Wildcats Today

College basketball analytics believes Kentucky will be balanced this season

These rankings have the Wildcats well within the top 25.

Wyatt Huff

Jan 12, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; Brigham Young Cougars head coach Mark Pope claps for his team against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first half at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
Jan 12, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; Brigham Young Cougars head coach Mark Pope claps for his team against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the first half at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images
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Kentucky is gearing up to begin its 2024-25 season, but first comes the highly-anticipated preseason events like Big Blue Madness and the Blue-White game. Before that, though, it's time to take a look at more preseason rankings that are rolling out.

Erik Haslam, who is the founder of Haslametrics, released his rankings on Friday, and he had Kentucky slotted in at No. 17 overall in the country. Much like Ken Pomeroy's rankings, Haslam uses both offensive and defensive metric ratings that brings in data which, in turn, is what makes those rankings. It's hard to argue analytics, especially in sports, and Mark Pope himself is huge on using analytics to help his teams improve.

To back up as more reason as to just how stacked the SEC will be this season, Haslam's rankings system has seven teams from the conference included in his preseason top 25. Auburn actually holds the top spot from the SEC at No. 6 overall, followed by Alabama at No. 7. Tennessee then comes in at 12th overall, with Texas following at No. 13. Kentucky is actually well within the top 25 at 17th overall, and Texas A&M is right behind the Wildcats at No. 18. Haslam actually averages out the offense and defense rating of each team to help make the rankings. For Kentucky, they are ranked with the 9th best offense and the 31st defense in the country, much more balanced than some think.

That offense ranking could most definitely end up being right, because Mark Pope is bring an exciting style to Lexington, and has the perfect players to make it work.

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Wyatt Huff
WYATT HUFF

University of Kentucky Basketball and Football beat writer.

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