There’s a frontrunner for college basketball player of the year. It’s not Oscar Tshiebwe.

Long before this college basketball season began, Oscar Tshiebwe made clear his priorities.

First on the list: a national championship for his Kentucky Wildcats.

Basically an afterthought: repeating as the sport’s national player of the year.

About a third of the way through the regular season, the UK big man has work to do in both categories.

The Cats (8-3) are obviously not off to the team start that many expected. Ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll to begin the season, Kentucky will go into the new year with a spot on the back end of that list, thanks to early losses to Michigan State, Gonzaga and UCLA.

Tshiebwe has still been terrific, despite missing the final month of the preseason (and UK’s first two games) due to a knee procedure, which has prevented him from reaching 100-percent health, according to Coach John Calipari. No blame for the Cats’ relatively slow start can be placed on the team’s star player, but he’s still not leading the pack for national player of the year honors as college basketball flips the page to conference play.

Here’s a look at that race, as it stands heading into the new year (with the latest Wooden Award odds from the Caesars sportsbook).

Zach Edey, Purdue

Caesars odds: 1-2.

As this season nears its halfway point, the consensus is clear: Purdue big man Zach Edey is the favorite to win national player of the year honors. Edey might not have been a household name to start the season, but this rise shouldn’t be much of a surprise. The 7-foot-4, 290-pound center (no typos there, by the way) averaged 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game last season, impressive numbers made even more so by the fact he played just 18.9 minutes per game. With a clear path to more playing time this season, the junior from Toronto is averaging 22.6 points, 13.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 31.8 minutes per game for the No. 1-ranked team in the country. He’s just barely ahead of Tshiebwe in rebounds per game — they’re 1-2 nationally in that stat — and he’s the Boilermakers’ leading scorer by a wide margin, shooting 62.8 percent from the floor and 71.6 from the line (where he’s among the country’s leaders in free-throw attempts). In the sportsbook betting, he’s a major favorite, with Caesars making him an odds-on front-runner and DraftKings pegging him at even odds. Right now, it’s basically Edey vs. everyone else for top player honors.

Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky

Caesars odds: 10-1.

Tshiebwe is still playing at an extraordinarily high level, even if his team’s results (so far) haven’t lived up to the preseason hype. The Kentucky big man is averaging 15.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. He leads the Wildcats in blocked shots at 1.6 per game, and he’s doing it all on a knee that is still rounding back into shape following that late-preseason surgery. John Calipari also limited his minutes against South Carolina State, something that obviously had a negative impact on his per-game stats. Throw out that game (and his eight-rebound performance against Florida A&M last week), and Tshiebwe has grabbed at least 12 rebounds every time he’s stepped on the court. And he’s continued to dominate that stat against big-time opponents: Michigan State (18 rebounds), UCLA (16), Gonzaga (15) and Michigan (14). He made clear over the summer that he wasn’t focused on repeating as the nation’s top player — saying he didn’t have room for any more trophies anyway, after last season’s haul — but he’s still got a shot to pull off that feat. No player has repeated as the consensus national player of the year since Ralph Sampson did it in 1983.

Jalen Wilson, Kansas

Caesars odds: 10-1.

Already highly regarded nationally coming into this season, Jalen Wilson has gone from a key piece of Kansas’ team the past two years to the inarguable star player for the Jayhawks, who came into this week ranked No. 4 nationally as the reigning NCAA champions. Wilson is averaging 21.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, and only Edey has a higher scoring average among players at major-conference programs. The 6-8 forward has national player of the year odds roughly the same as Tshiebwe to this point in the season. Those two players will meet in Rupp Arena on Jan. 28, when Kentucky hosts Kansas for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana

Caesars odds: 12-1.

One of five players on the AP’s preseason All-America list, Trayce Jackson-Davis has had some relative struggles in recent games as he battles a back injury, but his overall body of work this season is still impressive. The 6-9 senior forward is averaging 16.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game for an Indiana team that has stayed in the top 25 despite losses to Kansas, Arizona and Rutgers over the past few weeks. He dropped 30 points on Xavier early in the season and blocked nine shots (with zero fouls) in that loss to the Jayhawks. The Hoosiers have had some injury issues recently, and they could be primed for a big conference season. Expect to see more superlatives from Jackson-Davis as the campaign progresses.

Drew Timme, Gonzaga

Caesars odds: 15-1.

Expected to be Tshiebwe’s top competition for national player of the year honors coming into the season — and he was the favorite of many going into the 2021-22 campaign — Gonzaga senior Drew Timme has also lived up to expectations. The 6-10 forward is averaging 22.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game — all of those are career highs — and the Zags are working their way back up the rankings after some early losses, checking in at No. 11 in the most recent poll. Timme’s odds at that national player of the year award are longer now than they were at the beginning of the season — primarily thanks to Edey’s hot start — but he’s the best player on what could still be one of the nation’s best teams, so it’s way too early to write him off.

Five more to watch

Adama Sanogo, UConn: No. 4 in the KenPom.com player of the year standings, Sanogo is averaging 18.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the undefeated Huskies, who are No. 2 in the national rankings. Caesars odds: 20-1.

Kris Murray, Iowa: The Hawkeyes aren’t ranked, but the program’s latest star player is averaging 19.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He has been among the top players in the Torvik national player of the year ratings all season. Caesars odds: 15-1.

Marcus Sasser, Houston: A preseason All-America pick, Sasser is back after missing most of last season with an injury, and he’s leading the top-five-ranked Cougars with 16.0 points per game while holding the reputation as one of the best perimeter defenders in the country. Caesars odds: 25-1.

Armando Bacot, North Carolina: Another preseason All-America selection, Bacot is putting up the stats — 18.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game — but the preseason No. 1-ranked Tar Heels have struggled for most of this season, and they’re no longer in the top 25. Still, they have the pieces to make another late run, and that would certainly lift Bacot’s award hopes. Caesars odds: 35-1.

Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona: The 6-11 junior from Lithuania is averaging 20.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for one of the nation’s top teams. Tubelis is one of only four players — Edey, Timme and Sanogo are the others — to be ranked among the top 10 in both the KenPom and Torvik metrics, and he’s No. 2 nationally on the latter list. Caesars odds: Not listed (20-1 on DraftKings).

Next game

No. 19 Kentucky at Missouri

What: Southeastern Conference opener

When: 7 p.m. EST Wednesday

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Kentucky 8-3, Missouri 10-1

Series: Kentucky leads 14-2

Last meeting: Kentucky won 83-56 on Dec. 29, 2021, in Lexington

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