Kentucky basketball was ranked way too low in the preseason KenPom rankings

Kentucky should have been ranked higher in the KenPom rankings.

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope hypes up the crowd during Big Blue Madness on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 at Rupp Arena. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The college basketball season is officially right around the corner, and the preseason KenPom rankings just came out. These rankings had the Kentucky Wildcats ranked 42nd, which is way too low.

Preseason rankings generally don't matter, but KenPom is much more important than the AP Poll. History proves a team has to be successful on KenPom to win a National Championship, so if Kentucky wants to win it all, they have to improve these numbers throughout the season.

While the Wildcats' ranking, of 42 overall, feels way too low, what came as more of a shock was their offensive efficiency ranking. KenPom ranked the Wildcats 28th in offensive efficiency. Knowing how great of an offensive mind Coach Pope is and how many elite shooters this team has, it would be crazy to see the Wildcats outside of the top 20 in this metric.

Kentucky was ranked 68th in defensive efficiency because the only proven defenders on this team are Lamont Buter, Amari Williams, Otega Oweh, and Brandon Garrison. The 68th overall defensive ranking isn't totally unfair, but the Wildcats will be in the top 50 in this stat as the year goes on.

The KenPom rankings are really top to bottom solid metric, but it feels like they got it wrong on this one when it comes to the Wildcats. Coach Pope and his team will fight all season long to improve their KenPom ranking, as they want to have a top 20 offense and a top 40 defense. Coach Pope's Wildcats will prove a lot of people wrong this season.