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College Basketball 2018: AP Top 25 Poll and ESPN Power Rankings Updated

A wealth of top 10 went down, leading to some big shakeups in the new polls.

By Jason Marcum
NCAA Basketball: Alabama at Kentucky Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

The latest AP Top 25 poll is out, and the Kentucky Wildcats are still on the outside looking in.

After going 1-1 last week against the likes of Auburn and Alabama, the Cats were unable to squeak back into the top 25, despite what was an overall good week. They played well on the road against a top-10 Auburn team and managed to take a four-point lead late in the game, but they ultimately came up short before rebounding to beat Alabama on Saturday.

Here is a look at the fully-updated AP Poll:

  1. Virginia
  2. Michigan State
  3. Villanova
  4. Xavier
  5. Duke
  6. Texas Tech
  7. Gonzaga
  8. Kansas
  9. Purdue
  10. North Carolina
  11. Cincinnati
  12. Auburn
  13. Wichita State
  14. Arizona
  15. Clemson
  16. Ohio State
  17. Michigan
  18. Rhode Island
  19. Tennessee
  20. Nevada
  21. West Virginia
  22. Saint Mary’s
  23. Houston
  24. Middle Tennessee
  25. Florida State

While the Cats aren’t ranked in the polls, they did check in at No. 21 in the latest ESPN Power Rankings:

21. Kentucky Wildcats

Record: 18-9

Last week: NR

As alluded to above, this is where things start getting strange for the SEC. The Wildcats had lost four in a row before beating Alabama on Saturday -- and their résumé is markedly better than this time a week ago. Only seven teams have more Quadrant 1 and 2 wins than Kentucky’s 11.

As for the rest of the SEC, Auburn (7), Tennessee (13), Texas A&M (20), and Alabama (23) also cracked the top 25. Florida dropped out after back-to-back losses to Georgia and Vanderbilt.

Also, Arkansas is on the cusp of being a top-25 team, so a win in Fayetteville would be huge for the Cats as the Big Dance draws closer.

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