The Kentucky Wildcats will return to the court Friday night — fresh off of the worst loss of John Calipari's coaching career. The opponent is Southern Illinois. And it'll be interesting to see how Kentucky bounces back after being humiliated by Duke on national television late Tuesday.
UK was a 2-point favorite in that game.
It lost by 34.
But, as I wrote earlier this week, I don't think that was the death of the Wildcats. My guess is that we probably saw Duke at its best and Kentucky at its worst — or, at least, something close to that. And I still believe UK will show itself to be a legitimate Final Four contender -- which is among the reasons why the 0-1 Wildcats are ranked ninth in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1.
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | RJ Barrett had 33 points, six assists and four rebounds in the Blue Devils' season-opening blowout of Kentucky. Zion Williamson added 28 points and seven rebounds. | -- | 15-6 |
| 2 |  | Memphis-transfer Dedric Lawson finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in KU's season-opening win over Michigan State. Freshman Quintin Grimes made six 3-pointers and scored 21 points. | -- | 17-4 |
| 3 |  | Reigning SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams got 13 points and seven rebounds in UT's season-opening victory over Lenoir-Rhyne. The Vols shot 56.7 percent from the field. | -- | 18-3 |
| 4 |  | Rui Hachimura got 33 points and four rebounds in the Zags' season-opening win over Idaho State. Zach Norvell added 23 points and seven rebounds. | -- | 18-4 |
| 5 |  | Jordan Caroline finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds in Nevada's season-opening win over BYU. Caleb Martin added 21 points on 13 shots. | -- | 16-6 |
| 6 |  | Ty Jerome got 20 points and four assists in Virginia's season-opening win over Towson. The Cavaliers made 10-of-26 3-point attempts. | -- | 16-3 |
| 7 |  | Preseason All-American Luke Maye finished with 24 points and seven rebounds in UNC's season-opening win at Wofford. Freshman Nassir Little added seven points and three assists. | -- | 15-6 |
| 8 |  | Eric Paschall and Phil Booth combined for 43 points in Villanova's season-opening win over Morgan State. The Wildcats have now won 12 straight games dating back to last season. | -- | 10-11 |
| 9 |  | The Wildcats allowed Duke to score 118 points in their 34-point season-opening loss to the Blue Devils on Tuesday. It was the most lopsided loss of John Calipari's career. | -- | 14-7 |
| 10 |  | Chuma Okeke finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in Auburn's season-opening win over South Alabama. Jared Harper had 20 points, 13 assists and five rebounds. | -- | 16-5 |
| 11 |  | The Spartans made 12 3-pointers against Kansas but still lost their season-opener in the Champions Classic. Josh Langford scored a team-high 18 points. | -- | 14-8 |
| 12 |  | The Wildcats open their season Friday night against Kennesaw State. They return every relevant player from last season's team that made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. | -- | 18-3 |
| 13 |  | The Hokies open their season Friday night against Gardner Webb. They'll be playing without Chris Clarke, who is indefinitely suspended. | -- | 13-8 |
| 14 |  | P.J. Savoy made five 3-pointers in FSU's season-opening win over Florida. Terance Mann added nine points and nine rebounds. | -- | 7-15 |
| 15 |  | The Bulldogs open their season Friday night against Austin Peay. They return the top six scorers from a 25-win team. | -- | 13-8 |
| 16 |  | The Mountaineers open their season Friday night against Buffalo. They've made four straight NCAA Tournaments. | -- | 13-8 |
| 17 |  | Payton Pritchard scored 22 points in Oregon's season-opening win over Portland State. Freshman Bol Bol added 12 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes. | -- | 13-9 |
| 18 |  | Freshman Moses Brown finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds in UCLA's season-opening win over Fort Wayne. Kris Wilkes got a career-high 27 points. | -- | 17-4 |
| 19 |  | Four LSU freshmen reached double-figures in points in the Tigers' season-opening win over Southeastern Louisiana. Emmitt Williams had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. | -- | 12-9 |
| 20 |  | Desmond Bane got a team-high 14 points in TCU's season-opening win over CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday. The Horned Frogs won despite trailing by nine points at the half. | -- | 16-5 |
| 21 |  | Jon Teske got 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in Michigan's season-opening win over Norfolk State. It doubled as the 800th career win of John Beilein's career. | -- | 11-10 |
| 22 |  | Oshae Brissett finished with 20 points and eight rebounds in Syracuse's season-opening win over Eastern Washington. The Orange scored 33 points off of Eastern Washington's 19 turnovers. | -- | 13-9 |
| 23 |  | Freshman Jalen Smith got 19 points and 13 rebounds in Maryland's season-opening win over Delaware. Bruno Fernando and Anthony Cowan each added 15 points. | -- | 14-7 |
| 24 |  | Marcquise Reed got 20 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and four steals in Clemson's season-opening win over The Citadel. Elijah Thomas added 15 points and nine rebounds. | -- | 18-4 |
| 25 |  | Freshman Romeo Langford, Indiana's reigning Mr. Basketball, scored 19 points in the Hoosiers' season-opening win over Chicago State. Seventeen of the 19 came in the opening 20 minutes. | -- | 15-6 |
| 26 |  | Glynn Watson Jr. scored a game-high 19 points in Nebraska's season-opening win over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday. The Huskers have now started 1-0 in 18 consecutive seasons. | -- | 10-12 |
