SEC Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2022-23 season

1. Kentucky

There’s really no doubt that Kentucky is the current favorite in the SEC, especially with what John Calipari has put together in Lexington. The way the season ended, with an embarrassing loss to 15-seed Saint Peter’s, you just know that these Wildcats are going to use that moment as fuel. What certainly helps is that the best collegiate basketball player decided to return to Kentucky for one more season.

Oscar Tshiebwe is the favorite to win another national player of the year away, coming off a season where he averaged 17.4 points and 15.2 rebounds per game. Kentucky adds a splash of young talent, getting 5-star recruits in guard Cason Wallace and forward Chris Livingston. Sahvir Wheeler is back again to run the point while the Wildcats add Iowa transfer CJ Frederick and former Illinois State super scorer Antonio Reeves, hoping to shore up the long-range shooting.

No matter what happens with some of these new faces, the very presence of Tshiebwe goes a long way and makes Kentucky one of the best teams in the nation and certainly one of the favorites to cut down the nets next April. If someone like Frederick can turn into an elite sharpshooter to help balance this offense, then this Kentucky team might just be unstoppable.

We’re finished with our dive into the teams of the SEC; who do you think was unfairly ranked at this point in the offseason?