The SEC will be the best conference in college basketball during the 2024-25 season

How will Mark Pope's Kentucky team fare in an elite SEC?

The SEC logo in the hallway at the Hilton Sandestin in Destin, Fla. on Tuesday May 31, 2022 at the annual SEC spring meetings. / Marc Weiszer/Athens Banner-Herald / USA

Mark Pope took the Kentucky job excited and hopeful to bring the program its ninth National Title. That is the long-term goal for this staff, but right now, the short-term goal for this coaching staff needs to be getting ready for SEC play.

Obviously, the season isn't even close to here yet, and once it gets here, the Wildcats have a ton of games before SEC play begins, but conference play will be a gauntlet for Coach Pope's team.

Last season, Coach Pope coaches in the Big 12, which was really good during the 2023-24 season, but the SEC is going to be special this season. CBS Sports just put out a top 25 list ahead of the 2024-25 season, and seven SEC teams were listed. Kentucky wasn't listed in this top 25 list, but Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas A&M all made an appearance.

Things change, but heading into the 2024-25 season, the SEC looks to be the best conference in college hoops, and this staff needs to be ready for conference play.

Luckily, Kentucky's team is full of veteran college basketball players, many of which came from solid conferences, so they understand the grind of a conference schedule. The Wildcats need to find a way to win ten or more games in SEC play, and knowing how good the conference is going to be as a whole, that won't be an easy task.

The SEC is going to send a lot of solid teams to the NCAA Tournament this season, and one could win it all.