Weekly college basketball poll rankings: Kentucky drops to 6th; South Carolina, Florida move up in AP poll

The new AP poll is out, and there’s a new #1 this week.

The Villanova Wildcats moved up to the top spot after last week’s #1, the SEC’s Kentucky Wildcats, lost 97-92 to UCLA on Saturday. Kentucky dropped to #6, their lowest ranking of the season, after picking up their first loss of the year. UCLA moved up from #11 to #2 as a result of the win.

Two other SEC teams are ranked in this week’s poll. The South Carolina Gamecocks moved up one spot to 19th after a week that saw them beat Vermont and Florida International, the latter without currently suspended star player Sindarius Thornwell. The Gamecocks remain undefeated on the season and are off for finals this week; their next game is on December 12 against Seton Hall.

The Florida Gators played one game last week, a 91-60 win at North Florida, but that was enough to move them up three spots from 24th to 21st. The Gators are currently 7-1 on the season and have an opportunity for a marquee win on Tuesday as they head to New York to play Duke, who’s currently 5th in the AP poll. They also play at Florida State (which is currently 30th in the “also receiving votes” small print) on Sunday; something tells me that one way or another, Florida will be moving in the polls next week.