Kentucky moves up to No. 1 in the latest 2026 KenPom Ratings

Kentucky is the best team in college basketball, according to some of the best analytics the sport has to offer — a system we use most years to separate the good from the great and bad from the horrible.

KenPom is a massive indicator for not only long-term season success, but NCAA Tournament results, too. The general rule of thumb is that teams ranked inside the top 20 for both offense and defense nationally almost always make the deepest runs in March Madness with all but three times going back to 1998 the national champion finishing as a top-three finisher by the service.

The Wildcats? Yep, they’re now ranked No. 1 overall following the 2-0 start, boasting the No. 11 overall offense in college basketball and No. 4 overall defense. They surpassed Houston in the most recent update after starting the season at No. 4 overall behind the Cougars, Florida and Purdue, followed by one-spot moves to No. 3 after the season-opening win vs. Nicholls and No. 2 immediately after the 48-point win over Valparaiso.

UH dropped thanks to ho-hum 18- and 17-point wins over Lehigh and Towson, respectively, to start the year.

Offensively, the Wildcats sit behind Purdue at No. 1, Illinois at No. 2, Louisville at No. 3, Vanderbilt at No. 4, UConn at No. 5, Florida at No. 6, Duke at No. 7, Gonzaga at No. 8, Arizona at No. 9 and BYU at No. 10. Defensively, only Houston at No. 1, Iowa at No. 2 and Tennessee at No. 3 are ahead of Mark Pope’s squad.

Kentucky finished ranked No. 16 overall last year in KenPom’s final update — fitting, considering the Sweet 16 appearance. The Wildcats hummed offensively, ranked No. 10 overall, but sputtered defensively, ranked way down there at No. 51 nationally. National champion Florida finished ranked No. 3 overall with the No. 2 offense and No. 6 defense. Duke owned the No. 1 spot with the No. 1 offense and No. 5 defense, followed by Houston at No. 2 with the No. 12 offense and No. 1 defense.

A full look at the top 30 in all its glory as of Sunday morning:

We’ll see what the AP and Coaches Poll voters think when those are updated on Monday ahead of Kentucky’s matchup vs. Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday.

Whether the Wildcats see much movement there from the No. 9 starting point they gave them is mostly irrelevant — polls are for egos and bragging rights for a better number next to your school’s name on box scores and the bottom ticker on TV. KenPom success correlates to actual season success, and if today’s update is any sign, Kentucky is gearing up for a fun season.