College basketball rankings: Kentucky, No. 8 in Top 25 And 1, begins critical stretch Saturday vs. Notre Dame
The Wildcats will be out to prove themselves among the best of the best, beginning this weekend against the Irish
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
Kentucky opened the season 32 days ago with a 79-71 loss to Duke inside New York's Madison Square Garden. Since then, the Wildcats have played zero power-conference schools or anybody from any level of the sport ranked in the top 100 at KenPom.
It's been boring.
But a fun little stretch is on deck. Over the next 12 days, John Calipari's Wildcats will play a road game against an ACC school ranked 51st at KenPom (Saturday vs. Notre Dame), a neutral-court game against a Big Ten school ranked 20th at KenPom (next Saturday vs. Ohio State in Las Vegas) and a home game against a rival ranked 45th at KenPom (Dec. 22 vs. Louisville in Rupp Arena).
Kentucky is a 4.5-point favorite vs. Notre Dame on Saturday. According to KenPom, right now, the Wildcats would be 1-point favorites over Ohio State, and 8-point favorites over Louisville, in the subsequent two games, which suggests extending this seven-game winning streak in a way that creates a 10-1 record heading into the SEC opener against Missouri is very possible. That said, the idea that Kentucky could lose two of the next three, or even three of the next three, isn't too far-fetched either.
Most people think Kentucky is good.
I'm among those people.
But the truth is that there's no way to know for certain, at this point, whether Kentucky is good or great or just OK. The Wildcats have, so far, only played one game against a top-100 KenPom team (Duke), and they trailed by 15 points in that game before ultimately losing by eight. So how good is UK, really?
The good news is that we should all be better-positioned to answer that question intelligently after this three-game stretch that starts Saturday at Notre Dame concludes. For now, based on preseason expectations as much as anything else, Kentucky remains No. 8 in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings,
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | LJ Cryer got 20 points off the bench in Saturday's 99-54 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Bears' next game is Sunday against Villanova. | -- | 7-2 |
| 2 |  | Duke was outscored 14-1 in the final five minutes of Tuesday's 71-66 loss at Ohio State. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against South Carolina State. | -- | 10-0 |
| 3 |  | Tyger Campbell finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's 73-61 win over Colorado. The Bruins' next game is Saturday at Marquette. | -- | 7-2 |
| 4 |  | Justin Moore finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 67-53 win over Syracuse. The Wildcats' next game is Sunday at Baylor. | -- | 7-2 |
| 5 |  | Purdue allowed Rutgers to shoot 52.1% from the field in Thursday's 70-68 loss to the Scarlet Knights. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against NC State. | -- | 9-1 |
| 6 |  | Chet Holmgren finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in Thursday's 80-55 win over Merrimack. The Zags' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | -- | 9-1 |
| 7 |  | JD Notae finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 86-66 win over Charlotte. The Razorbacks' next game is Saturday against Oklahoma. | -- | 7-2 |
| 8 | | Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 76-64 win over Southern. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Notre Dame. | -- | 6-4 |
| 9 |  | Bennedict Mathurin finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's 94-65 win over Wyoming. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Illinois. | -- | 8-0 |
| 10 |  | Jaden Shackelford finished with 28 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 91-82 win over Gonzaga. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Houston. | -- | 7-2 |
| 11 |  | Ochai Agbaji finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 78-52 win over UTEP. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Missouri. | -- | 7-3 |
| 12 |  | Gabe Brown finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 75-67 win at Minnesota. The Spartans' next game is Saturday against Penn State. | -- | 8-1 |
| 13 |  | Jabari Smith finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 86-64 win over Yale. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Nebraska. | -- | 7-3 |
| 14 |  | Isaiah Mobley finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 80-68 win over Eastern Kentucky. The Trojans' next game is Sunday against Long Beach State. | -- | 9-1 |
| 15 |  | Tramon Mark got 18 points off the bench in Monday's 77-45 win over Alcorn State. The Cougars' next game is Saturday at Alabama. | -- | 9-1 |
| 16 |  | Izaiah Brockington finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 73-53 win over Iowa. The Cyclones' next game is Sunday against Jackson State. | -- | 10-0 |
| 17 |  | Terrence Shannon finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's 57-52 overtime win over Tennessee. The Red Raiders' next game is Tuesday against Arkansas State. | -- | 7-2 |
| 18 |  | Tennessee shot just 26.8% from the field in Tuesday's 57-52 overtime loss to Texas Tech. The Vols' next game is Saturday against UNC Greensboro. | -- | 7-3 |
| 19 |  | R.J. Davis finished with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists in Sunday's 79-62 win at Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday against Elon. | -- | 8-1 |
| 20 |  | E.J. Liddell finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 85-74 win over Towson. The Buckeyes' next game is Saturday against Wisconsin. | -- | 7-2 |
| 21 |  | Jared Rhoden finished with 18 points and five rebounds in Thursday's 64-60 win over Texas. The Pirates' next game is Sunday against Rutgers. | -- | 9-1 |
| 22 |  | Texas missed 12 of the 13 3-pointers it attempted in Thursday's 64-60 loss at Seton Hall. The Longhorns' next game is Tuesday against Arkansas Pine Bluff. | -- | 7-3 |
| 23 |  | UConn was missing its second-leading scorer and third-leading scorer in Wednesday's 56-53 loss at West Virginia. The Huskies' next game is Saturday against St. Bonaventure. | -- | 9-1 |
| 24 |  | Tari Eason finished with 20 points and five steals in Wednesday's 66-51 win over Ohio. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Georgia Tech. | -- | 8-1 |
| 25 |  | Johnny Davis finished with 23 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 64-59 win over Indiana. The Badgers' next game is Saturday at Ohio State. | -- | 7-3 |
| 26 |  | Zach Freemantle finished with 24 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 96-50 win over Ball State. The Musketeers' next game is Saturday against Cincinnati. | -- | 7-3 |
