NCAA Basketball top 25 power rankings: UCLA and Kentucky rise, Kansas falls
By Joey Loose
6. Kentucky (17-4)
At the beginning of the season, Kentucky was winning a ton of games, but not many of them were coming against great opponents. Racking up wins is important, but we’ve been wondering for months if Kentucky could win the big games when it mattered most, especially after performances against teams like Notre Dame and LSU. This week loudly answered that question.
First off, the Wildcats narrowly avoided disaster on Tuesday, pulling out an 82-74 overtime home win over Mississippi State. Oscar Tshiebwe had 21 points and 22 rebounds and continues to make his case for national player of the year. They answered any other questions on Saturday afternoon, heading to Kansas and shocking the Jayhawks 80-62 in an outstanding victory, with a 27-point performance from Keion Brooks Jr. leading the way.
That win over Kansas is huge and greatly changes the narrative on this Kentucky team. The Wildcats are now looking really good in most analytics and ratings systems, and their offensive success is self-explanatory. Pair this success with blowout wins over North Carolina and Tennessee and maybe this Kentucky team is for real. They’ll get battle-tested again next week, with a highly-anticipated road trip to Alabama next weekend.