Kentucky is No. 1 in SI’s first power rankings

Dennis Wierzbicki | USA Today

Sports Illustrated released its first College Basketball Power Rankings of the 2015-16 season and Kentucky finds itself atop the list, thanks to Tuesday night’s rout of Duke, the No. 7 team on the list.

In its explanation of the top team, SI.com talks Skal Labissiere:

1. Kentucky Wildcats (3-0)

Something to keep in mind when evaluating the early work of freshman power forward Skal Labissiere: He is, in a way, the inverse of the typical 6’11”-or-taller mega-prospect, whose value to college teams at 18 or 19 years old tends to be length-and-athleticism-based, with the hopes of adding polished skills as they age. While Labissiere is long and athletic, he has played in far fewer games than most prospects, due to a stress fracture in his back that robbed him of his junior high-school season, and then a senior-year move to a newly formed prep school that played a limited schedule. What Labissiere has done a ton of, however, is offensive skill development; I saw this first-hand while reporting a feature on him this off-season, and was awed by his level of polish…. [SI.com]

Trailing Kentucky in the rankings: North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan State and Villanova, respectively.

Maybe the Cats can earn the top spot in the AP poll, too, when it’s released Monday.