CBS Sports picks Kentucky to finish 3rd in the SEC

We are less than a week away from the official start of the 2021-22 college basketball season.

According to multiple media polls and sports books, the Kentucky Wildcats are the preseason favorite to win the SEC. However, not everyone is that confident in the Cats.

CBS Sports released their preseason predictions for the SEC and their experts picked the Cats to finish 3rd behind Alabama and Arkansas.

“The Wildcats were a disaster last season and arguably the biggest disappointment in the sport,” CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish wrote. “They started ranked 10th in the AP Top 25 poll — but finished a surprisingly bad 9-16. They had no quality point guards and not enough reliable shooters, which is why they had a turnover rate that ranked 217th nationally and a 3-point percentage that ranked 172nd. So, what did John Calipari do? He responded by enrolling multiple point guards and multiple shooters.”

Parrish continued, “He added Sahvir Wheeler, a point guard who transferred from Georgia after averaging 14.0 points and a conference-best 7.4 assists last season. He added TyTy Washington, a five-star point guard who projects as a one-and-done lottery pick. He added Kellan Grady, a 6-5 combo guard who averaged at least 17.0 points in four straight years at Davidson and shot 38.2% from beyond the arc last season. He added C.J. Frederick, a shooting guard who transferred from Iowa after shooting 47.4% from 3-point range last season. Combine those four newcomers with West Virginia transfer Oscar Tshiebwe and returnees Davion Mintz and Keion Brooks, and Calipari clearly has the pieces for a big bounce-back season that could culminate with his first trip to the Final Four since 2015.”

Analysts Matt Norlander and Jerry Palm picked Kentucky to finish 2^nd in the league with Norlander picking Alabama to win and Palm picking Tennessee. Kyle Boone and David Cobb both picked Kentucky to finish 4^th. No expert from CBS Sports picked Kentucky to win the SEC.

Kentucky showed off their reloaded roster for the first-time last Friday night in a 95-72 exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan. Keion Brooks and TyTy Washington led the Cats in scoring with 18 points each.

You can check out CBS Sports’ entire preseason breakdown here.