Kentucky opened this season with 69-62 victory over preseason No. 1 Michigan State, immediately jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, and it appeared John Calipari once again had himself a team built and ready to compete for a national championship.
And he still might.
Counting out a Calipari-coached team is forever dumb; I'm not going to do it. But, truth be told, the Wildcats have done nothing impressive since Opening Night. They've beaten zero good teams since the win over Michigan State and lost to two teams ranked 100th-or-worse at KenPom -- the latest result coming late Wednesday when Kentucky was outplayed from start to finish while losing 69-66 to a Utah team that entered ranked 107th at KenPom. Combine that with last month's loss at home to an Evansville team currently ranked 207th at KenPom, and the Wildcats now have two losses to schools ranked 100th-or-worse. If I were to keep Kentucky in the Top 25 And 1 under these circumstances, Kentucky would be the only ranked team with more losses to schools ranked 100th-or-worse at KenPom than wins over schools ranked 100th-or-better at KenPom. And that wouldn't make much sense.
So Kentucky is out of the Top 25 And 1.
Yes, I know, a school going from No. 7 to out after one result is unusual. But Kentucky's situation is just as unusual. The Wildcats were ranked high in the preseason because of what they returned and what they enrolled -- and because of Calipari's track record of excellence. They deserved that ranking. But the body of work, at this moment, isn't worthy of being ranked. The combined record of Kentucky's 10 opponents is 54-54. The average KenPom ranking of Kentucky's 10 opponents is 194th. Kentucky's schedule is ranked 329th nationally, according to KenPom. And yet, despite the weak opposition, Kentucky is still a two-loss team with a loss to the Evansville team that's lost to the schools ranked 230th (George Washington), 248th (Jacksonville State) and 261st (East Carolina) at KenPom, and a loss to the Utah team that's lost to the schools ranked 154th (Coastal Carolina) and 217th (Tulane) at KenPom.
Simply put, it would be inappropriate to rank any school with that body of work. So, again, Kentucky is out of Thursday morning's updated Top 25 And 1. But the good news is that the Wildcats have chances to jump back in quickly thanks to upcoming games against the schools ranked third (Ohio State) and fourth (Louisville) in the Top 25 And 1. They play Ohio State in Las Vegas on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic. A showdown with Louisville is scheduled for three days after Christmas inside Rupp Arena.
Thursday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | David McCormack scored a career-high 28 points in Saturday's 98-57 victory over Kansas City. The Jayhawks have won nine straight games since their season-opening loss to Duke. | -- | 5-0 |
| 2 |  | Corey Kispert made 10 of the 12 shots he attempted and finished with 26 points in Wednesday's 94-81 victory over North Carolina. The Zags dealt UNC its fourth consecutive loss. | -- | 5-0 |
| 3 |  | Kaleb Wesson finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 80-48 victory over Southeast Missouri State. The Buckeyes' resume features three 25-point wins over top-40 KenPom opponents. | -- | 5-1 |
| 4 |  | Dwayne Sutton finished with eight points and 15 rebounds in Wednesday's 70-46 win over Miami of Ohio. The Cardinals used a 17-0 run in the second half to pull away. | -- | 3-1 |
| 5 |  | The Terrapins were held to 33.3% shooting from the field in Tuesday's loss at Penn State. Anthony Cowan was responsible for 12 of Maryland's 38 misses. | -- | 5-1 |
| 6 |  | Obi Toppin finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Tuesday's 71-58 victory over North Texas. Dayton's lone loss is an overtime loss to Kansas. | -- | 5-1 |
| 7 |  | Tre Jones finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists in Friday's 77-63 victory at Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils have won three straight since losing to Stephen. F. Austin. | 1 | 4-1 |
| 8 |  | Kihei Clark finished with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds in Wednesday's 56-44 win over Stony Brook. Virginia has held eight of its 10 opponents to 47 or fewer points. | 1 | 3-2 |
| 9 |  | Payton Pritchard finished with 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals in Wednesday's 81-48 victory over Montana. N'Faly Dante added 11 points in what was the first game of his college career. | 1 | 5-0 |
| 10 |  | Tyler Harris made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points in Saturday's 51-47 win at Tennessee. Memphis snapped the Vols' 31-game winning streak at home. | 1 | 5-0 |
| 11 |  | Zavier Simpson missed eight of his 11 field goal attempts in Saturday's 71-70 overtime loss to Oregon. The Wolverines are 1-3 since winning the Battle 4 Atlantis. | 1 | 5-1 |
| 12 |  | J'Von McCormick finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Saturday's 67-61 win over Saint Louis. Auburn is one of four remaining undefeated teams but still looking for its first win over a top-65 KenPom opponent. | 1 | 5-0 |
| 13 |  | Davion Mitchell finished with 19 points, four assists and four steals in Wednesday's 91-63 victory over UT Martin. The Bears have three wins over top-20 KenPom teams. | 1 | 4-2 |
| 14 |  | Nico Mannion missed 17 of the 20 shots he attempted in Saturday's 84-80 loss to Gonzaga. Arizona allowed the Zags to shoot 47.5% from the field in the game. | 1 | 2-2 |
| 15 |  | Balsa Koprivica scored 15 points in 15 minutes in Tuesday's 98-81 victory over North Florida. Florida State owns three wins over top-25 KenPom opponents. | 1 | 6-1 |
| 16 |  | Justin Moore came off the bench and got 16 points in Saturday's 78-70 win over Delaware. The Wildcats' two losses are to Ohio State and Baylor. | 1 | 3-4 |
| 17 |  | Isaiah Stewart finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 81-59 win over Seattle. The five-star freshman is averaging 18.0. points and 8.4 rebounds per game. | 2 | 4-1 |
| 18 |  | Aaron Thompson finished with eight points and eight assists in Saturday's 66-41 win over Southern. Butler has won 57 straight non-league games at home. | 2 | 4-1 |
| 19 |  | Yanni Wetzell scored 17 points in Wednesday's 92-48 victory over San Diego Christian. The 44-point win represented the 13th-largest margin of victory in San Diego State history. | 2 | 3-1 |
| 20 |  | Marcus Santos-Silva finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 76-71 win at College of Charleston. The Rams won despite trailing by eight points at halftime. | 2 | 5-2 |
| 21 |  | Lamar Stevens finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 73-71 victory over Alabama. The Nittany Lions have six wins over top-100 KenPom teams. | 2 | 6-1 |
| 22 |  | Xavier Tillman finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 77-72 victory over Northwestern. The Spartans will take a three-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Eastern Michigan. | 2 | 5-1 |
| 23 |  | Luka Garza finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds in Thursday's win at Iowa State. The Hawkeyes' resume features four top-65 KenPom wins and only one loss to a team unranked in the Top 25 And 1. | 2 | 5-1 |
| 24 |  | Chris Clarke finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in Monday's 71-65 victory over Southern Miss. The Red Raiders have only lost once with Jahmi'us Ramsey, their leading scorer, in the lineup. | 2 | 5-1 |
| 25 |  | Oscar de Silva finished with 18 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 64-56 win over San Francisco. Stanford's lone loss is a one-point loss to Butler. | NR | 6-0 |
| 26 |  | Ty-Shon Alexander finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 83-73 win over Oklahoma. The Bluejays' only losses are to Michigan and San Diego State. | NR | 4-2 |
IN: Stanford, Creighton
OUT: Kentucky, Tennessee
