Kentucky has a very real chance to win its ninth national championship in program history this season.
The Kentucky Wildcats’ roster looks really good and very versatile going into the 2025-26 college basketball season. There’s a real chance Kentucky will go to the Final Four for the first time since 2015 and win its ninth national championship in program history.
So, as you can imagine, many major outlets have Kentucky ranked near the top of their updated rankings.
The latest outlet to buy into Kentucky’s roster is Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney, who has the Wildcats at No. 7 in his latest rankings.
This is what Sweeney had to say about Mark Pope and the Wildcats as we sit in early June:
“Mark Pope has his sights set on more after taking the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in his first year on the job in Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats spent big on their roster this spring, adding 10 new players, including high-profile transfers Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance, while bringing back star wing Otega Oweh. Quaintance’s health is a huge question coming off a late-season ACL tear at Arizona State, but he’s a game-changing player (especially on the defensive end) if 100%. A lot rides on Lowe improving his efficiency, though Pope’s offensive system should give him more space to operate—it helped less-talented guards make a jump last season.”
Only Texas Tech, Purdue, St. John’s, UConn, Florida, and Houston are ranked ahead of Kentucky in Sweeney’s rankings.
We are only five months away from the start of the regular season, and we’re even closer to Big Blue Madness in anticipation of one of the most exciting teams entering a season in recent Kentucky history.