Mark Pope‘s second offseason as the Kentucky men’s basketball head coach has gone about as well as most hoped. Despite losing several pieces from last season’s group through the portal or exhausted eligibility, Pope has rebuilt his team into a 13-man roster thanks to the transfer portal, a couple of high school recruits, and some key returning pieces (Otega Oweh still pending).
Kentucky’s offseason success has the Wildcats looking at a potential top 10 ranking come the fall. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello dropped an updated preseason Top 25 that included Kentucky at No. 11 in the country — a one-spot drop from the previous update a couple of weeks ago. On that note, On3’s Jamie Shaw also released a fresh batch of rankings on Tuesday, slotting the Wildcats a bit higher at No. 7 overall.
After adding 7-foot-1 Miami (OH) transfer center Reece Potter on Monday, Kentucky expects to have one of the deepest and more versatile teams in the country next season. That’s being reflected so far this offseason in the preseason polls.
Updated Way-Too-Early Top 25, version 4.0:
1. Purdue
2. UConn
3. St. John’s
4. Houston
5. BYU
6. Duke
7. Louisville
8. Texas Tech
9. Michigan
10. Arkansas
11. Kentucky
12. Arizona— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) May 6, 2025
Even without knowing the full schedule, Kentucky is going to have a challenging road in 2025-26. Going off ESPN’s preseason rankings, the ‘Cats are already locked in to face at least 10 ranked schools next season, including a couple in the top five.
Below are Kentucky’s non-conference opponents that ESPN ranked in its preseason Top 25.:
- No. 1 Purdue (EXH)
- No. 3 St. John’s
- No. 7 Louisville
- No. 22 Gonzaga
- No. 23 Michigan State
And here are Kentucky’s SEC opponents ranked among ESPN’s latest Top 25 (Texas sits in the “Next in Line” group):
- No. 10 Arkansas
- No. 15 Auburn
- No. 18 Florida
- No. 20 Tennessee
- No. 24 Alabama
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