The Southeastern Conference is going to be a problem this season — and no, I’m not talking about on the football field. With the additions of Texas and Oklahoma ahead of the 2024-25 season, this new-look, 16-team league has talent spread all throughout. ESPN’s latest Bracketology projects 10 SEC teams will make the 2025 NCAA Tournament, which would set a record for a single conference.

Where does that put Kentucky and new head coach Mark Pope, who brought in 12 players and a fresh coaching staff back in the spring, compared to the rest of the SEC? According to ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes, who watched the Wildcats practice earlier this week, he expects Pope’s team to be grouped with the top contenders battling it out in a deep conference.

“They are,” Dykes said Thursday morning on KSR when asked if Kentucky is among the SEC’s best. “This league starts off I think projecting 10 NCAA Tournament teams. It could climb to 11, it could drop to nine, but I think you’re somewhere in that nine, 10, 11 (range). I think Alabama, from my studies that I’ve done, and I study the world of college basketball, not just the SEC, I think there is a strong case for Alabama to be the preseason number one team. Right there in that Top 25, the SEC is going to probably start with six or seven teams, which would be the most of any conference out there.”

A spot in the official Top 25, when that time comes, is a high possibility for Kentucky. Sticking with Dykes’ employer, ESPN’s “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 rankings include nine SEC programs with Kentucky checking in at No. 23. Dykes sees a world where the conference produces multiple Final Four contenders. Kentucky could jump into that conversation, but there are a few teams ahead of them in the pecking order at this stage in the preseason.

“Kentucky is going to be right there, borderline in that Top 25,” Dykes added. “But this league is deeper than it’s ever been. And it has potential of two or three or four serious Final Four threats. But my eyes go to Alabama right now getting the nod. I’ve seen Tennessee practice. I think they’re right there behind them. I’ve seen Arkansas practice. (John Calipari) has a loaded-up team, very similar to what his teams looked like at Kentucky, they just say Arkansas now on the jersey instead of Kentucky.”

All that being said, Dykes is buying what Pope is selling as a whole product. The SEC is deep and Kentucky will be wading into that end of the pool this season. Pope’s approach to team-building is much different than what the Big Blue Nation had become accustomed to over the last 15 years, but it’s a welcome process that should be the exact change of pace this program needs.

“Do they have a collection of older guys, multiple 1,000-point scorers, guys that have won at the high level, guys that are gonna buy in and collectively become a real problem to play against in the SEC?” Dykes asked about Kentucky. “I think so, right away, from year one they’re gonna be a major factor under Mark Pope.“