Kentucky opens season ranked No. 16 in Coaches Poll

Kentucky will enter the 2023-24 college basketball season ranked as the consensus No. 16 team in the nation. After opening just outside the top 15 in the official Preseason AP College Basketball Poll, the Wildcats earned the same ranking in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll later Monday evening.

Five SEC teams are ranked, two conference foes sitting ahead of Kentucky in the standings — Tennessee at No. 10 and Arkansas at No. 14 — and two behind in Texas A&M at No. 19 and Alabama at No. 24.

The Wildcats have eight top-25 opponents currently on the schedule in No. 1 Kansas, No. 12 Gonzaga, No. 13 Miami and No. 21 North Carolina, along with the four other ranked teams in the SEC.

Beyond the Jayhawks — now second on college basketball’s all-time win list behind Kentucky — is Purdue at No. 2, Duke at No. 3, Michigan State at No. 4 and UConn at No. 5.

Check out the complete Coaches Poll below:

RANK	TEAM	POINTS
1	Kansas	785 (23)
2	Purdue	742 (5)
3	Duke	716 (3)
4	Michigan State	667
5	UConn	626 (1)
6	Houston	615
7	Marquette	614
8	Creighton	552
9	Florida Atlantic	548
10	Tennessee	496
11	Arizona	449
12	Gonzaga	407
13	Miami (FL)	390
14	Arkansas	315
15	San Diego State	277
16	Kentucky	261
17	Baylor	258
18	Texas	251
19	Texas A&M	231
20	Villanova	217
21	North Carolina	197
22	USC	176
23	Saint Mary’s	147
24	Alabama	142
25	UCLA	52

Others Receiving Votes: Illinois 45; Wisconsin 43; Maryland 29; TCU 26; Colorado 21; Xavier 17; Ohio State 16; Virginia 13; St. John’s 13; Kansas State 8; Indiana 7; Washington 5; Florida 5; Auburn 5; Missouri 4; Oregon 3; Memphis 3; Mississippi State 2; Iowa State 2; Yale 1; Boise State 1

Kentucky ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll

A few swaps and drops, but the Coaches and AP Polls consist of all of the same teams with the exception of No. 25 overall in both. While UCLA makes up the final ranked team in tonight’s update, the AP Poll has Illinois rounding things out.

Take a look:

RANK	TEAM	POINTS
1	Kansas	1548 (46)
2	Duke	1466 (11)
3	Purdue	1436 (3)
4	Michigan State	1346 (1)
5	Marquette	1283
6	UConn	1243 (2)
7	Houston	1117
8	Creighton	1099
9	Tennessee	1032
10	Florida Atlantic	1011
11	Gonzaga	830
12	Arizona	776
13	Miami (FL)	750
14	Arkansas	685
15	Texas A&M	597
16	Kentucky	530
17	San Diego State	529
18	Texas	493
19	North Carolina	474
20	Baylor	431
21	USC	427
22	Villanova	395
23	Saint Mary’s	335
24	Alabama	163
25	Illinois	104

Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin 53, Colorado 49, UCLA 47, St. John’s 47, Maryland 34, Virginia 27, Auburn 27, TCU 24, Mississippi St. 20, Kansas St 13, Xavier 8, Memphis 7, Missouri 6, Boise St. 4, Indiana 3, Florida 2, Coll of Charleston 2, New Mexico 1, Drake 1.

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KenPom, other preseason rankings

It’s preseason rankings week in the college basketball world. Beyond the official AP and Coaches Polls, other outlets are starting to release their own polls, highlighted by the debut of the KenPom ratings.

There, Kentucky came in at No. 18 overall with an adjusted efficiency margin of 20.30. The AdjEM is the difference between a team’s offensive and defensive efficiency, meaning Kentucky is expected to outscore the average D-1 team over 100 possessions by 20.30. Kentucky ranks fifth in the SEC behind Tennessee (No. 8), Alabama (No. 10), Arkansas (No. 14), and Auburn (No. 15).

Here’s a rundown of where Kentucky sits in the other preseason rankings:

• ESPN: No. 15
• CBS Sports: No. 16
• The Athletic: No. 16
• KenPom: No. 18
• Jon Rothstein: No. 21

Basketball season is here, BBN.