The last month of the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball season has felt like a year. After entering SEC play on a high, and being considered a true National Championship contender, things have taken a turn for the worse, and it is once again reflected in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
The Wildcats are just 6 – 4 in conference play, and have lost four of their last six games overall. They now stand at 16 – 7 overall, and have certainly been trending downward. While early in the year, they knocked off ranked teams like North Carolina and Miami, recently they have struggled with good teams. They’re just 2 -5 in quad one games at this point, and they schedule has several more of those match-ups to go.
Defense and rebounding are the biggest culprits in the Kentucky losses, as the offense continues to be one of the nation’s best. The Wildcat big men have struggled to hold up against stronger opponents, and teams are taking advantage.
Last week, Kentucky came in at 15th in the Coaches Poll. This week, they drop five more spots to 20th. They had been all the way up to sixth at one point, but that seems like a distant memory now.
The Cats have some big games versus ranked teams still to play, and can turn things around. However, if they can’t improve on defense, they will continue to drop in the rankings until they fall all the way out of them.
The latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll top 25 can be found below:
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | UConn | 22-2 | 792 (24) | – |
| 2 | Purdue | 22-2 | 776 (8) | – |
| 3 | Houston | 21-3 | 722 | +2 |
| 4 | Marquette | 18-5 | 647 | +3 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 19-5 | 643 | -2 |
| 6 | Arizona | 19-5 | 642 | +2 |
| 7 | Kansas | 19-5 | 635 | -3 |
| 8 | Duke | 18-5 | 529 | +2 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 17-6 | 524 | -3 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 18-5 | 510 | +4 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 21-3 | 475 | +9 |
| 12 | Auburn | 19-5 | 421 | -1 |
| 13 | Baylor | 17-6 | 402 | – |
| 14 | Illinois | 17-6 | 356 | -2 |
| 15 | Alabama | 17-7 | 337 | +1 |
| 16 | Creighton | 17-7 | 242 | +2 |
| 17 | BYU | 17-6 | 202 | +2 |
| 18 | Dayton | 19-4 | 195 | -1 |
| 19 | St Mary’s | 20-6 | 185 | +7 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 16-7 | 136 | -5 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 16-8 | 117 | -12 |
| 21 | Oklahoma | 18-6 | 117 | +10 |
| 23 | Virginia | 19-5 | 109 | +7 |
| 24 | Indiana State | 22-3 | 106 | +3 |
| 25 | Colorado State | 19-5 | 96 | +4 |