Kentucky ranked preseason No. 1 by The Sporting News

The current college basketball season hasn’t crowned a champion and The Sporting News already ranked teams for next year. Mike DeCourcy’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2022-2023 dropped on Championship Monday with an acknowledgment of its absurdity. “We carry on, anyway, because we know you’re curious,” DeCourcy wrote.

Now for the wildest part. DeCourcy ranked your University of Kentucky Wildcats first overall in The Sporting News’ debut preseason top 25. He has the Wildcats at No. 1 as long as Oscar Tshiebwe is on the roster; if Tshiebwe leaves, there will be a fall in the rankings, DeCourcy explained.

There is no mention of Shaedon Sharpe.

1. KENTUCKY

2022 finish: 26-8, NCAA round of 64

Overview: The Wildcats won’t be here when we release this list in the fall if Oscar Tshiebwe, The Sporting News Player of the Year, does not return for another season. He won enough such trophies that he doesn’t have anything more to prove as an individual collegian, but he might want to win an NCAA Tournament game before he leaves, and there could be money for him in the NIL category. And it appears unlikely he will be a first-round pick.

Tshiebwe would be wise to enter the draft to get the best possible information, which seems almost certain, but he could return. The Wildcats have recruited two top-10 wings in the 2022 recruiting class, should get more out of this year’s freshmen, Bryce Hopkins and Daimion Collins, and still should have point guard Sahvir Wheeler in charge of the offense.

With a few more prospects gathered from the transfer portal, there could be enough here to make disgruntled Kentucky fans forget Saint Peter’s.

The Sporting News

See how DeCourcy ranked the rest of the field over at The Sporting News.

Let us know in the comments if you rolled your eyes when you read the headline.