Despite not playing this week, the Kentucky Wildcats kept their stranglehold on the Associated Press college basketball poll.

In week 9 of the top 25 ranking, Kentucky remained the unanimous number one for the fifth straight week, while claiming the top spot every week. The Wildcats' last game was a Dec. 27 58-50 win over Louisville to improve to 13-0.

Kentucky will start its conference schedule with a home game Tuesday night against Ole Miss, followed by two more games this week, one on the road against Texas A&M and another home game against Missouri.

Duke (2), Virginia (3), Wisconsin (4) and Louisville (5) stayed where they were to round out an unchanged top five. Villanova (8) dropped two spots after an upset loss to Seton Hall (19) to make way for Gonzaga (6) and Arizona (7) to move up one place. Also rising one spot, Utah (9) and Texas (10) finished the top 10.

Washington, Northern Iowa, Colorado State and Georgetown all left the rankings, making way for Seton Hall, Virginia Commonwealth (20), Arkansas (23) and Old Dominion (25), making its top 25 debut in the history of the team.

Aside from Kentucky, Arkansas is the only ranked team in the SEC, so the Wildcats' potential journey to earn a one-seed for the tournament should not be difficult. The team has won with big, athletic players all over the court who play physical defense and unselfish offense.

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