For the 13th time in 14 seasons under John Calipari, Kentucky will open the college basketball season ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press preseason poll.

The AP Top 25 poll was released on Monday with North Carolina ranked at No. 1, followed by Gonzaga, Houston, Kentucky, Kansas, and Baylor rounding out the top five. The Wildcats received two first-place votes.

Other preseason rankings have the Cats ranked No. 1 by KenPom.com, No. 3 by Blue Ribbon magazine, No. 4 by ESPN, and No. 4 by CBS Sports.

Eight Kentucky opponents enter the 2022-23 season ranked in the AP Top 25, including four non-conference opponents in Gonzaga (No. 2), Kansas (No. 5), UCLA (No. 8) and Michigan (No. 22).

In addition to Kentucky, the other SEC programs in the preseason poll are Arkansas (No. 10), Tennessee (No. 11), Auburn (No. 15), and Alabama (No. 20). Based on preseason polls, UK will have 10 total matchups in 2022-23 against top-25 opponents.

The Cats return national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe and several other key pieces from last year's team to go along with another banner recruiting class. UK is returning 44.3% of its scoring production, 58.4% of its rebounding, 50% of its steals, 51.2% of its assists and 72.3% of its blocks from a season ago.