While the 2018 NCAA Tournament is still going on, it’s never too early to look ahead to the ’18-19 season in college basketball.
One such person that doesn’t have a problem doing that is Ken Pomeroy. The ratings guru has already released his early projections for what the top 10 could look like heading into next season, and two SEC teams sit in prime spots.
Pomeroy has Auburn at No. 4 and Kentucky at No. 5 in the early outlook, with those rankings being based on the assumption that top NBA draft prospects leave their respective schools.
Here's my computer's top 10 for 2019 assuming everyone in @DraftExpress top 40 leaves: 1) Kansas, 2) Duke, 3) Villanova, 4) Auburn, 5) Kentucky, 6) North Carolina, 7) Nevada, 8) West Virginia, 9) Gonzaga, 10) Virginia, 11) Maryland.
— Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy) March 24, 2018
The Tigers captured a share of the SEC regular season title this season after going 26-8 overall and 13-5 in conference play. However, Bruce Pearl’s team was ousted by Clemson in convincing fashion in the second round of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Kentucky had more ups and downs than usual during the season, but still managed to make the Sweet 16 before losing a close game to Kansas State.
The Wildcats won 10 of their final 12 games this year and will likely return at least a couple of starters next season.
The SEC as a whole finished as Pomeroy’s fourth-strongest conference after finishing no better than fifth since the 2012-13 season.
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