ESPN BPI ranks Kentucky Wildcats 13th for 2017-18 college basketball season

ESPN has released a way-too-early initial BPI ranking, and it’s...well...interesting.

For starters, the BPI has Kentucky ranked No. 13, behind the likes of TCU (No. 9), Notre Dame (No. 4), and Louisville (No. 2).

The BPI is a strange ranking system, and that’s evidenced by the fact that Wichita State is the No. 1 team in the nation in this poll.

It’s all about continuity, experience, and breaking down both ends of the floor in the BPI rankings system. So, Wichita State’s returning players have a big impact, while Kentucky’s freshman-stocked lineup does them no favors in this system.

But at the end of the day, this ranking system generally isn’t all that accurate (they ranked the Gonzaga Bulldogs No. 1 at the end of last season, and North Carolina third, and now neither team is in the top 25).

You’d also think teams like Michigan State (17) and USC (43rd) would be higher on this list, being that they return off of their respective teams from last season.

You can read the rest of the rankings, with some explanation, here. Here is the entire top 25:

1 Wichita State

2 Louisville

3 Villanova

4 Notre Dame

5 Arizona

6 West Virginia

7 Purdue

8 Oklahoma

9 TCU

10 Kansas

11 Cincinnati

12 Virginia

13 Kentucky

14 Duke

15 Seton Hall

16 Saint Mary's

17 Michigan State

18 Texas Tech

19 Xavier

20 Alabama

21 Arkansas

22 Providence

23 Iowa

24 Auburn

25 Northwestern