Where UK stands in new college hoops top 25 polls and power rankings

The first full week of college basketball has come and gone.

It wasn’t too kind to Kentucky, as they were hammered by Duke, then struggled to beat SIU. That made it easy for voters to drop the Wildcats in the latest round of top-25 polls and power rankings.

The latest AP Top 25 Poll has the Cats checking in at No. 10, so they didn’t fall too far while remaining a top-10 team.

College Basketball AP Top 25 Poll

1. Duke Blue Devils
2. Kansas Jayhawks
3. Gonzaga Bulldogs
4. Virginia Cavaliers
5. Tennessee Volunteers
6. Nevada Wolf Pack
7. North Carolina Tar Heels
8. Villanova Wildcats
9. Auburn Tigers
10. Kentucky Wildcats
11. Michigan State Spartans
12. Kansas State Wildcats
13. Oregon Ducks
14. Florida State Seminoles
15. Syracuse Orange
16. Virginia Tech Hokies
17. Mississippi St. Bulldogs
18. Michigan Wolverines
19. Clemson Tigers
20. UCLA Bruins
21. TCU Horned Frogs
22. LSU Tigers
23. Purdue Boilermakers
24. Marquette Golden Eagles
25. Buffalo Bulls

Not everyone else was so kind.

ESPN has Kentucky checking in at No. 11:

John Calipari is going to take some time to figure out his best lineup, but he took some steps toward that on Friday, increasing Nick Richards’ playing time and relying more heavily on Immanuel Quickley and Quade Green.

NCAA.com has the Wildcats slipping to No. 13:

The Wildcats drop from my No. 1 spot after getting destroyed by Duke and then having to hold on to beat Southern Illinois. I’m still convinced the Wildcats will contend for the title, but they’re not ready yet.

At NBC Sports, Kentucky actually dropped all the way down to No. 18.

CBS is a little more friendly, as Kentucky checks in at No. 9:

Quade Green got 14 points off the bench in Friday’s win over Southern Illinois. The Wildcats won despite trailing by as many as seven points in the second half.

Needless to say, the pressure is off Kentucky as they’re barely even a top-15 team now. They still have a world of potential and can make a special run in March. It’s just clearly going to be a harder process to become that kind of team than most expected.

We’ll add in more polls and rankings as they come out.