Where Kentucky stands in the ESPN Way-Too-Early Top 25

The start to College Basketball season is so close, yet so far way.

We’re about 4 months away from the first game of the season, and ESPN just updated their Way-Too-Early Top 25 for the upcoming year.

There is more validity to this ranking as the rosters for each team are pretty close to set in stone. However, there are a few missing pieces, especially on Kentucky’s side where N’Faly Dante is considering a 2019 reclassification.

Here’s what ESPN has right now:

1. Michigan State Spartans
2. Kansas Jayhawks
3. Kentucky Wildcats
4. Florida Gators
5. Louisville Cardinals
6. Duke Blue Devils
7. Gonzaga Bulldogs
8. North Carolina Tar Heels
9. Villanova Wildcats
10. Maryland Terrapins
11. Texas Tech Red Raiders
12. Ohio State Buckeyes
13. Memphis Tigers
14. Seton Hall Pirates
15. Virginia Cavaliers
16. Arizona Wildcats
17. Baylor Bears
18. Utah State Aggies
19. Saint Mary’s Gaels
20. Xavier Musketeers
21. Marquette Golden Eagles
22. Washington Huskies
23. Colorado Buffaloes
24. LSU Tigers
25. USC Trojans

The biggest jump that any of the teams made from the last ranking is Florida, from 18 to 4. Obviously, the addition of Kerry Blackshear Jr. was huge for them as it brings an all-conference type player to the team ready to make an immediate impact.

Kentucky moved back one from the last ranking after Kansas found out that Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike were coming back for another year in addition to landing Iowa grad transfer Isaiah Moss. Michigan State stayed at No. 1.

Another notable ranking is Louisville at No. 5 over Duke (6) and North Carolina (8). The Cards will be much better than last season with returning players and their best recruiting class in quite some time.

It’s going to be a fun, exciting season and I’m sure we’ll see this list move around a lot before the year starts.