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Where did Kentucky land in preseason coaches poll?

The preseason college basketball coaches poll is out and a panel of 32 Division I head coaches believe Kentucky is the fourth best team in the country.

The preseason college basketball coaches poll is out and a panel of 32 Division I head coaches believe is the fourth best team in the country. First is Duke (predictably), followed by Kansas and Villanova. Despite the #4 ranking, it's worth noting that Kentucky did receive two first-place votes, the second most of any team on the list.

RANK TEAM  RECORD   PTS   1ST PLACE VOTES 
1 Duke

25-11

792 27
2 Kansas

33-5

721 1
3 Villanova

35-5

700 1
4 Kentucky

27-9

695 2
5 Oregon

31-7

620 1
6 North Carolina

33-7

614
7 Virginia

29-8

596
8 Xavier

28-6

552
9 Michigan St

29-6

544
10 Wisconsin

22-13

487
11 Arizona

25-9

468
12 Indiana

27-8

435
13 Gonzaga

28-8

371
14 Louisville

23-8

367
15 Purdue

26-9

324
16 Connecticut

25-11

239
17 Syracuse

23-14

224
18 West Virginia

26-9

204
19 St. Mary's

29-6

203
20 UCLA

15-17

185
21 Maryland

27-9

153
22 Texas

20-13

124
23 Creighton

20-15

113
24 Rhode Island

17-15

85
25 Cincinnati

22-11

75

[USA Today]

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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