Will Kentucky basketball win the SEC title? Here's where the Wildcats landed in poll

There were no surprises in the SEC's preseason poll Wednesday, as media members tabbed Kentucky men's basketball as the favorite to win the league title in 2022-23, while senior Oscar Tshiebwe was picked as the conference's preseason player of the year.

Wednesday marked the 17th time since the 1998-99 campaign that the Wildcats earned the top spot in the preseason poll.

John Calipari, entering his 14th season as Kentucky's coach, has guided the program to six regular-season conference championships: (2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020). He also owns six SEC Tournament titles with the Wildcats, winning the event in 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Media members predicted Arkansas would take runner-up honors in the conference this season, followed by Tennessee, Auburn and Alabama.

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Joining Tshiebwe on the All-SEC first team is fellow Wildcat senior Sahvir Wheeler. Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas), Colin Castleton (Florida) and Santiago Vescovi (Tennessee) are the other members of the first team.

The unanimous National Player of the Year and an All-America first-team selection last season, Tshiebwe led the country in rebounding average (15.1 per game) in 2021-22. His 17.4 points per game also were a team high. He set a program record for double-doubles in a single season with 28.

Last season, Wheeler was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, annually given to the nation's top point guard. He led the SEC (and ranked third in Division I) in assists per game, dishing out 6.9 a night. The league's coaches and media members both named Wheeler an All-SEC second-team honoree. His 207 assists last year were the fourth-best single-season tally in Kentucky history. He also averaged 10.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.

Kentucky will head to Pikeville for its Blue-White scrimmage at 6 p.m. Saturday. It faces Missouri Western State (Oct. 30) and Kentucky State (Nov. 3) in exhibition contests at Rupp Arena before opening the season at home versus Howard at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 7.

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SEC preseason basketball poll

1. Kentucky

2. Arkansas

3. Tennessee

4. Auburn

5. Alabama

6. Texas A&M

7. Florida

8. LSU

9. Ole Miss

10. Mississippi State

11. Missouri

12. Vanderbilt

13. Georgia

14. South Carolina

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: SEC basketball preseason poll: Kentucky Oscar Tshiebwe earn top honors