5 Reasons Why Kentucky Deserves To Be Ranked In Tomorrow's Top 25
After an up-and-down week 14 of college basketball, who should be in the Top 25 for week 15?
Here are five reasons why Kentucky should make the cut:
5.) Conference Standings:
The Wildcats are one game behind No. 2 Florida in Southeastern Conference standings. Kentucky is ahead of Missouri and Ole Miss – each of which are either currently ranked or just dropped out of the Top 25. Not only that, but the Wildcats have won five straight going into Tuesday's game against Florida.
4.)WCS Is 100%:
After a minor knee surgery, Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky's 7-foot power forward, is 100 percent. Cauley-Stein not only gives Kentucky depth, but he also provides height and a lot of energy. Between Cauley-Stein and Nerlens Noel, few teams will be able to get a shot off in the paint. Having Cauley-Stein back gives Kentucky a new look that will benefit the team’s chemistry on the court.
3.) Tough Schedule:
Comparatively, Kentucky has had a challenging schedule. Three out of its six losses are to Top 25 teams (Duke, Louisville and Notre Dame). Granted, the other three losses will not look good on the team’s tournament resume, but after this week of college basketball, what team has not had a regrettable loss? No. 1 Indiana lost to unranked Illinois this week. No. 2 ranked Florida was blown out by unranked Arkansas. No. 3 Michigan lost to Wisconsin. No. 5 Kansas has lost three straight games – the last two on the road at TCU and Oklahoma. The 2012-13 college basketball season has been one of the most volatile and surprising seasons yet.
2.) Lots of Top 25 losses:
Four out of the top five teams lost this week. Duke barely pulled it out against Boston College. Ranked teams lost 15 of 37 games this week. With five losses from teams outside the Top 10, there is room for fringe teams to move into the Top 25.
1.) UK's Talent Level:
Offense: Kyle Wiltjer and Julius Mays have had the hot hand in the previous few games. Mays and Wiltjer are both averaging around five 3-pointers a game. In yesterday's game against Auburn, Wiltjer led the team with 14 points while four other Wildcats scored in the double digits.
Defense: Nerlens Noel has more blocked shots than the majority of SEC teams as a whole with 103 total. Willie Cauley-Stein is the closest Wildcat to Noel with a total of 33 blocks. Not only is Kentucky one of the best shot blocking teams in the country, but the shot blockers also have quick hands on the defensive end. Noel leads the team in steals per game with Archie Goodwin following.
The Kentucky Wildcats still have a lot to prove. They may have a tough schedule coming up – with games against Florida and Missouri on the horizon – but they have the talent to be a strong contender for the Top 25 for when the polls come out this week.
With the way this college basketball season has been, anything can happen over the next five weeks leading up to Selection Sunday.
