Kentucky debuts at No. 8 in Jay Bilas' College Basketball Rankings

Most of the talking heads released their college basketball rankings on Monday, the first day of the season. Jay Bilas needed a few more days to compile his. To be fair, ESPN’s lead college basketball analyst ranks 68 teams instead of 25 for his Bilas Index rankings. Your University of Kentucky Wildcats are No. 8 in the first edition, with Bilas predicting bright days ahead for Pope’s second squad.

“Mark Pope did a masterful job last season of bringing Big Blue Nation together and injecting a positive attitude among the players and the faithful,” Bilas wrote. “Pope also brought beautiful offense to Lexington, and before some injuries slowed the Wildcats down, Kentucky was a true joy to watch.

“One thing that was missing was lockdown defense, which will be different this season. Kentucky will be able to defend at a much higher level, with length and athleticism at multiple positions. Otega Oweh returns and will likely lead the Cats in scoring again, thanks to his consistent performances, especially in second halves. Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen, Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance, and Alabama transfer Mo Dioubate will bring defense and toughness, and Pittsburgh transfer Jaland Lowe will prove to be one of the best guards in the country.”

That’s the hope. Purdue, which Kentucky beat in its first exhibition, is Bilas’ No. 1 team, followed by Houston (No. 2), Florida (No. 3), UConn (No. 4), Duke (No. 5), St. John’s (No. 6), and Michigan (No. 7). Tennessee (No. 9) and UCLA (No. 10) round out the top ten. Louisville, which hosts Kentucky next Tuesday night, is No. 13 in Bilas’ rankings, and John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks are No. 20.

Bilas will be on the call for Kentucky vs. Louisville at the Yum Center next week alongside Dan Shulman. The pair will also call Kentucky vs. Michigan State a week later in the Champions Classic in Madison Square Garden. The Spartans are No. 26 in Bilas’ rankings, just ahead of Auburn (No. 27) and North Carolina (No. 28).

Kentucky in other National Rankings

Kentucky is No. 9 in the Preseason AP and Coaches Polls, which will be updated on Monday. The Cats are up one spot in the KenPom Ratings to No. 3, behind Purdue and Houston. Of course, it’s very early — too early to take polls or metrics like KenPom too seriously — but here’s a roundup of where the Cats stand in other national rankings:

• CJ Moore, The Athletic: No. 2
• Jamie Shaw, On3: No. 3
• Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News: No. 4
• Field of 68: No. 7
• Jay Bilas: No. 8
• Associated Press: No. 9
• Coaches: No. 9
• Gary Parrish: No. 12
• Jon Rothstein: No. 13

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