Kentucky Ranked No. 23 in Preseason AP, Coaches Polls
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s basketball team received a No. 23 preseason ranking in both the Associated Press College Basketball Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll, released Monday.
It marks the 59th time in 66 preseason AP polls that the Wildcats are among the teams ranked to begin the year, and the 61st time the Cats have appeared in the first coaches’ poll of the season.
Kentucky leads all programs with 998 appearances in the weekly AP poll and 981 total selections in the coaches’ poll.
Nine opponents on Kentucky’s 2026-27 schedule are ranked ahead of the upcoming season including: Florida (No. 1/1), Texas (No. 7/7), Tennessee (No. 8/9), Virginia (No. 9/10), Louisville (No. 11/11), Arkansas (No. 12/13), Kansas (No. 17/18), Alabama (No. 20/18) and Vanderbilt (No. 24/21). The Wildcats will play a total of 11 games against these nine teams during the regular season. UK will also face No. 19/16 Texas Tech in an exhibition contest this Friday night.
An additional five opponents (Missouri, North Carolina, Indiana, Texas A&M, Auburn) are receiving votes to begin the season.
The Southeastern Conference leads the country with seven teams ranked in the preseason polls, while Missouri and Texas A&M are just outside the top 25 receiving votes.
Kentucky returns five players from its NCAA Tournament Round of 32 squad a year ago as Braydon Hawthorne, Malachi Moreno, Trent Noah, Reece Potter and Kam Williams are all back for the Wildcats. Moreno, an All-SEC Freshman Team selection, started 30 games for the Cats last season and led the team in rebounds per game (6.3), blocks per game (1.47) and field goal percentage (58.2%). Williams saw action in 24 games and made seven starts, despite missing 12 games with a broken foot. He matched the program’s record for most made 3s in a single game when he buried eight against Bellarmine. Noah appeared in 27 contests as a sophomore, twice scoring in double figures, including a career-high 16 points against Tennessee Tech. Both Hawthorne and Potter redshirted in 2025-26.
A well-regarded group of six transfers also enters the fold for Kentucky in 2026-27, headlined by the nation’s leading 3-point shooter from a year ago, Milan Momcilovic. Momcilovic starred for Iowa State last season, averaging 16.9 points per game and making a school-record 136 3s while shooting 48.7 percent from deep. He was rated as a top three transfer this offseason by ESPN, 247 Sports and On3. Joining Momcilovic in the transfer contingent are backcourt pieces Zoom Diallo, Jerone Morton and Alex Wilkins, along with frontcourt additions Franck Kepnang and Justin McBride. Wilkins and McBride were All-Conference selections at Furman and James Madison, respectively, while Diallo and Kepnang both arrive from the University of Washington and Morton returns to his hometown of Lexington after a season at Washington State.
This year’s team also features a trio of college basketball newcomers in Zyon Hawthorne, Ousmane N’Diaye and Mason Williams. Zyon is the younger brother of Braydon and played his final high school season at Huntington Prep. N’Diaye hails from Dakar, Senegal and has experience playing in Europe, most recently with Vanoli Cremona in Italy’s top division. Williams is the son of UK assistant Mo Williams, and averaged 15.1 points, 5.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals at Tennessee Collegiate Academy as a senior.
The Wildcats will host Texas Tech for an exhibition matchup this Friday at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. with the game being broadcast on SEC Network+.
A limited number of season tickets are available and single-game tickets for the first nine home games – including Friday vs. 19/16 Texas Tech – also are available. For more information, call the ticket office at 859-257-1818 or visit here.
Tickets are available exclusively online through Ticketmaster. Fans can also visit the Kentucky Men’s Basketball Ticket Information page for complete ticketing information. In addition, fans are encouraged to shop the UK Athletics Official Marketplace powered by Ticketmaster for verified resale tickets to all home games.
Tickets for Kentucky’s final 12 home games will go on sale at a later date to be determined, pending availability.
With season ticket renewals complete and strong demand for new seats through the season ticket lottery, there is no guarantee that single-game tickets will be available for all games. Fans are reminded that single-game inventory for Kentucky basketball games is limited, as a majority of tickets are sold as season ticket packages or held as part of the student allotment. Additional ticket inventory from the student allotment may be released to the public at a later date, based upon student sales.
A limited number of premium courtside, floor-level and loge box single-game ticket options are available through the K Fund. All premium packages include parking and access to pre-game and halftime hospitality. More information on these exclusive experiences, is available here. Hospitality add-ons for the Concentric Champions Club are also now available for all home games.
Group tickets are a great way to provide entertainment for clients and businesses, team-building activities, employee appreciation outings, birthdays, youth teams, school groups and civic organizations. To learn more about purchasing group tickets for select early-season and holiday break games, submit an interest form or contact the UK Sales Office at (800) 928-2287 (Option 1). Complete information and benefits can be found on the UK Athletics Group Tickets page.
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.
