Kentucky Ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25, USA Today Coaches’ Poll

LEXINGTON, Ky.  – The Kentucky men’s basketball team is the top team in the land according to the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Wildcats landed at No. 1 in both major polls released Monday.

The Wildcats picked up 59 of the 65 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 and 28 of the 31 first-place votes in the Coaches’ Poll. 

For the fifth time in John Calipari’s seven seasons at Kentucky the Wildcats have appeared at No. 1 at some point during the season in both major polls. 

“It’s just a credit to Coach Calipari, the players and everybody that helps this program out,” assistant coach John Robic said at UK’s pre-Boston University media opportunity. “It’s a team effort and it’s what you shoot for. You want to be the last one standing at the end of every year, but again, like I just said, it’s neat for these kids. They have never experienced this ever before and this is basically a whole new group. It’s hard, but it’s rewarding.”

UK is 63-5 as the AP No. 1 team in the country since Calipari’s first year at the helm, the best record in the country by a top-ranked team during that span. Calipari is 104-10 all-time as head coach of the AP’s top-ranked team.

The Wildcats own an all-time record of 215-28 (.885) at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, including victories in 60 of their last 63 contests as the AP’s top team. 

“It’s honestly just a number,” junior forward Marcus Lee said at the media opportunity. “Each team is just as equal right now. It’s the beginning of the season. It really doesn’t even matter. It’s not really going to—rankings don’t even really matter until March. And then at that moment it really doesn’t matter until the last four teams.”

With 120 weeks atop the AP Top 25, UK trails only UCLA (134) and Duke (127) for most weeks at No. 1.

Kentucky was ranked No. 1 the entire season in 2014-15. The Wildcats shared the top spot with North Carolina in the Coaches’ Poll to begin this season before falling to No. 2 last week.

Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena on Tuesday vs. Boston at 9 p.m. The game is set to air live on the SEC Network. 

For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.