If Matthew Mitchell would have taken the podium Wednesday and publicly voiced his displeasure with the latest rankings, nobody would have blamed him. After all, the Cats’ were inexplicably left out of the top 25 of both major polls yet again this week despite nearly upsetting then-No. 8 Georgia and defeating then-No. 17 Vanderbilt last week. But Mitchell isn’t one to complain, even if it is bothering him.”It would not mean anything to me,” Mitchell said of being ranked in the top 25.Whether that’s coach speak or Mitchell’s true feelings, that’s for you to judge. But Mitchell was rather outspoken on Wednesday about the importance of rankings. “The challenge for us is we have to know how to get into the NCAA Tournament, and that’s a big step for us to even be talking about that right now because nobody thought we were very good,” Mitchell said. “We’re at a point here now where we have a chance (to make the tournament). The only way to do that is to win games. If we’re the 25th- or the 23rd-ranked team, it doesn’t guarantee you entry into the NCAA Tournament. A certain amount of wins (does).”Do the rankings mean absolutely nothing to Mitchell and his team? Well, maybe that notion is stretching it a little too far.”I would like to be ranked No. 1 in the country,” Mitchell said. “That would be the optimum thing for us. Hopefully one day that’s something that this program can talk about, but right now it just has no meaning whatsoever because we’re just fighting like crazy to get ready for the next game.”Mitchell did take pride in the fact that the disrespect Kentucky is receiving means so much to the UK fan base. In Mitchell’s eyes, that means they care.”I really appreciate the fact that it means something to our fans,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s a major reason why this is such a great place to coach and why I want to be the coach here forever because it does mean something to people. To be overlooked means that somebody here in this town cares about that and the Commonwealth cares about that, so that part means a tremendous amount. “I understand why they have pride in their school and why they have pride in their program. We have a very great group of young women who have not listened to other people say they are not good and who have since late August and early September committed to doing some things that not a lot of people would be committed to doing. They work so hard.”UK (13-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), ranked No. 26 and No. 27 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and Associated Press Top 25, respectfully, will look to continue its push to the top 25 and the Big Dance on Thursday at 7 p.m. at South Carolina.