Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and the Wildcats remained No. 1 in both major polls for the second-consecutive week. (Britney McIntosh, UK Athletics)
With a pair of double-digit road wins, the Kentucky Wildcats backed up the top ranking they earned earlier in the week. On Monday, the Cats inched a little closer to becoming the nation’s unanimous No. 1 team.In the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Top 25, UK (21-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) received all 31 first-place votes, checking in ahead of Syracuse, Ohio State, Missouri and Duke, who were ranked second through fifth. Florida (No. 11) and Mississippi State (No. 19) were the other two SEC teams to appear in the poll, while Vanderbilt finished just outside the rankings.For the fourth week, this season UK is No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. UK got 63 out of a possible 65 first-place votes, with No. 2 Syracuse receiving the other two. Florida (No. 12), Mississippi State (No. 22) and Vanderbilt (No. 25) joined UK from the SEC.The AP also released its weekly women’s poll and UK Hoops (20-2, 9-0 SEC) remained at No. 6.