Cats up to #4 in AP Poll

[ukfan693]

Not sure even the most optimistic of fans saw the Cats cracking the top 5 so soon in the Pope era. Big week ahead.

NCAA College Basketball Rankings: AP Top 25 Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA men's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2023-24 season.

apnews.com

 

[UK67KU59]

😳 Hope we play like it this week!

 

[UKwootwoot]

Not sure even the most optimistic of fans saw the Cats cracking the top 5 so soon in the Pope era. Big week ahead.

NCAA College Basketball Rankings: AP Top 25 Basketball Poll

The official page for the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll. Keep up to date and view the latest NCAA men's basketball ranking updates each week for the 2023-24 season.

apnews.com

I know I sure as hell wasn't one of them

 

[UK Widget]

They still have UCONN ranked lol

 

[BlueBomb]

That's so great to see, although I don't think we've earned it yet.

If we beat Clemson and play Gonzaga strong this week, I'll feel much better. Then, beating UofL, Ohio State and the cupcakes before the SEC starts, will tell us a lot about the team. If we go into the SEC slate at 12-1 (with a competitive loss to Gonzaga), I'll be thrilled. And that would mean we're a legitimate top 10 team.

 

[westerncat]

Just keep winning .. one game at a time and I think this is what Pope tells his players.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

3.....2......1...... for KWilt dropping in to complain we're not #1.

Go BIG BLUE!

 

[Jamal Mercer]

Win both games this week and we seriously start thinking about doing great things this year.

Lose both and expectations go back to around where the were preseason.

1-1 is what I expect and the guys continue to improve and work hard.

 

[SophiesDad]

Arkansas already unranked. Lol

 

[anonymous_2011]

Where is Arkansas?🫣

 

[Creed Bratton]

They still have UCONN ranked lol

Winning back to back titles will get you some cred I guess....or voters were afraid Hurley would go off on them.

 

[$Z71$]

They still have UCONN ranked lol

And a 3 loss UNC still top 25

 

[rick64]

Winning back to back titles will get you some cred I guess....or voters were afraid Hurley would go off on them.

Agree totally getting helped being B2B champs.

 

[ukjenning44]

SEC is loaded! Going to beat up on one another like football. Curious to see how many loses the SEC champ has in conference.

 

[BlueSince92]

Little bit of trivia.

The Unforgettables were ranked 4th when they played Pittsburgh November 22nd, 1991. I remember that clearly because I talked a lot of trash to my buddy who was going to Pitt.

They handled us unfortunately and I was like, yech. A team like that, playing up-tempo with a roster of widely varying size and skill and a dominant, highly mobile big man with range must be the antidote to our poison. Made me really nervous seeing Duke in our bracket much later that season. But we sure proved we had come an awfully long way by the time that final game tipped off.

 

[Titpwhami2014]

And a 3 loss UNC still top 25

Such a joke. As is undefeated Oregon ranked two spots below 2-loss Alabama. A team they just beat.

 

[meow_cat]

I would be happy if we split the next two games. If we lose both, or one, I think they will be close. Our guys are very experienced and have shown to be steady.

 

[know1]

Impressive! If we finish in the Top 10 at the end of the year, I'll be thrilled.

 

[Creed Bratton]

And a 3 loss UNC still top 25

If not for a 21 point comeback they would be 3-4. How does that deserve to be ranked?

 

[TheDude73]

That's so great to see, although I don't think we've earned it yet.

If we beat Clemson and play Gonzaga strong this week, I'll feel much better. Then, beating UofL, Ohio State and the cupcakes before the SEC starts, will tell us a lot about the team. If we go into the SEC slate at 12-1 (with a competitive loss to Gonzaga), I'll be thrilled. And that would mean we're a legitimate top 10 team.

Duke is better than Gonzaga. I am not worried about either game this week. I am very confident that Pope will have this team ready for both games.

 

[UKnCincy]

For those of you who care about these types of things, our victory over Duke this year was important in terms of retaining our spot as the program that has most appearances in the top 10 of the AP poll all-time.

As of this latest poll, UK has been ranked in the top 10 in 737 polls since 1939. Duke has been ranked in the top ten in 734 polls.

Had we lost to Duke, Duke would’ve overtaken us.

 

[kennyskywalker34]

3.....2......1...... for KWilt dropping in to complain we're not #1.

Go BIG BLUE!

40-0 and Greatest team in history with the greatest 3 point shooter in history. Etc. Etc.
And don't forget HH is 57 or 58 year old man . Think about that for a minute. Acts 7 or 8. Says things that I used to say at 7 or 8

 

[kennyskywalker34]

Such a joke. As is undefeated Oregon ranked two spots below 2-loss Alabama. A team they just beat.

Polls are stupid always have been.
NCAAT is all that matters anyway. I care about seeding.
I honestly don't care who is ranked in what spot. The rankings are just about top 25 matchups for TV these days.

 

[Fox2monk]

That's so great to see, although I don't think we've earned it yet.

If we beat Clemson and play Gonzaga strong this week, I'll feel much better. Then, beating UofL, Ohio State and the cupcakes before the SEC starts, will tell us a lot about the team. If we go into the SEC slate at 12-1 (with a competitive loss to Gonzaga), I'll be thrilled. And that would mean we're a legitimate top 10 team.

I am ready to beat Gonzaga like we should. Won’t be mad at a loss but I’m ready to beat them.

 

[yabbadabbadoo]

The Jeffersons

 

[kennyskywalker34]

Duke is better than Gonzaga. I am not worried about either game this week. I am very confident that Pope will have this team ready for both games.

It doesn't matter though if Duke is better. It's still hard to beat good teams on the road. Especially two in the same week.
Clemson and Gonzaga might not be great but both are good solid teams and tournament teams.
Kentucky can absolutely beat both. But I won't be surprised if they drop one of the games.

 

[true blue1]

 

[Bungalow Bill]

#6 in coaches poll

 

[BBNinSC]

Win both games this week and we seriously start thinking about doing great things this year.

Lose both and expectations go back to around where the were preseason.

1-1 is what I expect and the guys continue to improve and work hard.

Call me deranged but I don’t think we have much to worry about tomorrow night. Now, playing Gonzaga in Washington is a tough game

 

[dlh331]

Polls are stupid always have been.
NCAAT is all that matters anyway. I care about seeding.
I honestly don't care who is ranked in what spot. The rankings are just about top 25 matchups for TV these days.

Since 1979 our ultimate seed has almost exactly matched our ranking BEFORE Selection Sunday. Bottom line, if our ranking is bad, the seed will also be bad.

 

[BradleyCrawford08]

Good to see us continue to climb up. The next two games against Clemson and Gonzaga will show us where this team really stands.

Also, UCONN still in the Top 25? Guess they really must be afraid of Hurley going after them.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Call me deranged but I don’t think we have much to worry about tomorrow night. Now, playing Gonzaga in Washington is a tough game

You are deranged.

 

[TheDude73]

It doesn't matter though if Duke is better. It's still hard to beat good teams on the road. Especially two in the same week.
Clemson and Gonzaga might not be great but both are good solid teams and tournament teams.
Kentucky can absolutely beat both. But I won't be surprised if they drop one of the games.

Ahh the ever lasting effects of "Cal Caution". I'm certainly no HerrosHeroes/KWilt, but I feel a lot better this year than we did with Cal. I was like you once - we could win, or we could lose. As this season has started I'm much more confident that we win than the old 50/50 toss up years.

If we can't beat these two teams, we aren't going to fare very well in SEC road games.

 

[JonathanW]

Such a joke. As is undefeated Oregon ranked two spots below 2-loss Alabama. A team they just beat.

Oregon's resume should have them in the top 8. This just goes to show that voters tend to not be willing to admit they were WAY OFF in evaluating teams, by correcting a clear (but maybe understandable) omission in the prior voting. It's understandable to be so far off, given how much teams change from year to year now. Gone are the days of returning 4-5 starters, & of only adding Freshmen.

 

[The_Answer1313]

We might drop this week

We'll probably lose one of this games.

People will freak

But we'll be fine

 

[NociHTTP]

3.....2......1...... for KWilt dropping in to complain we're not #1.

Go BIG BLUE!

It's as bad as the folks complaining that we are ranked this high.

 

[G-PIP]

It doesn't matter though if Duke is better. It's still hard to beat good teams on the road. Especially two in the same week.
Clemson and Gonzaga might not be great but both are good solid teams and tournament teams.
Kentucky can absolutely beat both. But I won't be surprised if they drop one of the games.

I agree that Clemson is good. UK will have to play really well to win that game. But it sounds like I might be higher on Gonzaga than you. I think Gonzaga is as good as any team I've seen this season (and I've seen all the top 10 play at least once, except Marquette). If UK beats Clemson on the road that's a huge win. But if they beat Gonzaga in Seattle, I wouldn't consider UK an underdog to anybody going forward this season.

 

[MasonCoBlue]

Gonna be a validate or deflate kind of week. I love this team. Let’s go!

 

[TFCats11]

20 post in and I already see the usual suspects secretly hoping for a UK loss next week, almost to the point of guaranteeing it, but then gaslighting by saying, UK will be fine though😆

Cal has you bois suffering from PTSD or you’re just straight up Cal fans and not UK fans!

UK wins both, and neither will be in doubt… Bookmark it!

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Not concerned at all about Clemson. We will handle them easily.

I don't know if Gonzaga is their normal paper tiger or the real deal. They are good. But how good? Only concern is going there. I think we win that one too. But it will be a fight like Duke was. Higher scoring though. They can't guard us. Only question is if we can guard them.