A wise man — or Will Ferrell from “Talladega Nights” — once said if you’re not first, you’re last.

Well, he was wrong.

UK finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in both major polls. The Cats finished behind Kansas in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, picking up two first-place votes in the AP.

But when one considers where UK was a year ago from today — headed for the National Invitation Tournament — to No. 2 in the nation, finishing second doesn’t seem so bad after all. Clearly, with the postseason still to be played, UK has made a one-year turnaround to national prominence.

The top four — Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke — are the same in both polls. Ohio State checks in at No. 5 in the AP poll and Purdue is No. 5 in the Coaches poll.

Men’s bracketology (UK a No. 1 seed) Women’s bracketology (Cats a No. 4 seed)

AP Top 251 Kansas (63)  29-2 1,623 2 Kentucky (2)  29-2 1,553 3 Syracuse 28-3 1,500 4 Duke 26-5 1,348 5 Ohio State 24-7 1,344 6 Purdue 26-4 1,252 7 West Virginia 24-6 1,231 8 New Mexico 28-3 1,188 9 Kansas State 24-6 1,063 10 Villanova 24-6 1,016 11 Michigan State 24-7 1,015 12 Butler 27-4 796 13 Wisconsin 23-7 710 14 Brigham Young 28-4 690 15 Tennessee 23-7 650 16 Pittsburgh 24-7 644 17 Temple 26-5 552 18 Gonzaga 26-5 534 19 Maryland 23-7 499 20 Vanderbilt 23-7 480 21 Baylor 24-6 474 22 Georgetown 20-9 277 23 Texas A&M 22-8 271 24 Xavier 23-7 136 25 UTEP 24-5 134Coaches Poll1 Kansas (30)  29-2 774 2 Kentucky 29-2 740 3 Syracuse (1)  28-3 709 4 Duke 26-5 661 5 Purdue 26-4 625 6 West Virginia 24-6 610 7 Ohio State 24-7 604 8 New Mexico 28-3 526 9 Kansas State 24-6 501 10 Villanova 24-6 476 11 Michigan State 24-7 463 12 Butler 27-4 461 13 Tennessee 23-7 387 14 Gonzaga 26-5 347 15 Brigham Young 28-4 324 16 Pittsburgh 24-7 295 17 Temple 26-5 282 18 Wisconsin 23-7 273 19 Maryland 23-7 210 20 Baylor 24-6 167 21 UTEP 24-5 153 22 Georgetown 20-9 125 23 Vanderbilt 23-7 117 24 Texas A&M 22-8 103 25 Northern Iowa 28-4 54