Kentucky enters the preseason SEC picture with a middle-of-the-pack prediction and a pair of individual honors to match.
When SEC media released its projected order of finish for the 2027 season on Monday, the Wildcats landed seventh, slotting behind Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Vanderbilt. Florida was picked to win the league, while Kentucky was placed ahead of Missouri, Auburn, Texas A&M, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, LSU, Mississippi State, and South Carolina.
The Wildcats also had two players recognized on the preseason all-conference teams. Milan Momcilovic earned a spot on the second team, and Malachi Moreno was tabbed for the third team.
Momcilovic comes to Kentucky as a fourth-year transfer from Iowa State, where he put together a big scoring season last year. He averaged 16.9 points per game for the Cyclones and led college basketball in total 3-pointers made with 136, while also posting a 48.7% mark from beyond the arc.
Moreno, a Georgetown native, is in his second college season after making the All-SEC Freshman Team in his first year with the Wildcats. He averaged 7.8 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game, and he also led Kentucky in field-goal percentage at 58.2% and blocks with 53.
The preseason All-SEC First Team featured Rueben Chinyelu of Florida, Juke Harris of Tennessee, Thomas Haugh of Florida, Josh Hubbard of Mississippi State, and Tyler Tanner of Vanderbilt.
The second team included Amari Allen of Alabama, Alex Condon of Florida, Momcilovic, Jordan Smith Jr. of Arkansas, and Matas Vokietaitis of Texas.
Moreno was one of five players on the third team, joined by PJ Haggerty of Texas A&M, Tahaad Pettiford of Auburn, David Punch of Texas, and Billy Richmond III of Arkansas.
Haugh was also named SEC Player of the Year.
Kentucky’s placement and its two preseason honorees give the program a clear starting point as the league gets ready for the 2027 campaign.
In Other News...
Kentucky Had LSU Pointing Fingers Instead Of Taking Care Of Business
Lane Kiffin spent much of the postgame trying to dissect the details of LSUs overtime loss to Kentucky, and the conversation quickly shifted from the Tigers missed chances to the officiating. He took issue with a fourth-and-goal spot and several other calls, then spent time defending his own late-game decision to punt on fourth-and-1 rather than keep the offense on the field. It was the kind of aftermath that can make a loss feel even messier, especially in a game that went all the way to overtime.
For Kentucky, the bigger takeaway was less about any single whistle and more about forcing LSU into a night of explanations instead of execution. Kiffin has already been willing to point to outside factors after previous losses, including crowd noise, and this one fit that pattern with the Tigers searching for reasons after letting a winnable game slip away. The Wildcats did enough to leave LSU talking about calls and decisions, which is often the sign a close SEC game has tilted the way a home team wants. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Transfer Surge Is Suddenly Fueling A Real SEC Threat
The transfer portal has become one of the quickest ways to reshape a roster, and Kentucky has a real candidate helping drive that conversation in Week 6. Kenny Minchey was among the players drawing attention in a recent ranking of the top transfer portal performers in college football, a list built off what players actually did on the field and how much they swung games for their teams. For the Wildcats, that kind of production matters because it speaks to more than depth - it speaks to whether the new pieces can help turn Kentucky into something more dangerous inside the SEC.
Mincheys inclusion also puts Kentucky in a larger national frame alongside names such as UCLAs Wayne Knight and Oregon States Braden Atkinson, but the Wildcats interest is obvious: they need transfer additions to translate into wins, not just roster buzz. If Kentuckys surge is real, it will be because these newcomers keep showing up in the moments that decide games, and because the line between promising portal help and genuine conference threat keeps getting thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Has A Real Week 6 AP Poll Respect Case
The Week 6 Associated Press poll opened up a familiar debate about how much the rankings really reward what teams have done on the field versus what voters thought of them back in August. Texas fell from No. 1 to No. 7 after a close loss, Oklahoma still found itself unranked even after beating the No. 1 team, and James Madison remained outside the top 25 despite being unbeaten. In that kind of landscape, Kentuckys place becomes harder to ignore, especially when the discussion turns to how SEC teams are stacked against one another.
For the Wildcats, the case is not just about one good result or a flattering stretch, but about whether they are being judged with the same standard as teams with bigger preseason reputations. If the AP is leaning too heavily on early assumptions, Kentucky is exactly the kind of program that can get squeezed by it, even while stacking a rsum that looks better than some of the teams sitting above or around it. The question now is whether the next poll finally reflects that reality, or whether the Wildcats are still waiting for voters to catch up. [Read more 🡒]