They’re grumbling in Lexington these days.

Kentucky, preseason No. 4, fell out of the rankings this week after a 14-point Missouri loss was its fourth in the first 12 games. That paired with a stunning first-round loss in last year’s NCAA tournament has the bluegrass state restless.

The Wildcats (10-4, 1-1 SEC) have won two straight since then as they come to Coleman Coliseum for a noon CT Saturday meeting with No. 7 Alabama.

What does Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats think of any Kentucky discontent with this team or coach John Calipari?

“They’re spoiled,” Oats said to close out his answer. “They’re probably a lot like Alabama football fans, to be honest with you. Like, we’re not in the College Football Playoffs and everybody’s upset and acts like it’s a bad year. Shoot, I don’t know what the final football polls were but after watching to the games previous, it looked like we might be in the top three or four teams in the country still and people are upset around here.

“Well, if Kentucky’s not in the top 3 or 4, people are probably upset up there. They’re a really good team, though.”

Alabama (12-2, 2-0 SEC) is the team with momentum entering this one. It has a 70% shot at beating the Wildcats, according to KenPom’s analytics.

This is a Kentucky team that’s 1-4 away from home with losses to Michigan State, Gonzaga, UCLA and Missouri. Two of those four are currently in the top-10 and Missouri (12-2) hit No. 20 last week before falling at No. 13 Arkansas.

Having the unsatisfied fans “is part of being at Kentucky,” Oats said.

“To me, they’ve played a good schedule,” Oats said. “I mean, they’re good. They fixed some of their … I think they were upset they didn’t have enough shooting before and now they’re leading the SEC in 3-point percentage.”

Alabama’s coming off a third straight win, 84-62 over Ole Miss, on Tuesday. Its only losses came to UConn and Gonzaga, both top-10 teams in the current polls.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.