Both college and NFL football are back in full swing. My Bengals are looking to be especially bad this year and my Kentucky Wildcats just had a tough loss last weekend to Florida. So, naturally, it’s time to start talking about college basketball.
As a Kentucky basketball fan, we’re always expecting an extraordinary season and this year will be no exception. With the combination of freshman talent and returning players, the Cats are predicted by most to be a top 5 team this coming year. I’ve got season tickets, so I hope to see as many games as possible.
Before we start the season, I figured I should get a baseline for where the Cats are with respect to the rest of college basketball. I went and found a handful of the “way too early” 2019-20 rankings for the teams. I put together a spreadsheet and did some averages and here is how the field looks to start the year. In reverse order and I’ll paste the data below my list. And, spoiler alert, it looks like the Champions Classic is going to have #1 v. #2 to start the year.
39. Vermont
38. Houston
37. USC
36. Penn State
35. Wisconsin
34. Colorado
33. Providence
32. Davidson
31. VCU
30. LSU
29. Michigan
28. Marquette
27. Auburn
26. St. Mary’s
25. Washington
24. Tennessee
23. Georgetown
22. Utah State
21. Illinois
20. Baylor
19. Xavier
18. Arizona
17. Ohio State
16. Purdue
15. Oregon
14. Memphis
13. Seton Hall
12. Virginia
11. North Carolina
10. Texas Tech
9. Gonzaga
8. Villanova
7. Florida
6. Maryland
5. Louisville
4. Kansas
3. Duke
2. Kentucky
1. Michigan State
| NBC Sports – 9/4 | ESPN – 9/12 | Katz – 9/10 | CBS – 8/13 | SI – 6/5 | ||
| Michigan State | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kentucky | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.6 |
| Duke | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3.6 |
| Kansas | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3.8 |
| Louisville | 6 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5.6 |
| Maryland | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Florida | 10 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 9.6 |
| Villanova | 5 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 9.6 |
| Gonzaga | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 10 |
| Texas Tech | 9 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 10 | 10.4 |
| North Carolina | 13 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 10.6 |
| Virginia | 8 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11.4 |
| Seton Hall | 12 | 15 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 11.6 |
| Memphis | 21 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 13.4 |
| Oregon | 15 | 7 | 22 | 15 | 22 | 16.2 |
| Purdue | 16 | 17 | 16.5 | |||
| Ohio State | 25 | 13 | 18 | 21 | 9 | 17.2 |
| Arizona | 16 | 18 | 22 | 15 | 17.75 | |
| Baylor | 20 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 19 |
| Illinois | 19 | 19 | ||||
| Xavier | 18 | 20 | 15 | 23 | 19 | |
| Utah State | 14 | 19 | 23 | 24 | 16 | 19.2 |
| Georgetown | 20 | 20 | ||||
| Tennessee | 23 | NR | 19 | 21 | ||
| Washington | NR | 23 | 21 | 20 | 21.3333333333333 | |
| St. Mary’s | 17 | 21 | 26 | 25 | 18 | 21.4 |
| Auburn | 22 | NR | 24 | 16 | 25 | 21.75 |
| Marquette | NR | 22 | 25 | 23.5 | ||
| Michigan | 24 | 24 | ||||
| LSU | 19 | 25 | 35 | 26 | 19 | 24.8 |
| VCU | 24 | NR | 33 | 18 | 25 | |
| Davidson | 28 | 23 | 25.5 | |||
| Providence | 27 | 27 | ||||
| Colorado | NR | 24 | 31 | 27.5 | ||
| Wisconsin | 29 | 29 | ||||
| Penn State | 30 | 30 | ||||
| USC | 32 | 32 | ||||
| Houston | 34 | 34 | ||||
| Vermont | 36 | 36 |