087 | 12 | |
10. | 16-4 | 1,014 | 15 | |
11. | 16-4 | 974 | 14 | |
12. | Oklahoma | 14-4 | 917 | 4 |
13. | 17-4 | 787 | 22 | |
14. | 15-4 | 763 | 8 | |
15. | 17-4 | 610 | 13 | |
16. | 19-2 | 571 | -- | |
17. | 15-4 | 547 | 7 | |
18. | 16-3 | 474 | 20 | |
19. | 17-2 | 470 | 17 | |
20. | Florida | 14-5 | 366 | -- |
21. | 15-4 | 353 | 16 | |
22. | 13-5 | 260 | 21 | |
23. | 18-3 | 190 | -- | |
24. | 15-3 | 189 | -- | |
25. | 17-5 | 123 | 23 |
Others receiving votes: Miami 83, Louisville 81, TCU 45, Kentucky 38, Kansas State 35, Seton Hall 25, Creighton 20, Florida State 14, Houston 5, New Mexico State 4, Providence 2, Boise State 2.
