> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.insidekentuckybasketball.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Don’t like where Kentucky is ranked in the preseason Top 25? It doesn’t matter - URL: https://www.insidekentuckybasketball.com/dont-like-where-kentucky-is-ranked-in-the-preseason-top-25-it-doesnt-matter/ - Published: 2026-10-28T10:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-28T10:00:01.000Z - Description: The preseason expectations vary, but the stakes are high as Mark Pope enters Year 3 with the Wildcats amid a college basketball world that's getting tougher to figure out. - Author: Ben Roberts - Tags: Analysis Good luck trying to figure out who’s going to be good (or bad) in college basketball this season. The actual games will have to tell that story. That’s always been true, of course. Any attempt in October at figuring out who’s going to cut down the nets in April is almost certain to end up wrong. The last time the No. 1 team in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 rankings actually won the NCAA Tournament? North Carolina in 2009. It’s always been a guesstimation, but the recent trends of the sport — most notably, the annual mass roster changes resulting from the transfer portal — have rendered these preseason lists pretty much … not useless, exactly. But not too terribly useful. Over the past four seasons, as the portal’s importance has intensified, so has the parity, relative to early expectations. No NCAA champion during that span has been ranked better than sixth in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. (Florida was No. 21 at this time two years ago, and UConn was unranked two years before that.) In the five years that preceded that stretch, no NCAA champion had been ranked *worse* than sixth in the preseason AP poll. Each of the past three Final Fours has consisted of two teams from the preseason top 10 and two teams from outside of it. The year before that (the 2023 edition of March Madness that lived up to the nickname), only national runner-up San Diego State was ranked before the games began. Point being, there’s not much use in arguing over October rankings. They’re bound to change in the coming weeks, and the first two seasons of the Mark Pope era saw Kentucky go both ways. In Year 1, Pope’s cobbled-together Cats were No. 23 in the preseason rankings and had vaulted to No. 4 nationally less than a month into his tenure. Last season, UK started out at No. 9 and got bounced from the Top 25 altogether less than a month into the campaign. [Kentucky is No. 23 in the initial AP poll](https://www.insidekentuckybasketball.com/kentucky-will-start-the-season-at-no-23-in-the-ap-top-25-rankings/) again this preseason, with that number sure to be shifted by early games against Kansas (No. 17 in those rankings, which came out before the major addition of Trey Kaufman-Renn) and also-receiving-votes Indiana, which will host the Cats in Indianapolis on Nov. 20, exactly 10 days after the Champions Classic clash with the Jayhawks. For this UK team — and just about everyone else in college basketball — the story of the season will largely be shaped by how the Cats jell on the court. Pope has one of the nation’s top-ranked transfer classes yet again. The only groups rated higher: Rick Pitino’s St. John’s Red Storm (No. 13 in the AP poll) Pat Kelsey’s Louisville Cardinals (No. 11) and Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Volunteers (No. 8). Odds are one (or more) of these combos won’t click. As a result, expectations won’t be met. That’s the reality of the sport in 2026 and a far cry from what it looked like a couple of decades ago. In nine of the 11 seasons from 1999-2009, for instance, a preseason top five team won it all. For Kentucky, expectations for this season are all over the place. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4b/42/4b424756-e11a-4365-9300-59cc68bfbdc1/content/images/2026/10/1Z8A2064.jpeg) Kentucky players pose for the cameras after an exhibition victory over Texas Tech last week. Photo credit: James Crisp/Inside Kentucky Basketball One AP voter had the Cats at No. 13 on his preseason AP ballot. Legendary ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale ranked Kentucky at 14th. Ten of the 59 voters didn’t list Pope’s team at all. *Inside Kentucky Basketball* reached out to that group over the past few days. Of those who responded, some cited early injury troubles — a bane of the Pope era that’s currently [impacting Kam Williams, Jerone Morton and Trent Noah](https://www.insidekentuckybasketball.com/with-the-regular-season-nearly-here-what-kentuckys-missing-is-worth-a-reminder/) — as a primary reason for omission. Some said they were unsure of how the pieces would fit together. One cited his reliance on a few UK fan friends who didn’t sound very bullish on the Cats. Another said his ballot was turned in weeks ago and college football coverage was taking up too much mental space to recall why Kentucky was left out. Fair enough. It’s a lot to keep straight, especially this time of year. (And that last comment was perhaps yet another sign that maybe the numbers next to the names shouldn’t get too much attention before the games begin.) Those who focus all (or most) of their energy on college basketball aren’t all that high on the Cats this preseason either, but they are talking plenty about them, and many have been pouncing on the narrative that this will be a pivotal year for Pope. In late February — after lots had already gone wrong in Year 2 — the UK coach didn’t even warrant a mention on [ESPN’s exhaustive “hot seat” roundup](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/%5F/id/48016298/mens-college-basketball-2026-coaching-carousel-hot-seat-guide-candidates?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com), which included a large section on guys whose jobs would be in jeopardy heading into the 2026-27 season. Pope’s seat wasn’t even “warm” at that point. Fast forward a few months, and Pope has been the poster boy for these national “hot seat” lists, with both ESPN’s roundup and CBS Sports’ rundown putting him front and center. It’s one indication of an offseason where the missteps (Tyran Stokes, Rob Wright, the Mark Mitchell saga, among others) got a lot more attention than the victories (the return of Malachi Moreno, the addition of Milan Momcilovic and a top-five portal class), with the accompanying social media angst spreading beyond the most vocal portions of the UK fan base and into the national consciousness. It’s a sign of the times, as well as the place. “Give Pope any normal Power-4 job, and he's fine,” [Gary Parrish wrote in his CBS "hot seat" story](https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/coaching-hot-seat-2026-27-season-mark-pope-penny-hardaway-porter-moser/?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com) this week. “... But Pope doesn't have any normal Power-4 job.” A few days before that, Parrish said on his national college basketball podcast that Pope might need an Elite Eight appearance to keep his job beyond this season. Parrish has UK ranked No. 19 in [his own preseason rankings](https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-rankings-kansas-in-top-25-and-1-trey-kaufman-renn/?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com), by the way. [Q&A: Milan Momcilovic discusses his Kentucky basketball goalsMomcilovic talks to Inside Kentucky Basketball about the differences between UK and Iowa State, improving as a defender and living up to Mark Pope's expectations.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4b/42/4b424756-e11a-4365-9300-59cc68bfbdc1/content/images/icon/IKB-logo--final--fd6da0fd-6982-4275-82a0-b474ac73bcc2.png)Inside Kentucky BasketballBen Roberts![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4b/42/4b424756-e11a-4365-9300-59cc68bfbdc1/content/images/thumbnail/MilanTTCrisp3-2361d9af-bb5e-443b-85ae-596b8d8653b6.jpg)](https://www.insidekentuckybasketball.com/a-conversation-with-milan-momcilovic-on-becoming-a-better-player-at-kentucky/) ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, who left Pope’s name out of that February hot seat roundup, included him as one of three SEC coaches (alongside South Carolina’s Lamont Paris and Oklahoma’s Porter Moser) in [his updated list earlier this month](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/%5F/id/50181978/coaches-hot-seat-retirement-guide-2026-27?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com). In a story posted this week, Borzello also predicted that Kentucky would be the first preseason Top 25 team to be [bounced from the NCAA Tournament](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/%5F/id/50249218/mens-college-basketball-2026-27-preseason-storylines-predictions?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com). (Borzello had UK at 25th on his AP ballot.) It’s not all doom and gloom at ESPN, which listed Kentucky among the “second-weekend threats” (i.e. potential Elite Eight teams) on its [tiered list of 2027 tournament contenders](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/%5F/id/50281917/mens-college-basketball-preseason-tiers-2026-27?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com) this week. (Alabama, Kansas, Louisville and defending national champ Michigan were among the others in that tier.) CJ Moore of The Athletic (and also an AP Top 25 voter) [reshuffled his preseason rankings](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7723836/2026/10/26/mens-college-basketball-top-25-preseason-2026-27/?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com) after the first couple of weeks of exhibition season. He didn’t include Kentucky — the Cats weren’t on his AP ballot either — but did list Texas Tech (the team UK beat in Rupp last week) at No. 14\. Texas Tech is still missing All-American-caliber forward JT Toppin, it should be noted. It’s also worth noting some of the fluctuations in Moore’s rankings. Tennessee, which was 16th on his preseason ballot (and No. 8 in the actual poll) was left out of Moore’s new Top 25 completely after an ugly exhibition loss to Xavier and an even uglier one to Duke. Meanwhile, Baylor, which was 10th in the Big 12 preseason order of finish predictions, is now No. 25 on his list following an exhibition upset over AP No. 1 Florida. That’s how much perception can change after just a couple of games. And the *real* games haven’t even begun. [Mason Williams is making the most of his chance with KentuckyThe freshman guard was a standout in Kentucky's exhibition victory over No. 19 Texas Tech on Friday night. And he's shaping up as a key player for the Cats.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4b/42/4b424756-e11a-4365-9300-59cc68bfbdc1/content/images/icon/IKB-logo--final--58a3fd24-1cf0-4360-9cbd-80b13fefeeb0.png)Inside Kentucky BasketballBen Roberts![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4b/42/4b424756-e11a-4365-9300-59cc68bfbdc1/content/images/thumbnail/MasonTT-1-a5d24ae0-9033-46c4-a14d-9db76f5a9c7b.jpg)](https://www.insidekentuckybasketball.com/the-season-hasnt-started-but-mason-williams-is-looking-like-something-special/) Back to CBS, a ranking of [the top 101 teams in the country](https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/matt-norlanders-top-100-and-1-teams-cbs-sports-preseason-rankings-for-2026-27/?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com) by Parrish’s podcast partner, Matt Norlander, had Kentucky at No. 28 nationally. “Mark Pope's actually done a solid job overall — he just hasn't brought Kentucky back to the top of the sport, at least not yet,” Norlander writes. The longtime national college basketball writer also leaves the door wide open for the Wildcats to outperform that early ranking *if* all of Pope’s intriguing pieces click into place. And that’s been a common theme among these preseason rankings, which often have the Cats in the 20s with a qualifier that the ceiling could be a whole lot higher if things go according to Pope’s plan. “If the Cats get good enough guard play, watch out,” writes Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney, [who ranked UK at No. 22](https://www.si.com/college-basketball/ultimate-2026-27-mens-college-basketball-rankings-from-worst-to-first-digital-cover?ref=insidekentuckybasketball.com) on Tuesday while noting the “compelling” roster Pope has put together. If Kentucky’s players can actually *play* together — and stay relatively healthy, which would be a first for the Pope era — the number next to the Wildcats in April could look much different. Of course, if things go south, as they did last season, there might not be any number at all. Kansas City TV reporter Harold Kuntz, one of those 10 AP voters who left the Cats out of the Top 25, said that he had UK at No. 26 on his list. He told *Inside Kentucky Basketball* that he wanted to see how the new roster comes together before putting them in his rankings. Kuntz also summed up best the thankless, increasingly impossible task of putting together preseason rankings in the current landscape, which is dominated by so much roster movement — plus lingering doubt over the eligibility of several veteran players — that it's difficult to remember who ended up where or what to expect from anyone. “We're all kind of flying by the seat of our pants in this era of college basketball,” he said. 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