Where UK stands in new college hoops top 25 polls, NET & power rankings

The Kentucky Wildcats outscored the UNC-Greensboro Spartans by 20 points in the second half of their win on Saturday, which is easily their best performance of the young season.

Kentucky’s lone loss to Duke in the season opener stands as the only blemish on the Cats’ record this season. The Cats were ranked No. 10 a week ago, and checked in at No. 9 when the AP revealed it’s rankings on Monday.

The latest Coaches Poll as Kentucky up at No. 8.

Coaches Top 25 Poll

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs
2. Kansas Jayhawks
3. Duke Blue Devils
4. Virginia Cavaliers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Nevada Wolf Pack
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Kentucky Wildcats
9. Auburn Tigers
10. Michigan State Spartans
11. Florida State Seminoles
12. North Carolina Tar Heels
13. Texas Tech Red Raiders
14. Virginia Tech Hokies
15. Kansas State Wildcats
16. Wisconsin Badgers
17. Ohio State Buckeyes
18. Buffalo Bulls
19. Iowa Hawkeyes
20. Arizona State Sun Devils
21. Villanova Wildcats
22. Mississippi State Bulldogs
23. Maryland Terrapins
24. Purdue Boilermakers
25. Nebraska Cornhuskers

AP Top 25 Poll

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs
2. Kansas Jayhawks
3. Duke Blue Devils
4. Virginia Cavaliers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Nevada Wolf Pack
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Auburn Tigers
9. Kentucky Wildcats
10. Michigan State Spartans
11. Florida State Seminoles
12. Wisconsin Badgers
13. Texas Tech Red Raiders
14. North Carolina Tar Heels
15. Virginia Tech Hokies
16. Kansas State Wildcats
17. Buffalo Bulls
18. Iowa Hawkeyes
19. Ohio State Buckeyes
20. Arizona State Sun Devils
21. Villanova Wildcats
22. Mississippi State Bulldogs
23. Maryland Terrapins
24. Nebraska Cornhuskers
25. Furman Paladins

Elsewhere in the top 25, No. 1 Gonzaga survived an early onslaught by the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday, turning things around in the second half to win 103-92. The Kansas Jayhawks, No. 2 in the polls, needed a Lagerald Vick three-pointer in the closing seconds against Stanford to force overtime. KU remained undefeated after knocking off the Cardinal 90-84 in OT.

Surprise, surprise, the No. 3 ranked Duke Blue Devils manhandled Stetson 113-49 behind 26 points from freshman superstar R.J. Barrett. No. 4 ranked Virginia outlasted No. 24 Maryland in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge this week. The Cavaliers are now 7-0 on the young season.

The No. 5 Michigan Wolverines hammered UNC as well as Purdue and are now up at No. 5. No. 6 Nevada outlasted USC 73-61. The Wolf Pack was led by Jordan Caroline’s double-double.

As we mentioned, Kentucky’s only game last week was a win over UNC-Greensboro at Rupp Arena on Saturday. The rest of the Top 10 escaped relatively unscathed with the exception of No. 9 Michigan State. The Spartans fell in overtime to the Louisville Cardinals, 82-78.

No. 7 Tennessee took care of Texas A&M-CC on Sunday. No. 8 Auburn destroyed St. Peters, and still look like the SEC’s best team as of now.

Outside of the Top 10, North Carolina, Kansas State, Virginia Tech and Iowa all lost this past week. Florida State (No. 11) handled their business, including an impressive one-point victory over then-No. 19 ranked Purdue.

The Ohio State Buckeyes took care of business against the Minnesota Gophers in Columbus on Sunday, but they did lose earlier in the week to unranked Syracuse. No. 17 Texas was stunned over the weekend by Radford and have now lost two in a row.

Elsewhere, the new NBC Sports Top 25 has Kentucky checking in at No. 12.

CBS Sports has the Wildcats climbing up to the No. 8 spot:

The Wildcats trailed at the break Saturday before rallying to beat UNC Greensboro. Reid Travis finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

ESPN has Kentucky up to the No. 9 spot:

After VMI and Winthrop Eagles made a combined 32 3-pointers against Kentucky, the Wildcats have made adjustments in terms of their perimeter defense. Tennessee State, Monmouth and UNC Greensboro shot a combined 15-for-52 over Kentucky’s last three games.

Perhaps the most notable ranking is the NCAA NET, which has Kentucky up to the No. 23 spot. It’s a big jump from last week when Kentucky was not even a top-50 team.

We’ll add in the Coaches Poll when it comes out later.