Monday Headlines: Kentucky in the College Basketball Rankings

Kentucky Basketball had a highly positive week for the first time in a while, sweeping their opponents to bounce back from a three-game losing streak.

The Wildcats first handled business against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday before showing up and showing out for their fans at Rupp Arena on Saturday in a dominant win over No. 25 Vanderbilt.

It was now or never for head coach Mark Pope and his team, who delivered in a big way this past week.

As the regular season comes to a close on Saturday, Kentucky has two games left to attempt to improve its seeding for the Southeastern Conference Tournament, along with its resume for a potential NCAA Tournament bid.

That won’t be easy, though, as the Wildcats have to travel to Texas A&M on Tuesday before hosting Florida on Senior Day.

Going 1-1 this week would allow them to reach the 20-win mark and is probably the best-case-scenario after watching what Florida did to Arkansas this past Saturday.

For now, the Wildcats are on the outside looking in when it comes to the Top-25 rankings, but all of DRatings, EvanMiya, and Haslametrics each have Kentucky at No. 23 in their latest release, so maybe they’re trending in the right direction.

As for the women’s team, they picked up a much-needed win at Auburn last Thursday before a narrow home loss to South Carolina on Saturday to wrap up their regular season.

They finish with a 21-8 record (8-7 in conference play) and will next look to the SEC Tournament with hopes of improving their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.