Tennessee is the anti-Kentucky (and the SEC favorite). ‘It’s awesome to have older guys.’

If there was a common thread running through the nearly nine hours of head coach press conferences at the Southeastern Conference’s annual basketball media day on Wednesday, it was this: The league is as good as it’s ever been.

And the reason behind that is quite clear: “This is an old league.”

Those words came straight from Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, and no one’s roster illustrates that fact better than his. And that’s a big reason why the Vols were picked to win the SEC.

It’s also largely responsible for a changing of the guard at the top of the conference’s preseason predictions list. For this season, at least. Tennessee, Texas A&M and Arkansas were picked 1-2-3, all programs with plenty of experience. Kentucky was in fourth, a team expected to be led primarily by freshmen who’ve never played a minute of college basketball.

It’s only the second year since the SEC cut divisions in 2011 that anyone other than the Wildcats have been atop that poll. And the Cats’ youth movement — eight freshmen and two sophomores, just two upperclassmen — is the antithesis of just about everything happening around them in the SEC and the college basketball world at large, where recent Final Fours and national championship podiums have been occupied by veteran rosters.

“Well, it’s awesome to have older guys,” Barnes said. “… I think it’s a huge advantage when you have older guys. I would tell you I hope we always have older guys. We still believe in what we try to do with our player development. Getting old, staying old, I think is really important. You look at our league this year: This is an old league. It’s an athletic league. It’s a skilled league now. I think it’s the best basketball league in the country.”

It might be that, with a tops-in-the-nation five teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 and four more in the also receiving votes category. Kentucky is ranked at No. 16, but the rest of those SEC teams are heavy on experience.

Barnes made sure to point out Wednesday that he’s also excited about his youngsters — long-term roster retention is a year-round job these days — but everyone knows that it’s the upperclassmen that will drive Tennessee’s 2023-24 season.

The Vols have seven of them that should see considerable minutes.

Fifth-year guard Santiago Vescovi — yes, Kentucky fans, he’s still in the league — is a first-team All-SEC selection. Fifth-year guard Josiah-Jordan James was a double-digit scorer the past two seasons. Fifth-year guard Dalton Knecht averaged 20.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game at Northern Colorado last season.

Junior guard Zakai Zeigler is also a preseason all-league selection and SEC defensive player of the year candidate. Junior forward Jonas Aidoo is likely to lead the Vols in rebounds and blocked shots. Junior guard Jahmai Mashack is one of the league’s best perimeter defenders. And junior guard Jordan Gainey (a transfer from USC Upstate) shot 49 percent from 3-point range two seasons ago.

“We’ve got a lot of experience,” Vescovi said. “A lot of guys have been playing together for years now. We understand each other. We know each others’ games. And the good thing is, too, the new guys that we have — they’re all willing to listen and willing to learn. So that’s just great, when you combine leadership and people that are willing to listen and learn — that’s the best scenario that you have. And we have it. And we also have a lot of talented players.

“So I think it’s going to be a very fun year.”

John Calipari is hoping to follow the blueprint of years past by combining star recruits with veteran contributors, though this UK roster is lopsided, with very little of the latter. Last year’s SEC champ, Alabama, was led by a star freshman — No. 2 NBA draft pick Brandon Miller — and UK might have a similarly skilled newcomer in Justin Edwards, but there was quite a bit more big-game experience at the top of that Alabama roster than there is on this UK one.

Zeigler said he didn’t know much about the overall team picture at Kentucky, though he did note he played against D.J. Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw on the grassroots circuit. He expressed respect for those players and UK’s program, and he was diplomatic — but clear — on the question of young versus old.

“I can just say that us having experience can help us a lot more than not (having) experience,” Zeigler said.

For as much of a thorn as Tennessee has been in Calipari’s side over the past decade or so — the two teams have evenly split their last 22 matchups, with 11 wins apiece — the Volunteers’ resurgence within the SEC has not translated to larger postseason results.

UT has been to the Sweet Sixteen three times in the past 10 seasons, but that Elite Eight appearance in 2010 under then-coach Bruce Pearl remains the only time in program history that the Vols have made it to the final round before the Final Four, and they’ve never played on that grand stage of the sport.

Tennessee’s players were appreciative of the No. 1 ranking on league media day. They also acknowledged that — with top dog status in the SEC — they’re expecting to get everybody’s best shot.

It’s a feeling that past Kentucky teams have known all too well.

“We’re still using that as fuel to the fire and still having a chip on our shoulder, knowing that we’re always going to have a target on our back,” Zeigler said. “We have a number next to our name, but there’s still more work to be done. …

“I would say unfinished business for the team is a national championship. That’s always the end goal for us no matter what. We don’t go into the year thinking of personal goals, because with team goals, come personal goals. So, if we’re all winning, then we’re all winning personally, too. I just look at it as just us getting to that final weekend.”

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