Jan. 25, 2010

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The UK men’s basketball team has risen to the top of the polls for the first time since the 2003 season.

At 19-0 (4-0 SEC), the Wildcats remain the nation’s only undefeated team heading into its Tuesday night game at South Carolina.

Kentucky’s last game as the No. 1 team (AP) in the country was in the NCAA Midwest Regional Finals. The Wildcats dropped an 83-69 game to Dwyane Wade and Marquette.

Kentucky owns a 153-23 all-time mark as the top-ranked team (AP) in the country and has won seven of their last nine games as the AP’s No. 1 team.

UK head coach John Calipari is one of just two coaches (Frank McGuire) to lead three teams to a No. 1 ranking. Calipari is 41-5 as the top-ranked coach in the country. He tallied a 32-4 mark at UMass when the Minutemen were No. 1 and he was 9-1 at Memphis when he had the Tigers at the pinnacle of the rankings.

The Wildcats’ game at South Carolina on Tuesday is scheduled for a 9:00 p.m. ET tip-off and will be televised on ESPN.