Kentucky Wildcats News: UK Basketball in the early SEC Power Rankings

Tip-off for Kentucky Basketball’s season opener is still nearly four months away, but Jon Rothstein has already released his early SEC Basketball rankings.

Rothstein has Kentucky ranked 5th in the conference behind Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Vanderbilt, Alabama, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Georgia make up the bottom half of the top 10.

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Obviously, these rankings are very early, but #5 is probably a fairly safe place to put this Kentucky team. There are still a lot of questions left to be answered regarding what this team’s ceiling can be.

How will Alex Wilkins adapt from playing in the Southern Conference to the SEC? How improved will Malachi Moreno be? How will Ousmane N’Diaye’s game translate to American college basketball?

Those three questions really will determine how Kentucky fits into the SEC pecking order.

What is clear is that the SEC is going to be a strong conference once again this year.

Florida has arguably the best front court in the country and will likely contend for a national title. Texas brings back one of the best big men in the conference and brought in a talented transfer class led by TCU forward David Punch and Colorado guard Isaiah Johnson. Tennessee and Rick Barnes seems to be shifting from a defensive priority to more offense, bringing in one of the top scorers in the portal in Juke Harris, along with VCU guard Terrence Hill. Arkansas returns Billy Richmond to go along with a talented freshman class led by Jordan Smith and Miikka Muurinen.

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That’s not to mention Vanderbilt, which returns Tyler Tanner, an early candidate for SEC Player of the Year, or an Alabama squad led by Nate Oats, who has had at least 13 conference wins each of the last four seasons.

Needless to say, the SEC will be a gauntlet this season.

What do you think about Kentucky’s spot in Rothstein’s rankings?

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