Kentucky opens season ranked No. 23 in first AP Poll

The first official AP Top 25 poll was released today, and Kentucky is already in the top 25 at number 23. The Wildcats are ranked again to start the season, and yet it's more than you could have expected, given all the changes.

Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope has done the unthinkable: He rebuilt the entire basketball team in a matter of months. He took a completely gutted roster with only walk-ons left and started bringing in recruits and transfers to form a team. This team has never played one basketball game together, yet it is full of deep talent and a ton of shooters.

It was only a handful of months ago that Mark Pope was hired as the new Wildcats' basketball coach, and he took on the enormous task of making sure Kentucky stayed among the blue bloods of basketball. He brought in multiple transfers, many of them top players in the country, like Andrew Carr, Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, Koby Brea, etc. He even brought in some top recruits, Collin Chandler (who had committed to him at BYU but changed his commitment to Kentucky) and Trent Noah.

A theme began to emerge in his rebuilding process: He was bringing in elite shooters. Even the big men he was bringing in were able to stretch out too deep and make a three-pointer. The team is built with the idea of stretching the floor, passing efficiently, and making a big basket from long range. Brea mentioned that they are planning to be the best in the nation at the three-point ball.

When a clip of their practice went out to the fans, the new offensive scheme went viral. Everyone was talking about how different and impressive it looked. This Wildcats team will look a lot different, but it's full of talent and shooters. Can they come together quickly and be able to put up some big wins early? That remains to be seen, but the voters are impressed enough to include them in the top 25.