What media outlets are saying about Kentucky basketball ahead of the 2025-26 season
Big Blue Madness marks the start of the lead up to the next college basketball season so after Saturday night’s event in Lexington all eyes are on Mark Pope’s second team.
We’re covering everything that comes out of Pope’s mouth with regard to Kentucky’s 2025-26 team but it’s also wise to keep track of what national pundits and media outlets are saying because they make some attempt to position UK into the overall landscape with context.
There’s also a lot of college basketball content coming out in terms of predictions.
Jeff Borzello has Kentucky ranked No. 9
Here’s what the ESPN writer had to say in picking Kentucky just inside the top-10 but behind some of the teams he regards as the leading contenders nationally.
“Mark Pope won’t be short of depth this season, with a roster that looks capable of going 11 or 12 deep, minimum. All-SEC guard Otega Oweh leads the returnees, and Pitt transfer Jaland Lowe and projected lottery pick Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State) are the top newcomers. Quaintance’s availability is up in the air after he tore an ACL in February, but there are more than enough options to fill in the gaps until he returns, with positive offseason reports on big man Brandon Garrison. This team should also be much more effective defensively than it was last season.”
In order, the teams that Borzello has ranked ahead of Kentucky include Purdue, Florida, Houston, UCONN, St. John’s, Louisville, BYU, and Michigan. So he has Kentucky as the SEC’s second-best team going into the season.
Purdue, Florida, and Houston are three teams that are consistently placed high in preseason rankings.
Pomeroy, Miyakawa have UK strong on both ends
Ken Pomeroy has Kentucky ranked No. 4 based upon his method’s calculation of anticipated roster strength. He has Kentucky with the nation’s eighth-best offense and fourth-best defense.
Houston, Florida, and Purdue are the three teams Pomeroy has ahead of Pope’s squad.
Evan Miyakawa also does analytic-based projections and outcomes. He has Kentucky No. 11 going into the season, slightly lower than Pomeroy and some others. Miyakawa gives Kentucky the nation’s second-best transfer class.
AP Poll Predictions
Both On3 and CBS Sports have made predictions regarding what they believe the AP Poll is going to look like.
On3’s projection of the top-25 includes Kentucky at No. 7 with the snippet, “Kentucky brings back the production of Brandon Garrison and Otega Oweh, with the addition of a long list of recruits and transfers which is headlined by Jasper Johnson, Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance. Mark Pope continues to create a culture, which he looks to build on.”
But Kyle Boone believes Kentucky will place No. 11 so he views it more like Miyakawa.
There is a clear consensus emerging in the preseason rankings. Herding could be a phenomenon at play but Purdue, Houston, and Florida seem to almost universally be regarded as the three best teams on paper. The question is how close Kentucky is placed to those teams in the rankings. There are some pundits who have UK just a couple of spots behind those teams but more frequently Kentucky is in the 7 to 11 range. If those rankings are the close to the national view of the sport then Kentucky should be regarded as a very interesting team and a contender but not in the highest tier.
Lunardi projects Kentucky as a 3-seed
Joe Lunardi does ESPN’s Bracketology and he updates his projections year round even in the offseason.
His latest update to Bracketology came on September 23. Lunardi has Kentucky as a three seed in the West, where Purdue is the one seed.
Player Rankings
CBS Sports rated the top players in college basketball by position over the summer and there are items of note for Kentucky fans.
Jaland Lowe was listed as the nation’s No. 5 point guard. “Other initiator point guards had better seasons than Lowe last year, but this is a bet on Mark Pope doing what Mark Pope does with lead guards. Otega Oweh and Lamont Butler posted the best offensive seasons of their careers under Pope’s watchful eye, and Lowe should be up next to hit the jetpack joy ride. Lowe’s talent is undeniable, both as a scorer and a playmaker. The lefty, dynamic floor general can crease defenses with slashing drives in a flash. With a much-improved shot diet at Kentucky, Lowe should go vroom-vroom.”
Otega Oweh was listed as the nation’s No. 2-ranked shooting guard. Only BYU freshman A.J. Dybantsa is ranked ahead him.
The explanation: “Oweh is just a dawg. Oweh takes tough defensive assignments every night, and has turned himself into one of the premier transition scorers in college basketball. Oweh is a freight train going downhill, and he hammered 47 dunks. Not many wings can match that number.”
Earlier this month On3 took a stab at ranking the top 100 players in college basketball as well.
Mo Dioubate (No. 83), Lowe (No. 52), Jayden Quaintance (No. 49), and Oweh (No. 16) were the Kentucky players to make the list.
Right now the consensus seems to be that Oweh is Kentucky’s best chance for something like SEC Player of the Year or national honors and Lowe may be regarded as the second most likely. So the backcourt is strong not only in its depth but it’s top line talent.
What’s next for the SEC?
What’s next for the SEC after an historic season that ended with Florida cutting down the nets and a record-number of league teams making the NCAA Tournament?
It will be tough for the SEC to match last year’s performance but the New York Times notes that 28 of the top 100 incoming freshmen in college basketball picked SEC schools and that’s the most for any conference.
The Times calls Kentucky “ridiculously deep” and notes that Pope prioritized defense after seeing how last year played out. “Offensively, the concerns for this group are whether there’s enough shooting and if Lowe is a fit. He is a ball-dominant guard and Pope likes to use his big men as the triggers.”
But they do list Kentucky as the SEC team with the second-best chance at a national championship after Florida and that’s consistent with the other early rankings that are out.