For the third straight season, the Kentucky men’s basketball team will begin the year at the top. Kentucky and North Carolina were voted as co-No. 1s in the preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll, released Thursday.
Kentucky received 11 first-place votes while North Carolina received 12, but each school earned 749 points, just 26 more than No. 3 Maryland. Duke and Kansas round out the preseason top five, respectively.
The fact that Kentucky, which is trying to replace 85.9 percent of its scoring from last season, including each of its top seven scorers, as well as 77.3 percent of its rebounding, is ranked No. 1 in the preseason speaks volumes to head coach John Calipari’s incoming recruiting class.
With that said, Coach Cal has warned all who will listen that it will be “ugly” in November, and they still have a ways to go.