The Kentucky Wildcats are considered the top contender according to preseason poll predictions

As basketball season approaches, the top basketball analysts and experts are beginning to create their power rankings and top 25 predictions for the season. A consistent theme is emerging for Kentucky: They are on these lists, which is astonishing considering where this program was just a few months ago.

Head coach Mark Pope was hired on April 12, 2024 and walked into a completely empty locker room. There were no players left except for a few walk-ons. He had to jump into the transfer portal immediately and secure some new additions while also trying to snag a few last-minute recruits. He managed to recruit Collin Chandler, who committed to him at BYU, and snagged a local kid, Trevor Noah, who had decommitted from South Carolina.

He added the rest from the transfer portal, which included Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea, Andrew Carr, Brandon Garrison, Ansley Almonor and Amari Williams.

Considering the entire team and coaching staff are brand new, but we're now flirting with a preseason ranking, that's a big hat tip to Mark Pope and the team. They were able to win back the hearts of Kentucky fans and the general consensus of college analysts.

We recently posted Jon Rothstein's reaction to his visit to Kentucky's practice. After watching practice, he gave his starting five prediction, calling them an NCAA tournament team. He was very impressed with Andrew Carr and even freshman Collin Chandler.

Fansided's basketball analyst Tristan Freeman of BustingBrackets.com released his annual “NCAA Basketball: Preseason Top 25 Power Rankings for the 2024-25 Season.” I was really surprised at how highly he rated the Wildcats. I don't want to reveal where he placed them, but he had them over Ole Miss and Florida. He also said of Kentucky: “It's a roster full of experienced and proven talent, and based on what Coach Pope did at BYU, the Wildcats should be good this season. But will they be good enough to satisfy the Kentucky fan base?”

About a month ago, ESPN's Jeff Borzello did his Way-Too-Early Top 25 and had it break into the top 25 with a ranking of 23, right where it was from Twitter account The Field of 68”.

Where will they be when the official pre-season poll is released? Time will tell, but the hype around Kentucky is growing. With Coach Pope also making waves in the recruiting circle, we may have struck gold with one of our colleagues, Mark Pope.