ESPN asks biggest question facing Kentucky ahead of 2024-25 season

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Mark Pope at Kentucky men’s basketball practice - Tyler Ruth, UK Athletics

Football season is in full swing, but the folks at ESPN are asking the “tough” questions as we gear up for the start of basketball season next month.

Staff writer Jeff Borzello released his “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 rankings on Monday, which included Kentucky at No. 23. There were no adjustments from his previous update that came out in August though — instead, Borzello uses his preseason Top 25 as an excuse to ask the biggest question facing every team on his list going into the 2024-25 season.

What is the potential issue facing the Wildcats? To little surprise, it has to do with new head coach Mark Pope and how much time he’ll need to get his team rolling in Lexington — a question members of the Big Blue Nation have been asking since April.

“How long will it take Mark Pope to piece things together?” Borzello asked. “While there are other teams in the rankings that underwent rebuilds, none were as significant as Kentucky’s. Zero players returned to Lexington from last season, and Pope is bringing only one with him from BYU. There are a lot of intriguing players — and ample experience — on the Wildcats’ roster, but it could take time for them to mesh.”

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But the more notable part of this article was the projected starting lineups that Borzell provided for each team. Here is what he wrote down for Kentucky:

PG Kerr Kriisa
SG Otega Oweh
W Jaxson Robinson
PF Andrew Carr
C Amari Williams

I actually might agree with Borzello on the projected starting five. Some will argue that Lamont Butler should start over Kriisa at point guard (or maybe even next to Kriisa at the two) or that Koby Brea might deserve a look at the two over someone younger like Oweh. But you really can’t go wrong with that rotation. It also certainly feels penciled in that Robinson, Carr, and Williams will fill out the frontcourt.

ESPN’s “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 Rankings

The first thing that stands out (to me) when looking at Borzello’s preseason rankings is how many Southeastern Conference schools made the cut. There are nine SEC programs among the Top 25, headlined by Alabama at No. 2 overall. Nos. 11-14 are all SEC teams, as well. John Calipari’s first Arkansas team checks in at No. 14.