Kentucky earned some respect in its heartbreaking loss to No. 1 Kansas in the Champions Classic — and Reed Sheppard’s emergence certainly hasn’t hurt. The latest AP Poll just dropped and the Wildcats moved up a spot from a week ago to No. 16.
Kentucky also holds firm at No. 16 in the Coaches Poll.
Kansas remains No. 1 in the update, earning 52 of 61 first-place votes, followed by Purdue at No. 2, Arizona at No. 3, Marquette at No. 4 and UConn at No. 5. In fact, the entire top nine remains the same, followed by Miami (FL) sliding in at No. 10.
Eight of Kentucky’s upcoming opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25 this week. Tennessee leads the way in the SEC at No. 7, followed by Texas A&M at No. 12, Alabama at No. 17, Arkansas at No. 20 and Mississippi State at No. 25.
AP College Basketball Poll – Nov. 20
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | TREND | POINTS |
| 1 | Kansas | 3-0 | — | 1508 (52) |
| 2 | Purdue | 3-0 | — | 1440 (5) |
| 3 | Arizona | 5-0 | — | 1364 (3) |
| 4 | Marquette | 3-0 | — | 1316 |
| 5 | UConn | 4-0 | — | 1299 |
| 6 | Houston | 6-0 | — | 1191 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 3-0 | — | 1136 |
| 8 | Creighton | 4-0 | — | 1119 |
| 9 | Duke | 3-1 | — | 1084 |
| 10 | Miami (FL) | 5-0 | ⬆️ 2 | 920 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 2-0 | — | 902 |
| 12 | Texas A&M | 4-0 | ⬆️ 1 | 867 |
| 13 | Baylor | 4-0 | ⬆️ 2 | 774 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 3-0 | ⬆️ 6 | 655 |
| 15 | Texas | 4-0 | ⬆️ 4 | 650 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 3-1 | ⬆️ 1 | 617 |
| 17 | Alabama | 4-0 | ⬆️ 5 | 516 |
| 18 | Colorado | 3-0 | ⬆️ 7 | 241 |
| 19 | Florida Atlantic | 2-1 | ⬇️ 9 | 229 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 3-1 | ⬇️ 6 | 224 |
| 21 | Michigan State | 3-2 | ⬇️ 3 | 222 |
| 22 | James Madison | 4-0 | ⬆️ 2 | 217 |
| 23 | USC | 3-1 | ⬇️ 7 | 165 |
| 24 | Virginia | 4-0 | — | 164 |
| 25 | Mississippi State | 5-0 | — | 163 |
Others Receiving Votes: Memphis 149, BYU 138, Illinois 138, San Diego St. 77, UCLA 75, TCU 69, Iowa St. 67, Villanova 44, Auburn 28, Clemson 12, Oklahoma 10, Princeton 10, Michigan 10, Liberty 7, South Carolina 3, Chattanooga 2, Nevada 1, Drake 1, Colorado St. 1.
USA Today Coaches Poll – Nov. 20
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas | 3-0 | 789 | 25 | 1 | – | 1/1 |
| 2 | Purdue | 3-0 | 757 | 5 | 2 | – | 2/2 |
| 3 | Arizona | 5-0 | 719 | 2 | 3 | – | 3/11 |
| 4 | UConn | 4-0 | 668 | 0 | 4 | – | 4/5 |
| 5 | Marquette | 3-0 | 664 | 0 | 5 | – | 5/7 |
| 6 | Houston | 6-0 | 651 | 0 | 6 | – | 6/6 |
| 7 | Creighton | 4-0 | 593 | 0 | 7 | – | 7/8 |
| 8 | Tennessee | 3-0 | 584 | 0 | 8 | – | 8/10 |
| 9 | Duke | 3-1 | 541 | 0 | 9 | – | 3/9 |
| 10 | Gonzaga | 2-0 | 470 | 0 | 12 | +2 | 10/12 |
| 11 | Miami (FL) | 5-0 | 469 | 0 | 11 | – | 11/13 |
| 12 | Baylor | 4-0 | 435 | 0 | 13 | +1 | 12/17 |
| 13 | Texas A&M | 4-0 | 432 | 0 | 15 | +2 | 13/19 |
| 14 | North Carolina | 3-0 | 321 | 0 | 18 | +4 | 14/21 |
| 15 | Alabama | 4-0 | 318 | 0 | 22 | +7 | 15/24 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 3-1 | 278 | 0 | 16 | – | 16/16 |
| 17 | Texas | 4-0 | 255 | 0 | 17 | – | 17/18 |
| 18 | Virginia | 4-0 | 162 | 0 | 25 | +7 | 18/NR |
| 19 | Michigan State | 3-2 | 160 | 0 | 19 | – | 4/19 |
| 20 | Florida Atlantic | 2-1 | 126 | 0 | 10 | -10 | 9/20 |
| 21 | Colorado | 3-0 | 119 | 0 | NR | +6 | 21/NR |
| 22 | Illinois | 4-1 | 102 | 0 | 23 | +1 | 22/NR |
| 23 | Memphis | 3-0 | 101 | 0 | NR | +5 | 23/NR |
| 24 | UCLA | 3-0 | 98 | 0 | 25 | +1 | 24/25 |
| 25 | Mississippi State | 5-0 | 89 | 0 | NR | +8 | 25/NR |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 14 Arkansas; No. 20 USC; No. 21 Villanova; No. 24 Saint Mary’s;
Others Receiving Votes
Arkansas 83; USC 75; James Madison 60; Villanova 50; TCU 40; Iowa State 35; San Diego State 30; Clemson 30; Auburn 29; BYU 27; Nevada 12; Princeton 11; South Carolina 7; Oregon 2; Liberty 2; Kansas State 2; Florida 2; North Carolina State 1; Iowa 1;
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter’s Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.
Next Game
Gonzaga vs Kentucky (TBD)
