Kentucky is ranked too low in ESPN's Way Too Early Top 25

Where should Kentucky be in the top 25 ahead of the 2024-25 season?

Former Kentucky basketball player and new head coach Mark Pope was animated during his announcement at Rupp Arena in Lexington Ky. on April 14, 2024. / Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA

Heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season, it seems like the world of college hoops continues to disrespect Mark Pope and his team. Coach Pope hit the transfer portal right when he was hired to be Kentucky's next head coach and brought in an elite class of veteran college basketball players.

Based on previous seasons of college hoops, the teams that are made up of veteran players have the best success in March, which is what Coach Pope is looking for this year.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello wrote a Way Too Early Top 25 article for college basketball this season and had the Wildcats 23rd. In his previous edition of this article, the Wildcats were ranked in the next-in-line category outside of the top 25, so the Wildcats are moving in the right direction.

Here is Borzello's reasoning for ranking the Wildcats 23rd, "Mark Pope's first roster in Lexington will look drastically different from most of his predecessor's teams. Out are the five-star freshmen, in are a slew of prolific 3-point shooters to stretch defenses. Jaxson Robinson ultimately followed his former coach from BYU, and he's the best addition, playing himself onto NBA draft boards despite coming off the bench. Robinson is joined by Koby Brea (Dayton), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Kerr Kriisa (West Virginia), and Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) as high-level shooters, while Lamont Butler (San Diego State) and Amari Williams (Drexel) bring defensive prowess."

Kentucky should be ranked higher than some of the teams on this list, but Big Blue Nation needs to know that this team will be disrespected all off-season. The national media wants to see Coach Pope prove it before they put hype around this basketball team. Kentucky fans know this team will be special, but it could take a while for the rest of the college basketball community to see.