There's no doubt that Kentucky will drop in the AP Top 25 like they have fallen in the other rankings after getting whooped by the Ohio State Buckeyes 85-65 in the CBS Sports Classic. The question will be how far the Wildcats will fall. We can make an educated guess by looking at the rest of the top 15. We will stop at 15 because it almost always takes two losses to fall more than 10 spots in a week. Kentucky was ranked #4 going into this game against the Buckeyes.
The AP Top 25 will be released sometime today, December 23.
UPDATE: Kentucky is ranked #10 in the AP Top 25.
Let's look at how each of the top 15 teams did this last week, and that will help determine where AP voters will want to slide Kentucky.
1. Tennessee: Win over Western Carolina 84-36.
2. Auburn: 2 wins over Georgia State 100-59 and Purdue 87-69.
3. Iowa State: Win over Morgan State 99-72.
4. Kentucky: Loss to Ohio State 85-65.
5. Duke: 2 wins over George Mason 68-47 and Georgia Tech 82-56.
6. Alabama: 2 wins over North Dakota 97-90 and Kent State 81-54.
7. Florida: 2 wins over North Carolina 90-84 and North Florida 99-45.
8. Kansas: Win over Brown 87-53.
9. Marquette: 2 wins over Butler 80-70 and Xavier 72-70.
10. Oregon: Win over Stanford 76-61.
11. UCONN: 2 wins over Xavier 94-89 and Butler 78-74.
12. Texas A&M: Win over Houston Christian 77-45.
13. Gonzaga: 2 wins over Nicholls 102-72 and Bucknell 86-65.
14. Oklahoma: 2 wins over Michigan 87-86 and Central Arkansas 89-66.
15. Houston: 2 wins over Toldeo 78-49 and Texas A&M CC 87-51.
The bad news is that in the top 15, Kentucky is the only team to have lost this week. The good news is there are only a handful of quality wins in that bunch. Lots of wins over easy non-conference opponents. After looking at all that, how far do you think the Wildcats fall?
The immediate teams behind Kentucky will pass them regardless. Then you have to see if any other teams will pass them because of big wins. Florida qualifies for sure with a win over North Carolina; you have to assume Marquette and UCONN may both get rewarded for beating Butler and Xavier in alternating games. Oklahoma has a good win over Michigan, but probably not enough to catapult them.
The prediction is Kentucky will slide to #11.
UPDATE: Kentucky is ranked #10 in the AP Top 25.
Kentucky will land somewhere between 8-12, with my prediction at #11. This would be a 7 spot drop which seems like too much for only one loss to a Power 5 team. However, the AP voters are looking for reasons to move other teams like Florida, Kansas, Oregon, and UCONN up. Kentucky, being the only loss, will send them down.