Kentucky Basketball: The Sleeping Giant of College Hoops

As the 2024-25 college basketball season approaches, I find myself scratching my head at the lack of respect being shown to the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite boasting a roster packed with experienced veterans, the Wildcats are being slept on by the national media.

The Wildcats are flying under the radar, but for how long?

The offseason saw a significant shake-up in the SEC, with John Calipari departing for Arkansas and Mark Pope taking the reins as Kentucky’s new head coach. Pope had his work cut out for him, rebuilding the roster from scratch after last year’s team and recruiting class departed. But he’s done an admirable job, assembling a team that’s full of players who have played multiple years of college basketball.

This blueprint is reminiscent of teams that have made deep runs in the NCAA Tournament in recent years. It’s a formula that has proven successful, and yet, Kentucky is nowhere to be found in many way-too-early top 25 lists.

“This team has the perfect mix of offense, defense, and depth that will help them compete in the SEC and hopefully make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.”

I’m not concerned about the lack of preseason hype, though. In fact, I think it could be a blessing in disguise. Coach Pope can use these rankings as bulletin board material to motivate his team when the season kicks off.

Coach Pope is building something special in Lexington.

Preseason rankings are meaningless, anyway. It’s what happens on the court that matters. And when the dust settles, I’m confident that Kentucky will be ranked much higher than they are now.

The Wildcats are poised to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.