Kentucky basketball hasn’t been to the Final Four in more than a decade, but this could be the season that changes. National analysts and preview magazines like the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook believe Mark Pope’s second Wildcats squad has all the ingredients to make a deep March run. Blue Ribbon slotted UK at No. 8 in its preseason Top 25 and placed the Wildcats firmly in the national title conversation.
The challenge? Many of Kentucky’s fiercest rivals are ranked right alongside them.
Florida Still on Top
The defending national champion Florida Gators enter the season as Blue Ribbon’s No. 1 team, thanks to a blend of returning size, skill, and key portal additions. Todd Golden’s roster features SEC preseason Player of the Year Alex Condon, 6-foot-11 and 230 pounds, as well as fellow frontcourt anchors Rueben Chinyelu and Tommy Haugh. Together, they form what Blue Ribbon editor Chris Dortch calls “probably the best front line in college basketball.”
Golden also added guard firepower, bringing in Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee and dynamic former Arkansas guard Boogie Fland. Dortch called Fland the X-factor, describing him as a potential lottery pick with the ability to dominate games. Florida’s depth doesn’t end there: 7-1 big man Micah Handlogten is back from injury, and the backcourt rotation includes Urban Klavzar, Isaiah Brown, and freshman CJ Ingram.
Kentucky will see Florida twice this season — Feb. 14 in Gainesville and March 7 at Rupp Arena — in what could be pivotal SEC matchups.
Other Heavyweights
Purdue checks in at No. 2 nationally and will visit Rupp on Oct. 24 for a high-profile exhibition. Houston (No. 3), Duke (No. 4), UConn (No. 5), St. John’s (No. 6), and Tennessee (No. 7) all make up the rest of the Top 8 alongside Kentucky.
Rick Pitino’s St. John’s squad will face UK in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 20, while Rick Barnes’ Tennessee Vols — boasting Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie and freshman star Nate Ament — will test Kentucky twice in SEC play.
And then there’s Louisville. Pat Kelsey’s Cardinals sit at No. 10 in the Blue Ribbon poll, boasting the ACC’s top backcourt. Freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr., projected as a top-five NBA draft pick, leads a group of elite shooters including Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely, and Adrian Wooley. Add in BYU transfer Aly Khalifa and German pro Sanada Fru, and Louisville could be Pope’s most dangerous rival. The first clash comes early: Nov. 11 at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Wildcats’ Outlook
Blue Ribbon projects Kentucky’s starting five as Jaland Lowe, Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen, Mouhamed Dioubate, and Brandon Garrison. Oweh, a preseason second-team All-American, headlines the group. Freshman phenom Jayden Quaintance is still recovering from knee surgery but should provide major depth once he returns.
Pope’s roster blends experience with youth, featuring only two seniors — Oweh and Aberdeen — but enough talent to contend now while keeping an eye on the future. Assistant coach Mikhail McLean praised Quaintance as “a nimble giant” capable of defending every position on the floor.
In total, Kentucky will play 12 games against preseason Top 25 opponents, including Florida, Tennessee, Louisville, Texas, UNC, Gonzaga, and St. John’s. Only four of those games will be inside Rupp Arena.
SEC Landscape
Alabama (No. 11), Auburn (No. 13), Arkansas (No. 15), and Texas (No. 24) round out the other ranked SEC teams. Oweh, along with Florida’s Condon, Tennessee’s Gillespie and Ament, Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford, and Alabama’s Labaron Philon, earned spots on the preseason All-SEC team.
Former Kentucky guard Travis Perry, now at Ole Miss, could also make noise. Chris Beard labeled Perry “the best shooter on our team,” and Dortch predicted the Kentucky native could hoist at least 165 threes this season.
