LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky will begin the season as the top-ranked team in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll for the third season in a row.
Interesting Fact: UK had been ranked preseason No. 1 just twice in its history before this latest run.
Oh, by the way, Louisville is not ranked in preseason Coaches’ Poll, this is the first time since 2010.
The Wildcats share the preseason top spot with North Carolina. The two teams both garnered 749 points from the ballots of 32 Division I coaches. UNC had 12 first-place votes, compared with UK’s 11.
Kentucky is 63-5 as the No. 1 team in the country since John Calipari’s first year at the helm, the best record in the country by a top-ranked team during that span.
The Wildcats own an all-time record of 215-28 (.885) as the nation’s top-ranked squad in the Associated Press Top 25.
Four preseason coaches’ top-25 teams are on Kentucky’s 2015-16 schedule (No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Kansas, No. 19 LSU and No. 20 Vanderbilt).
Kentucky was ranked No. 1 throughout last season up until the final poll, where the Wildcats finished No. 3.
Each of the past two seasons when the Wildcats began the season as the coaches’ No. 1 team they reached the Final Four, making the national championship game in 2014 and the semifinals last season.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
