The Kentucky Wildcats are falling in the rankings after a disastrous performance at Madison Square Garden in the CBS Sports Classic against the Ohio State Buckeyes. While the new AP Rankings have not yet officially launched, NET and KenPom Rankings have indicated that it may not be pretty. The decline can be very significant. Kentucky is currently 17th in the NET rankings, and they were 9th coming into the game. They dropped not only because they lost to the 32nd NET ranked team, but also because they were beaten to a pulp by them. They lost by 20 points on neutral ground; This affects things more than you think. While it’s still a Quad 1 loss, and Ohio State could have a decent season, it doesn’t look too good if you’re a Kentucky fan.

KenPom’s ratings also dropped Kentucky from 11th to 26th in a pretty significant drop. KenPom put the Buckeyes up 28 after they beat the Wildcats. The Buckeyes haven’t looked good against strong opponents this year, and they came out and worried Kentucky so much that even the layups fell short. Most major-round analysts, including ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, predicted Kentucky would be the number one seed in the tournament before this game against Ohio State. The first to give their update has now placed them as the number three seed. It’s a game the Wildcats will try to forget, and they have one more non-conference game before they have to face the undefeated Florida Gators for a great chance to get things back on track.