Following a pair of wins over Vanderbilt and Alabama, Kentucky continues to gain national respect as one of the elite teams in the country. Our 77-70 home win over Vanderbilt was about as ugly as they come. However, the 66-55 road victory against Alabama, one of the highest scoring teams in the country, was one of the most elite defensive performances exhibited all year by any team.
Kentucky has shown before that they are capable of winning in a shootout, best demonstrated in a 107-79 pounding over our rival, Tennessee. Now, Kentucky has shown they are capable of gutting out a win in a low scoring rock fight. This versatility is critical going into March, as Kentucky is one of the very few teams in the country that can find a way to win over good teams regardless of how the game is playing out.
Kentucky's dominant win over Kansas in the Phog the week before is also looking as impressive as ever. Following that loss, Kansas has beaten #20 Iowa State on the road, and picked up a dominant 83-59 win over #8 Baylor at home. This Kansas team is a legitimate contender, and Kentucky gave them an absolute beating in their own building.
I never thought we would see the day, but the national media continues to pile on their respect for Kentucky. From Jon Rothstein to Dick Vitale, it appears almost all of the biggest voices in college hoops believe Kentucky has as good of a shot as anyone for cutting down the nets this season.
This national respect was once again reflected in the AP Poll as well. Kentucky stays at the #5 spot, passing up formerly #3 UCLA, but getting passed by Arizona. Neither of Kentucky's opponents this week (South Carolina and Florida) got any votes in the AP Poll. However, we know that no win comes in easy in this conference, so Kentucky will have to stay hot to avoid an unranked loss.
The full AP top 25 rankings is as follows:
Auburn
Gonzaga
Purdue
Arizona
Kentucky
Houston
Duke
Kansas
Texas Tech
Baylor
Providence
UCLA
Illinois
Wisconsin
Villanova
Ohio State
Michigan State
Marquette
Tennessee
Texas
USC
Saint Mary's
Murray State
Connecticut
Xavier