The Kentucky Wildcats got the monkey off their back by winning one NCAA Tournament game, beating Providence. However, after being eliminated in a heartbreaking loss to Kansas State, that makes three straight seasons where Kentucky has failed to make the second weekend of the tournament.
The lack of recent success has been disappointing for Kentucky fans, a fanbase known for their high expectations. That frustration has been felt by the media, leading many of them to give their “bold” takes on the state of the Kentucky program.
One media personality, Paul Finebaum of ESPN/SEC Network, gave his opinion on Kentucky in a radio appearance earlier this week.
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“Kentucky has become irrelevant,” Finebaum said. “We get all excited about them every year, because they’ve got the No. 1 recruiting class coming in, which they do again. In November, they were the No. 4 team in the country. They had to fight to get into the tournament in February, which they did. Then they laid another egg. To the elite college basketball world, getting knocked out in the Round of 32 is a failure.”
The argument of failure to succeed with top recruiting classes is one that has been made by many. However, most of these people have not paid attention to Kentucky’s roster construction of late, as the lack of elite, NBA-level talent has been a real issue.
From Calipari’s first season (2009) to his last Final Four (2015), Kentucky had sixteen top-10 recruits, with 10 of those being in the top-5. Whereas since then, Kentucky has had just eight top-10 recruits, and just one top-5 recruit (excluding Shaedon Sharpe who did not play).
This isn’t to say Kentucky still hasn’t underperformed with the talent they have had, but Calipari has been most successful with elite players, and the recruiting hasn’t been at the same level.
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That will change next season, as Calipari and a renovated staff are bringing in five, five-star prospects, including four ranked in the top-10, and three in the top-5.
Not to mention, the Southeastern conference has become much more difficult to win in. While Kentucky has always been at the top, other programs are finally investing into basketball. As a result, the conference now has some of the best coaches in the country and is now bringing in the top players, from high school and the transfer portal.
Finebaum went on to note that even by “moving the goalposts,” UK had to reach the Sweet 16 because of the last few seasons of having a losing season, and last year losing to Saint Peter’s to open the NCAA Tournament.
“Just to wash away the stench of the last couple years,” Finebaum said. “… There’s no way you can look this season as anything other than a failure. And there’s no way you can look at John Calipari’s career as saying nothing but the clock is ticking loudly.”
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If you look at Calipari’s career as a whole, he has seven Elite Eights, four Final Fours, and a National Championship. Unfortunately, the bulk of that success came in the first half of his tenure, going on a tear of winning that few have done. If you spread that success out over his entire tenure, things are likely to be looked at much differently.
As mentioned, Calipari will have a team of NBA talent next season, will he make a run and reverse the trajectory?
As a student here at the University of Kentucky, this semester has so far been the most memorable and exciting, even before the greatest tradition in the history of college basketball.
Kentucky Football has had a coach-debuting season for the ages, Kentucky Volleyball has played like a top-five team in the country all year and Kenny Brooks has provided multiple reasons for fans to be excited for the upcoming women’s basketball season.
I’m starting this report with this note because this has put even more pressure on Mark Pope, who’s frankly in hot-seat mode after two seasons in the head coach role.
Friday night would serve as a massive talking point in terms of what we could expect in a ranked basketball game this year, as No. 23 Kentucky would take on No. 19 Texas Tech in the Cats’ second exhibition game. These preseason matches should be taken with a grain of salt at the end of the day, but how did the they actually perform in their first major matchup?
The first half started fairly pitiful for the Wildcats. Washington transfer Zoom Diallo and international prospect Ousmane N’Diaye would score the first points for Big Blue, but some boneheaded turnovers in the first stint of the game led to the Red Raiders taking an early lead.
Couple that with a lack of shooting from range, and it looked worrying for both Pope and the crowd, who were looking to give Rupp Arena its iconic home court advantage.
In the first 12 minutes of play, Diallo would rack up three of the first seven turnovers and bring the deficit to near double digits early on.
Kentucky’s defense kept the game in check, however. Pope’s teams are typically prioritizing range-shooting and complex pass plays, but a steady chain of steals and door-closing coverage would more than help with keeping the Cats’ deficit close.
The momentum this game switched completely was around the six-minute mark, where Kentucky would rattle off a 17-3 run to wrap up the first half and take a four-point lead before the break.
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For a team that Pope bragged about for being a lights-out squad from range, it would actually be the hustle and defensive efforts that would help the blue and white into the locker room with a convincing lead over one of the top contenders in the Big 12.
Second Half
Kentucky would actually keep this momentum going in the second half, with N’Diaye and freshman Mason Williams rattling off a block and a deep three respectively to start things with a 10-2 run. Texas Tech would redeem itself with a quick 6-0 run to survive going into the first TV timeout, but that red-hot start played a crucial part in energizing the fans at Rupp Arena.
When talking about some of the player performances during the game, N’Diaye may be one of the most intruguing X-Factors that the Cats have coming into the season. The international prospect from Senegal plays as a versatile glass protector that can confidently shoot the ball when needed most. It’ll sure be exciting to see how he contributes against teams like Kansas and Louisville in the next 45 days.
I had originally wrote down a rant talking about how Alex Wilkins had been my most underwhelming player of the night, but as basketball is a game of massive swings, he more than proved me wrong when the Cats were desparate for a dagger.
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Wilkins was known by the Big Blue Nation as someone needing development as a playmaker, especially in his turnover margins. Luckily, he redeemed himself with massive threes in the last half of the game to help Kentucky breathe. Suddenly the game was tied at 54, but the Cats were never behind during the second half.
The Red Raiders hung on for as long as they could, but the Wildcats cleaned up their act from the first half and responded with a captivating 76-65 victory for their second exhibition win.
Pope’s lineup of Milan Momcilovic, Malachi Moreno, Wilkins, Williams and N’Diaye combined for 67 of those 76 points on a 7/24 shooting clip from deep.
Postgame
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POSTGAME: Mark Pope, Malachi Moreno and Alex Wilkins recap Kentucky’s 76-65 exhibition win over No. 19 Texas Tech!
“Good night for our guys and we’re excited to move forward and keep getting better.”
It’s always very important to note that you shouldn’t overreact to any result of an exhibition, but after Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland nodded to the “our length is our strength” tagline that Pope has been pitching, it’s safe to say that we may have a fun team brewing in Lexington. McCasland also praised Momcilovic’s respectable performance, coming from a coach who had to plan against the Wisconsin native for three years straight.
“I’ve seen it a million times: Momcilovic made us pay from three,” he said. “Kentucky’s got a really good team.”
The biggest takeaway the Raiders’ head coach mentioned was that he uses these exhibitions to measure “togetherness” both on and off the court. While these games don’t count towards any head-to-head records, he wanted to better understand who really wants to be on the court, looking to see who’s cheering for their teammates or who’s keeping the sideline in check during times where momentum does not swing in their favor.
With First-Team All American JT Toppin resting after an ACL tear towards the end of last season, it’s especially important to understand the roles of everybody on the team.
Pope started his press conference with similar nods to togetherness, this time referencing a Rupp Arena crowd during an exhibition on fall break weekend.
“I will never take [Rupp Arena] for granted. 20,000 people finding their way into this arena for an exhibition game is just amazing,” Pope said. “Big Blue Nation is incredible.”
While he acknowledged his team’s clunkiness in the first half of the game, he was very impressed with the responses and runs the Cats created against a physical power-conference foe. Again, he continues to highlight and praise Williams, who has played 48 minutes and committed just one turnover in his two showings. Moreno had similar marks of respect.
“[Mason Williams] makes us a lot better. He’s a spark off the bench and he’s proving a lot of people wrong,” Pope said. “He’s a hard worker in the gym all day long, doing what he needs to do.”
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What’s Next?
Kentucky has some nice momentum coming out of Pope’s first (unofficial) win vs. McCasland! Perhaps they can use that when they look to face another Big 12 opponent in UCF on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
There are a LOT of notes you can take from this ranked win as they roll into Wednesday. Could Pope shift the starting lineup in his final exhibition after an eye-popping performance from Williams? In the last game of the season that doesn’t count for anything, perhaps that could be a viable option.
How will Diallo respond after a below-par showing? Is N’Diaye better than we could have better hoped? You can find out the answers to all of my questions in just five days when Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena at 6:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. CT) on SEC Network.
Follow KY Insider on all socials to stay updated in one of Kentucky’s most exciting recent years in sports!
The NBA season is officially underway, and Kentucky continues to lead the way with 26 former players on professional rosters. The Wildcats’ opening-day-roster number ties Duke for the most in the nation, with both programs holding a sizable lead over the rest – Arkansas and North Carolina follow at 11 players each.
Wishing good luck to our 26 Wildcats in the NBA this season 😼
Kentucky’s presence is led by some of the biggest names in the sport, including MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, star guard Devin Booker, Hall of Famer Anthony Davis, NBA Champion big Karl-Anthony Towns and the bucket-getting Tyrese Maxey.
These players and more have become some of the most recognizable names in the league, set to earn approximately $635 million in combined salaries for the 2026-27 season. Davis, Booker and Towns will make more than $57 million each.
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BBN will once again have plenty of faces to root for throughout the season. Whether it be established superstars or younger players still fighting for minutes, the Wildcats continue to make their presence felt beyond Lexington.
Below is the full list of Kentucky’s alumni playing at the next level:
All 26 Former Kentucky Players on NBA Opening-Day Rosters
The University of Kentucky athletics department is thriving right now, and for the first time in a very long time, the Wildcats are one of two schools to have their volleyball, football, men’s and women’s basketball teams ranked in the AP Poll at the same time.
Kentucky Football has given fans plenty of reasons to be excited for the future, because after defeating Oklahoma by a score of 21-13, Will Stein’s team climbed to No. 12 in the rankings.
This win improved their record to 6-1 on the season with a 4-1 record in SEC play, now tied with the Georgia Bulldogs to be No. 1 in the conference. The ranking represents an important moment for the program, with Kentucky working to establish itself as a strong contender not only in the SEC, but in the entire sport of college football. With challenging opponents coming up, Stein and his studs have a chance to prove that they belong in the national conversation.
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Kentucky Volleyball adds to the list of successful teams in Lexington, with this program having countlessly proved themselves throughout the years en route to a national championship and 15 total conference titles.
With the Cats being ranked No. 4 in the country, this teams gives fans another opportunity to support the blue and white beyond just football and basketball. Competing for national recognition reinforces a broader message: Kentucky athletics is about more than a single team or one turn of a season.
Kentucky Men’s Basketball remains as one of the most recognizable programs in college basketball, entering the 2026-27 season ranked No. 23 in preseason polls. Mark Pope and his team are looking to extend a tradition that has defined the program for generations, featuring eight national championships, 17 final four appearances and countless other tournament appearances. Will this be the year the Wildcats get banner No. 9?
Kentucky Women’s Basketball has been redefined in a few short years, with the Wildcats coming in ranked at No. 14 in the preseason ahead of the 2026-27 campaign. After reaching the Sweet 16 last season, Kenny Brooks is looking to build onto their recent success.
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Both men’s and women’s basketball have showcased plenty of talent over the last two years, with both carrying high expectations within the Big Blue Nation.
Having four athletic programs receive national recognition all at the same time is a meaningful accomplishment, demonstrating how a school can thrive and build an athletic culture in more than just one sport, in a quick manner that is.
For Kentucky fans, that means more opportunities to cheer, more teams to follow and more reasons to take pride as a member of the BBN. Rankings can change weekly, but the larger story is the university’s ambition to compete at the highest level in multiple ways.
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