CBS Sports dropped Kentucky five spots to No. 17 in the Top 25 and 1 rankings following the Mark Mitchell news on Monday.
The Wildcats had jumped up to No. 12 when Mitchell initially committed on Aug. 22.
Here’s an excerpt about the reasoning for the drop:
The answer is more or less that fifth-year players like Mitchell are facing increased scrutiny and legal hurdles to actually play a fifth year — and Mitchell’s camp reportedly concluded that the path to competing this season is less complicated at Missouri than it would’ve been at Kentucky because of the SEC’s intra-conference rules that state an athlete can only transfer within the league “within the sport’s regular NCAA transfer window immediately following the sport’s championship segment.”
Mitchell did not do that — most obviously because, like all other graduating seniors, he believed he was out of eligibility “immediately following the sport’s championship segment.” Then came the so-called five-for-five rule in June. Then came a bunch of lawsuits. Now confusion rules the day.
To be clear, Mitchell could’ve made a compelling argument for why he should’ve been allowed to play at Kentucky this season despite not entering the transfer portal “within the sport’s regular NCAA transfer window immediately following the sport’s championship segment.” But the truth is that making a compelling argument is not enough. Mitchell would’ve also had to win the argument. And that risk is a risk he and his advisors ultimately decided to take off the table in time to enroll at Missouri by Monday’s deadline.
