Mark Pope isn’t talking about just getting better. He’s talking about being elite.
The Kentucky head coach has made it clear what he wants from this year’s Wildcats: a top-10 defense in the nation.
“We’d like to be top 10,” Pope said before the season tipped off. “We’d like to be number one, but if we can slide into that top-10 space, it’s going to serve us really well. That’s going to be an every-second-of-every-day pursuit.”
It’s an ambitious goal — but one that could put Kentucky right in the middle of the national title conversation.
Building a Defensive Identity
Last season’s Wildcats were one of the best offensive teams in the country — finishing No. 10 in KenPom offensive efficiency — but the defense often held them back. The chemistry just wasn’t there. None of the players had ever shared a court before, and it showed.
Kentucky ended up No. 51 in defensive efficiency, a number Pope wants to bury this year.
This season’s roster returns four players — Otega Oweh, Brandon Garrison, Collin Chandler, and Trent Noah — but adds ten new faces, including key contributors like Mouhamed Dioubate, Denzel Aberdeen, Kam Williams, and Malachi Moreno.
Oweh, who lived through the defensive struggles last year, knows the difference will come down to one thing: communication.
“I think it’s just being connected,” Oweh said. “Talking, paying attention to the little details. We didn’t do a good job of that, but we’re gonna work on it. It’s a new squad, but we’re gonna get better every single day.”
Why Dioubate Believes This Team Is Built Different
No one has a better perspective on Kentucky’s defensive growth than Mouhamed Dioubate. The Alabama transfer faced UK three times last season — and his Crimson Tide torched the Cats, averaging 99 points per game.
Now? He’s wearing Kentucky blue and helping lead the defensive overhaul.
“I think we could be a top-five defensive team in the country,” Dioubate said. “We got the players, we got the tools, and we’re going to have the drive this year. Last year, they didn’t have the same kind of personnel. But I feel like this year we have it.”
And the early signs back him up. In the exhibition win over No. 1-ranked Purdue, Kentucky looked noticeably more active, physical, and connected on defense. That’s exactly what Pope envisioned when he built this roster.
With long, aggressive guards like Oweh, Aberdeen, and Williams, plus versatile frontcourt players such as Dioubate, Garrison, Moreno, and (eventually) Jayden Quaintance, this team finally has the pieces to match its offensive firepower with defensive dominance.
Even Pope’s longtime assistant, Cody Fueger, who’s been with him for all 11 seasons of his head-coaching career, admitted this group is different.
“They’ve never had a roster built to play defense like this one,” he said.
The Numbers Say It’s Possible
The dream of becoming a top-10 defensive team isn’t just hype — the numbers actually support it.
In the KenPom preseason ratings, Kentucky came in No. 9 in offense and No. 4 in defense — putting them in elite company.
Only Houston, Iowa State, and Tennessee were ranked higher defensively. And only Houston and Florida — the two teams that played for last season’s national title — joined Kentucky with top-10 marks on both sides of the ball.
That’s the kind of balance that wins championships.
History Backs Pope’s Vision
Over the past decade, 19 teams have finished in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Nine reached the Final Four.
Five won national titles.
Six more made it to the Elite Eight.
The last three NCAA champions — Florida (2025), UConn (2023 & 2024) — all pulled off the same statistical feat Pope is chasing.
And historically, Kentucky’s done it too: in 1998, 2003, 2012, 2015, and even back in 1997 — every time ending with at least an Elite Eight run and two banners.
So when Pope says he wants his Wildcats to be elite defensively, he’s not just setting a motivational slogan. He’s pointing directly at the formula for hanging a championship banner in Rupp Arena.
