After climbing into the top ten in the top 25 polls, Kentucky basketball suffered their first loss of the season to the Clemson Tigers. However, they rebounded quickly, and on Saturday night, came back to beat Gonzaga, who was ranked eighth in the country. The result? The Wildcats gained a spot in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Kentucky comes in as the number five team overall in the newly released coaches top 25. Their record stands at 8 – 1, and they boast two wins over top ten teams so far this year.
Related: Best photos of Kentucky’s win over Gonzaga
The rest of the SEC is strong as well, and the Cats are the third team they have ranked in the top five, along with the Tennessee Volunteers and Auburn Tigers, who are the top two teams. Eight SEC teams are ranked in the top 25, with another five getting votes.
The job that new coach Mark Pope has done is nothing short of spectacular. So far, they have outperformed expectations, and few expected them to be ranked as a top five team. Fans will stay tuned to see if they can keep it up.
Here is the full coaches poll top 25:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tennessee | 8-0 | 745 (25) |
| 2 | Auburn | 8-1 | 709 (5) |
| 3 | Iowa State | 7-1 | 673 |
| 4 | Marquette | 9-1 | 633 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 8-1 | 630 |
| 6 | Duke | 7-2 | 613 |
| 7 | Florida | 9-0 | 530 |
| 8 | Alabama | 7-2 | 525 |
| 9 | Gonzaga | 7-2 | 462 |
| 10 | Kansas | 7-2 | 449 |
| 11 | Purdue | 8-2 | 424 |
| 12 | Oregon | 9-1 | 377 |
| 13 | Houston | 5-3 | 304 |
| 14 | Michigan | 8-1 | 258 |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 8-1 | 249 |
| 16 | Clemson | 9-1 | 237 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 9-0 | 233 |
| 18 | Texas A&M | 8-2 | 194 |
| 19 | Michigan State | 8-2 | 166 |
| 20 | UConn | 7-3 | 152 |
| 21 | UCLA | 8-1 | 137 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 8-2 | 129 |
| 23 | Cincinnati | 7-1 | 124 |
| 24 | San Diego State | 6-2 | 105 |
| 25 | Baylor | 5-3 | 99 |