LEXINGTON – Less than a month after Kentucky’s NCAA basketball loss to Saint Peter’s, anticipation for the upcoming Wildcat team is already growing.

The national media began publishing its 2022-23 rating too soon in the wake of the Kansas NCAA name on Monday, and John Calipari’s team is included among the most sensible groups on the list.

At least two outlets have named the Wildcats as the No. 1 in your smart top rankings. Even Kentucky’s top skeptic two years after a 9-16 season and a year after arguably the worst NCAA loss in program position history. the Wildcats somewhere in their no-nonsense top 10.

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It would be foolish to place too much inventory on the preseason lists released just hours after the end of last season, but there are even more reasons to take Kentucky’s position on the lists with a grain of salt.

The general justification for Kentucky’s five-most sensible qualification is that Calipari will return to most of a roster that looked like the most productive team in the country before a string of injuries expired. However, many of those decisions are still pending.

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By now, we know that senior guards Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady are gone. Dontaie Allen’s little-used reserve has entered the portal. Junior ahead Keion Brooks tests the waters of the project.

College Hoops Today lists rookie Shaedon Sharpe among Kentucky’s assigned players in its No. 1 rating justification, but there is a growing consensus among NBA draft analysts that Sharpe will leave the U. K. without ever betting a game for the Wildcats. The rest of the majority The five sensible ratings for Kentucky are made with the caveat that National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe will return to the UK, but he is still likely to review at least the waters of the NBA allocation and want his visa prestige to be clarified in cash. . on lucrative NIL gives next season.

ESPN ranks Kentucky No. 7 assuming Sharpe and Tshiebwe leave, but even that rating was set assuming Brooks and point guard Sahvir Wheeler are back in school.

Additional additions through the movement portal will likely be for Kentucky, but the additions will depend on who leaves. Since the deadline for school players to remove their names from the NBA draft group wasn’t set until June 1, it’s unlikely we’ll be going to know precisely what Kentucky’s 2022-23 roster looks like before the summer.

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So while those ratings may be fun, they’re sure to be replaced particularly in the coming months.

However, one thing is transparent: no one is willing to lower Kentucky’s expectations after 3 years of winning an NCAA tournament.

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal. com; Follow him on Twitter in @JonHale_CJ.