College basketball rankings: Kentucky drops out of Top 25 And 1 after loss to Georgia Tech has Wildcats 1-3

John Calipari’s Kentucky teams that are this reliant on first-year players always experience a bumpy path. I’ve written and talked about it many times. So nobody should be too surprised that his Wildcats have struggled in the opening 12 days of this season. But even I didn’t expect UK to start 1-3 with losses to Richmond, Kansas and Georgia Tech.

“Everybody is knocking us around right now,” Calipari acknowledged following Sunday’s 79-62 loss to Josh Pastner’s Yellow Jackets.

This rough start is the byproduct of Kentucky losing eight of the top nine scorers from last season’s team that won the SEC by multiple games — and the lone returning player, Keion Brooks, is sidelined with an injury. So the Wildcats are, at this moment, nothing but new faces. And though they have some talented pieces on the roster in the form of BJ Boston and Terrence Clarke, the lack of experience, lack of shooting, and undeniable problem at point guard, has made everything difficult.

Itching for more college hoops analysis? Listen below and subscribe to the Eye on College Basketball podcast where we take you beyond the hardwood with insider information and instant reactions.

The Wildcats are shooting 25.8% from 3-point range. That ranks 244th nationally. They’re turning the ball over on 25.4% of their possessions. That ranks 262nd nationally.

An obvious issue is Devin Askew.

UK’s starting point guard is a talented prospect, for sure, someone who ranked 32nd in the Class of 2020, according to 247Sports. But he is not a five-star freshman like former UK point guards John Wall, Marquise Teague, Andrew Harrison, Tyler Ulis and De’Aaron Fox were once labeled. So the adjustment to this level has been tough. And it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Askew is averaging just 6.0 points and 2.0 assists — with 3.3 turnovers — in 28.5 minutes per game.

None if it means Askew can’t be good someday. But he’s not good enough right now. So Calipari will likely need to exhaust all other options at lead guard even if there isn’t a perfect place to turn.

There is no sensible way to continue to rank Kentucky with a 1-3 record. So the Wildcats have been removed from Monday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1. They’ve been replaced by Saint Louis, which is 3-0 with a win over LSU heading into Tuesday’s game with Central Arkansas.