Monday Headlines: UK in the new college basketball rankings (UPDATE)

Kentucky remains a top-25 team, for now.

By John Morgan Francis and Jason Marcum Updated Dec 19, 2022, 12:43pm EST

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UPDATE

Despite the setback in New York, the Kentucky Wildcats are still included in most of the updated college basketball rankings.

The AP Top 25 Poll put the Cats at No. 19.
The NET rankings have Kentucky at 32.
Kentucky was not included in the latest ESPN Power Rankings, though that only features 16 teams.
The Wildcats did manage to clock in at 27 in Andy Katz’s latest Power 36 at ncaa.com.
KenPom still has the Cats as a top-10 team, though these rankings typically aren’t very accurate until conference play, due to the fact they still put a lot of weight in returning production from last season, which Kentucky has plenty of.
ESPN BPI is similar in that regard, as evidenced by Kentucky being ranked seventh overall.

Where do you believe the Wildcats should be ranked, if at all? Let us know in the comments section!

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team is trending in the wrong direction.

Following a 53-point performance on Saturday against UCLA, the Wildcats have dropped to 7-3 and may start dropping out of some college basketball rankings.

It’s clear the fanbase is becoming frustrated — as they have every right to be — and there doesn’t appear to be much sense of urgency when the team is on the court. The Wildcats, at least on offense, look unprepared and outdated.

Good news for Kentucky is that polls are just polls. However, there’s plenty more bad news than good. The Wildcats don’t yet have a great win on their resume, and they’re six weeks into the season.

Conference play begins a week from Wednesday and — for now — there won’t be many favorable opportunities for Kentucky to pick up many quality victories.

The Wildcats host Florida A&M on Wednesday, travel to Missouri next Wednesday and host Louisville on New Year's Eve to end the 2022 calendar year. A 3-0 finish to December is desired but also not a guarantee, especially given how Kentucky has struggled offensively.

Will Kentucky turn things around? While it won’t be in the next couple of weeks, we will soon find out after the New Year when the schedule ramps up with matchups against some of the SEC’s top teams.

Check back here later as we upload the latest college basketball rankings.