Monday Headlines: Kentucky in the College Basketball Rankings (UPDATE)

The Wildcats are back inside most of the college basketball rankings.

By John Morgan Francis and Jason Marcum Updated Feb 27, 2023, 1:10pm EST

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The latest AP Top 25 Poll has UK up to 23rd overall.
The NET Rankings have the Wildcats at 20th.
KenPom put Kentucky at 22nd.
Evan Miya ranks the Cats 13th overall.
Seth Davis of The Athletic put Kentucky at 24th.
Bart Torvik has UK up to 28th.
The Wildcats climbed to 17th overall in the latest Power 36 from Andy Katz of NCAA.com.

Monday’s always feel great when the Kentucky Wildcats put together a marquee win over the weekend and that’s exactly what happened on Saturday at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats hosted the Auburn Tigers in a critical SEC showdown and pulled off a statement win, 86-54.

Kentucky has essentially locked up the No. 3 seed in SEC, which would secure a double-bye during next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville. The double-bye would allow UK to skip out on having to play a Thursday game and instead start their postseason that Friday.

The blowout win over Auburn was nearly Kentucky’s fourth Quad 1 victory in a row (Tigers are now 36th in NET), which has have gotten the attention of the voting committee for the Associated Press Top-25 rankings.

Wins at Mississippi State, vs. No. 10 Tennessee, at Florida and vs. Auburn is a pretty impressive stretch for any team but certainly so for a Kentucky team that had fans asking if the season was over just a few weeks ago.

When the AP Top-25 rankings are released later today, there’s a good chance Kentucky could be there — which will also further improve their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

More importantly, Kentucky has climbed all the way up to 20th overall in the most recent NET rankings.

Check back throughout the day for updates on the AP Top-25 and the status of Kentucky.

Tweet of the Day

It’s OK for Cal to take little pokes at the media during this run for UK. A lot of folks (myself included after USC) buried this team & some made it real personal w/ Cal & there was the whole anonymous quote thing.

He’s earned the right to note people had said it was over.
— T.J. Walker (@TJWalkerRadio) February 26, 2023

Agree with TJ Walker on this?

Headlines

Ceccarello Earns Air Rifle Gold, Cats Finish Third Overall – UK Athletics

University of Kentucky freshman Sofia Ceccarello earned gold in the air rifle final as the Wildcats tied for the highest air rifle team score of the event.

Kentucky Falls to Tennessee in Home Finale – UK Athletics

Maddie Scherr scored a career-high 27 points, but the Kentucky women’s basketball team lost to Tennessee 83-63.

PHOTOS – Kentucky Outclasses Auburn - Vaught’s Views

Looking back at Kentucky’s big win over the weekend.

Making shots is what Antonio Reeves does best - Vaught’s Views

He was all smiles during Saturday’s win over Auburn.

NFL free agency: Best fits for top 50 available players - ESPN

FA is set to begin on March 15th.

Masai Russell adds to UK legacy with SEC title - Vaught’s Views

She was just .03 off from breaking her own collegiate record.

2023 MLB rule changes: Pitch clock, end of shift and more - ESPN

Lots of baseball chaos over the weekend.