Alabama rose one spot to No. 7 in Monday’s Associated Press men’s basketball poll ahead of its first two home SEC games of the season.

The Tide (11-2) will host Ole Miss on Tuesday night before Kentucky comes to Coleman Coliseum on Saturday.

The Wildcats fell out of the AP’s top 25 this week after losing 89-75 to Missouri last Wednesday. That dropped Kentucky to 9-4, with its previous three losses coming to Michigan State, Gonzaga and UCLA.

Ole Miss dropped its SEC opener last week to Tennessee and has lost five of its last seven games, including one to North Alabama on Dec. 20.

Alabama played one game last week, defeating then-No. 21 Mississippi State in Starkville. The Bulldogs dropped from the AP’s top 25 this week after the loss.

The coaches poll will be released later Monday. Alabama was No. 9 in that poll last week.

Alabama is No. 8 in the NET rankings used by the NCAA tournament committee, with the nation’s seventh-hardest strength of schedule by that metric.

AP top 25:

1. Purdue (60)

2. Houston

3. Kansas

4. UConn (1)

5. Arizona

6. Texas

7. Alabama

8. Tennessee

9. Gonzaga

10. UCLA

11. Virginia

12. Miami

13. Arkansas

14. Wisconsin

15. Indiana

16. Duke

17. TCU

18. Xavier

19. Baylor

20. Missouri

21. New Mexico

22. Auburn

23. College of Charleston

24. Ohio State

25. Iowa State

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.