Louisville No. 21, Kentucky No. 12 in final AP men's college basketball Top 25

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For the first time in five years, the University of Louisville men's basketball team finished its season ranked in the AP Top 25.

Confirmation came Tuesday afternoon when Pat Kelsey's first Cardinal team landed at No. 21 in the final AP poll.

The top five teams were (in order) national champion Florida, runner-up Houston, Duke, Auburn and Tennessee.

Mark Pope's Kentucky squad joined the Cards in the Top 25, finishing No. 12.

Louisville was unranked at the beginning of the season, cracked the poll in Week 12 and climbed as high as No. 10 before the Cards lost to Creighton, 89-75, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

At 27-8, Louisville delivered a 19-game improvement over last season. The Cards finished 18-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, trailing only Duke. Louisville was also the runner-up in the ACC Tournament.

Louisville finished No. 14 in the final 2020 AP poll under former coach Chris Mack. That was the COVID-19 season that ended with the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcat were 23rd in the AP preseason poll. Kentucky moved to No. 4 in Weeks 5 and 7 and remained in the Top 25 over the entire season. UK ended its 24-12 season with a loss to Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen.

The final ranking is eight spots higher than the Wildcats finished a year ago in John Calipari's farewell season. Below is the full poll: