The Kentucky men’s basketball program will enter the 2025-26 season ranked in the Associated Press Top 10, coming in at No. 9.
This is the 58th time in program history that the Wildcats are among the top-rated teams to open the season in 65 preseason AP polls. Kentucky leads all programs with 992 appearances in the weekly poll, which is in its 77th season.
UK’s opening exhibition foe, Purdue, begins the season as the preseason No. 1 ranked team. Rounding out the top five include Houston, Florida, UConn and St. John’s. The full preseason rankings are available via collegebasketball.ap.org.
Ten Kentucky regular-season opponents enter the 2025-26 season ranked in the AP Top 25, including four nonconference opponents in St. John’s (No. 5), Louisville (No. 11), Gonzaga (No. 21) and Michigan State (No. 22). A fifth opponent, Indiana, is receiving votes to open the year.
In addition to the Wildcats, a nation-tying six Southeastern Conference programs rank among the AP Top 25 to begin the season including Florida (No. 3), Arkansas (No. 14), Alabama (No. 15), Tennessee (No. 18) and Auburn (No. 20). Six more – Texas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Oklahoma – are receiving votes.
UK will have 12 total regular-season matchups in 2025-26 against preseason top 25 opponents.
Details on regular-season home games for men’s basketball will be announced soon, including the launch of Kentucky’s official resale marketplace powered by Ticketmaster. This platform will offer fans a secure way to buy and sell verified tickets, even for games that may be sold out.
Season ticket holders are reminded that exhibition games vs. Purdue and Georgetown are included in their season ticket packages.
Kentucky head coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats are coming off the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2019 and return Collin Chandler, Brandon Garrison, Trent Noah and Otega Oweh who all contributed to a 24-12 season which featured wins over an NCAA-record-tying eight Associated Press Top 15 foes.
Adding to UK’s firepower in 2025-26 is one of the highest-ranked transfer classes in the country. The Cats will add 2025 National Champion Denzel Aberdeen from Florida; a two-time NCAA Sweet 16 participant in Alabama’s Mouhamed Dioubate; an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer in Pitt’s Jaland Lowe; Reece Potter from Miami of Ohio who is a Lexington native; National Defensive Player of the Year late-season finalist Jayden Quaintance from Arizona State; and Kam Williams from Tulane who earned American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team honors.
The Cats also have four collegiate newcomers in Braydon Hawthorne, Andrija Jelavić, Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno.
The Wildcats will hold their annual Blue-White Game this Friday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. before a pair of exhibition games against Purdue (Oct. 24) and Georgetown (Oct. 30). The Cats then open the regular season inside Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4 against Nicholls.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
