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

The latest college basketball AP Top 25 Poll is out, and the Kentucky Wildcats just barely remained in it.

After an overtime win over Vanderbilt and a loss at Missouri, no one would have been surprised if UK was unranked this week, but they checked in at No. 24 in the latest poll.

Elsewhere in the SEC, Auburn (8) and Tennessee (15) both cracked the top 15. UK will get to face both of them in the next eight days.

At the top, Villanova, held on to the No. 1 ranking, followed by Virginia and Purdue. Duke took a dip after their shocking loss to St. John’s.

Here is a look at the updated AP Top 25:

1 Villanova Wildcats

2 Virginia Cavaliers

3 Purdue Boilermakers

4 Michigan State Spartans

5 Xavier Musketeers

6 Cincinnati Bearcats

7 Texas Tech Red Raiders

8 Auburn Tigers

9 Duke Blue Devils

10 Kansas Jayhawks

11 Saint Mary’s Gaels

12 Gonzaga Bulldogs

13 Arizona Wildcats

14 Ohio State Buckeyes

15 Tennessee Volunteers

16 Clemson Tigers

17 Oklahoma Sooners

18 Rhode Island Rams

19 West Virginia Mountaineers

20 Michigan Wolverines

21 North Carolina Tar Heels

22 Wichita State Shockers

23 Nevada Wolfpack

24 Kentucky Wildcats

25 Miami-Florida Hurricanes

For once, the ESPN power rankings did not penalize UK heavily for losing, though the Cats did drop two spots:

22. Kentucky Wildcats

Record: 17-6

Last week: 20

A road loss at Missouri doesn’t knock Kentucky out of the rankings, but it certainly doesn’t quell concerns regarding the Wildcats’ lack of consistency. Their remaining schedule is brutal, too. Of Kentucky’s final eight games, seven opponents have NCAA tournament hopes and rank in the top 55 of the BPI.

UK will get a chance to rebound when No. 11 Tennessee comes to Rupp Arena this week. Then next Tuesday, UK will play at No. 6 Auburn, so there are still several chances for UK to score another major win.