SEC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2019-20 season

As if there was any question as to who would be at the top heading into the 2019-20 season in the SEC, we have the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky has been the most consistent and best overall team in the SEC since John Calipari took the reigns and that will not change during the 2019-20 season.

Kentucky, who is known for their one-and-dones, has yet another top-ranked recruiting class ahead of next season. With Kahlil Whitney (ranked 11th), Tyrese Maxey (ranked 12th), Johnny Juzang (ranked 30th) and Keion Brooks (ranked 36th) all heading to Lexington, it looks as if the Wildcats will be a very dangerous team.

Like most years, Kentucky’s roster will be full of freshmen for the 2019-20 season and the biggest name the Wildcats got back heading into the season is Immanuel Quickley. Quickley who only played an average of 18.5 minutes per game last season will likely take on a bigger role in the upcoming year.

Quickley averaged 5.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game last season and without Tyler Herro, PJ Washington and Keldon Johnson, Quickley will likely get a chance to prove his worth.

However, he will likely not be the main option as that role will be occupied by Maxey or one of the other three freshmen playing in Lexington next season.

Another player who will likely get a good amount of playing time for the Wildcats next season is grad transfer, Nate Sestina. He came to Kentucky via Bucknell where he averaged 15.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Yes it was for Bucknell who is a member of the Patriot League, but last season we saw Kentucky use a grad transfer heavily in Reid Travis. What this means is that with graduate transfers becoming increasingly popular across the nation, Sestina will likely be a large part of Kentucky’s game plan.

How Sestina will fare against SEC opponents which is an entirely different beast than Patriot League opponents, remains to be seen. But Travis being used for 28.5 minutes per game and going for 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists, shows you that Sestina will more likely that not, be used quite a bit next season.

So with all these newcomers to Lexington, who will be the best player for the Wildcats?

This question can be taken in one of two ways, it can be taken as which player has the highest ceiling or which player will play the best and I believe there are two different answers for these.

I think Nate Sestina has the chance to be good, seeing we saw him nearly average a double-double last season, but once again, this was in the Patriot League. Because of the lack of competition he has faced for the past four seasons, I believe Sestina will struggle to adapt to the higher level of competition.

This being said, I think Tyrese Maxey will be the best player for Kentucky next season. Maxey is a 6’2″, 190lb shooting guard who is a fantastic shooter and has the ability to get points from just about any part of the court.

Not only that, but he rarely turns the ball over thanks to his great ball-handling skills and he is also a very good defender as well. If you ask me all that is in the recipe for a great basketball player and because of it, Maxey will be the best player on the Wildcats next season.

But what will Kentucky’s record be next year? The Wildcats will likely be the number two team in the country next season, behind only the Michigan State Spartans, which coincidentally, they will be facing in their first game of the season.

Other tough games Kentucky will have are Louisville, Ohio State and Texas Tech. Other than these four games, Kentucky will not have much of a test at all and because of it the Wildcats get through non-conference play with a record of 10-3.

I believe Kentucky will struggle against Michigan State and will go onto lose that game and they will also lose to either Louisville and/or Texas Tech. The reason I have Kentucky losing three games is because in many of the past several years we have seen Kentucky lose a game, or struggle in a game they should not have a problem with and I don’t see this changing next year.

In SEC play the Wildcats will be very strong and will finish with a record of 15-3. Kentucky is a more talented team than everyone in the SEC with the exception of maybe Florida. That being said, the Wildcats should have next to no problem against SEC teams and will finish the season with an overall record of anywhere from 25-27 wins and 4-6 losses.