Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats were ranked as the 5th best team in the SEC

There are a lot of question marks surrounding this Kentucky team because there is so much upside on the roster. There are a ton of players on this team who have the upside to be elite, but fans will just have to wait and see. The addition of Milan Momcilovic really raised the floor for this Kentucky team, but the upside on the roster hitting is what will raise the ceiling.

Jon Rothstein put out his rankings of the SEC, and he had the Wildcats 5th in the conference. Let’s take a look at how he ranked the conference top to bottom.

SEC Preseason Basketball Rankings

1 Florida

2 Texas

3 Tennessee

4 Arkansas

5 Kentucky

6 Vanderbilt

7 Alabama

8 Missouri

9Texas A&M

10 Georgia

11 Auburn

12 Ole Miss

13 Oklahoma

14 Mississippi State

15 South Carolina

*LSU was unraked as their roster in not complete

University of Kentucky’s new men’s basketball coach Mark Pope applauds as Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart introduces him to the thousands of fans in Rupp Arena for his press conference on Sunday, April 14, 2024. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

I think the assessment of the conference from Rothstein is solid, and the team ahead of the Wildcats that might surprise some folks is Texas, but the Longhorns are going to be really good. The Longhorns brought in TCU transfer David Punch, who is going to be excellent, and their seven-footer Matas Vokietaitis is back for another season. Personally, I would rank them behind Tennessee and Arkansas, but Texas is going to be really good under head coach Sean Miller.

The Wildcats are such a wildcard this season that they could finish near the top of the conference, or they could finish lower than where Rothstein has them ranked. Players like Malachi Moreno and Alex Wilkins are great examples of guys who have a ton of upside. If the upside for these two Wildcats hits, this Kentucky team is going to be really good this year.

Kentucky center Malachi Moreno (24) is guarded by Kentucky guard Jaland Lowe (15) during their game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

This list from Rothstein shows just how good the SEC is going to be this season. Over the last handful of years, the SEC has been really good, and that is going to be no different this year. Knowing how good some of the teams at the bottom of the conference are, it shows that winning on the road in the SEC will not be easy.

This is going to be a very fun season of SEC basketball, and Pope will look to get the Wildcats back to the top of the conference. While this is the goal, it will be no easy ask for this basketball team in a loaded conference.

Add us as a preferred source on Google