Monday Headlines: UK in the new CBB rankings, including first edition of NET

Dec 5, 2022 - 7:31 PM

Cason Wallace — Drew Brown - A Sea Of Blue

UPDATE 2

The latest AP Top 25 Poll and Coaches Top 25 Poll both have the Kentucky Wildcats checking in at No. 16 overall.

The ESPN BPI has Kentucky up to No. 5.

However, the new ESPN Power Rankings (only 16 teams) do not include the Wildcats but did have them listed as ‘In the waiting room’ with this blurb from Jeff Borzello.

Kentucky Wildcats: The Wildcats went all the way to London for their biggest win of the season, beating Michigan by four. It was freshman Cason Wallace who was the star, going for 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists, making all four 3-point attempts — including the game-clinching shot in the final minute.

Finally, KenPom has Kentucky at No. 5.

UPDATE

We’ve got our first NET rankings of the 2022-23 college basketball season, which have the Kentucky Wildcats checking in at No. 42.

That’s to be expected with Kentucky having just one quality win thus far. There will be several chances to raise it in the coming weeks.

Kentucky will play the 14th-ranked UCLA Bruins this Saturday, then play at the No. 34 Missouri Tigers on December 28th.

The Kentucky Wildcats are the No. 19 in the current AP Top 25 Poll and coming off a so-so win over Michigan on Sunday. The Wolverines aren’t ranked and haven’t defeated anyone notable yet this season, but they did take No. 3 Virginia down to the wire earlier last week. Other SEC teams inside the Top 25 are Arkansas (No. 11), Alabama (No. 11), Tennessee (No. 13) and Auburn (No. 15).

Andy Katz has Kentucky outside his top-25, ranking the Wildcats No. 27 in his Power36. Seth Davis of The Athletic has Kentucky ranked the highest at No. 18.

Kentucky’s schedule over the next month looks like the following...

December 10th vs. Yale
December 17th vs. No. 17 UCLA
December 21st vs. Florida A&M
December 28th at Missouri
December 31st vs. Louisville

There aren’t exactly many opportunities for Kentucky to add a “signature” win, but beating UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic as well as Missouri on the road would be a trend in the right direction in terms of neutral site/road victories. The Wildcats are currently 0-2 in that department and need to build the habit of beating teams convincingly.

Kentucky’s loss to Gonzaga in Spokane won’t necessarily haunt their seeding come spring time, but the team’s double-overtime loss to Michigan State continues to be a head scratcher. The Spartans are just 3-3 since their upset victory with losses to Alabama, Notre Dame and Northwestern.

Though Kentucky would love to have another crack at changing the outcome of that one, all they can do now is improve their chemistry as a team and beat the teams left on their schedule as they head into Southeastern Conference play.

Tweet of the Day

Sahvir Wheeler bailed Kentucky out with some big shots as the shot clock expired today. But if that’s Kentucky’s approach down the stretch in March then it’s going to be another frustrating spring. It worked out today but that’s not the recipe to win 6 games in a row.
— Shawn Smith (@gbbcountry) December 4, 2022