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SEC Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2018-19

By Brian Rauf

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 22: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats speaks to PJ Washington #25 in the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 22: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats speaks to PJ Washington #25 in the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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LEXINGTON, KY – FEBRUARY 06: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats gives instructions to his team against the Tennessee Volunteers during the game at Rupp Arena on February 6, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY – FEBRUARY 06: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats gives instructions to his team against the Tennessee Volunteers during the game at Rupp Arena on February 6, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

1. Kentucky Wildcats

As usual, Kentucky lost a lot of talented players in the offseason (Kevin Knox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jarred Vanderbilt, Hamidou Diallo), but the Wildcats are bringing in more than enough talent to offset those losses.

Five-star freshmen E.J Montgomery, Ashton Hagans, Keldon Johnson, and Immanuel Quickley are all expected to see very significant playing time right off the bat, joining a group of talented returners headlined by Quade Green and P.J. Washington. Montgomery will give them another elite athlete in the frontcourt while Johnson projects to give them the go-to scorer they need.

However, what makes Kentucky different this season is the presence of Reid Travis, a fifth-year senior who excelled at Stanford before joining the Wildcats as a grad transfer. The former McDonald’s All-American averaged 19.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while being named to the All-Pac-12 First Team. He will provide another dynamic, versatile post threat, but he may have the biggest impact on this young Kentucky team with his leadership and experience.

After all, it has been a while since head coach John Calipari had a senior of Travis’ caliber.

There’s no way around it – Kentucky is loaded in a way we haven’t seen from them since they nearly went undefeated in the 2014-15 season. They have a roster full of elite freshmen, which isn’t out of the ordinary, but they’ve coupled that with a number of top-tier returning starters and players with a good deal of experience.

Next: Big Ten Power Rankings for 2018-19

Even though Kentucky is the consensus favorite in the conference, the top seven teams all feel they’re talented enough to win the conference and as many as 10 or 11 teams think they can make the NCAA Tournament. The SEC is stacked top to bottom once again – and that only means that craziness will ensue.

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