ESPN: Kentucky is one of 8 teams that can win the National Championship

A wise man once asked, “What does it take to be No. 1?” ESPN’s John Gasaway is answering Nelly’s question ahead of the NCAA Tournament and Kentucky is making the cut.

The exercise is common amongst pundits. Even without a bracket, certain teams show the make-up of a National Title contender. Some rely on the numbers, while others base their analysis off of who is playing the best at the end of the season. Kentucky certainly fits the latter category, while dancing around the former.

Gasaway has written the column at ESPN now for eight years. The previous seven National Championship winners each came from this early-March list. This year Gasaway has narrowed the contenders to Arizona, UConn, Creighton, Duke, Houston, Kentucky, Purdue, and Tennessee.

Tennessee, Creighton, and Purdue have never won a National Championship. UConn is trying to repeat, something only two other teams have done since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty, Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07).

KenPom is often cited as the go-to statistical tool to determine which teams can mathematically string together six consecutive wins in March Madness. A team must have a top-40 offense and a top-25 defense to win the title. There have been a few outliers. UConn’s offense didn’t pass muster in 2014 and Baylor’s defense lagged behind during the Covid season.

Of Gasaway’s eight teams that can win a National Championship, Kentucky is the only one that does not qualify, thanks to its 94th-ranked defense. Does it matter for this Kentucky offense? That will be a question asked often before the Madness behind next Thursday.

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CBS Conference Tournament Predictions

There is still a lot of basketball to be played before Selection Sunday. Before all of the conference tournaments commence on Wednesday, the experts at CBS Sports shared their picks for every conference tournament winner. Four of the eight prognosticators picked Kentucky to win its first SEC Conference Tournament Title since 2018.

Myron Medcalf did not share an official prediction for ESPN, but he does have a rooting interest in Nashville. Matt Jones’ Sunday morning radio co-host wants to see a rubber match between the Cats and the Vols.

“The stakes in this game are clear. Kentucky is 7-1 in its past eight games, and a run through the SEC tournament would position the Wildcats — shaping into one of the most imposing teams in the field — to secure a top-three seed, maybe more. Tennessee is chasing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament after its loss to Kentucky on Saturday. When the Wildcats fell to Tennessee in the first game between the two last month, John Calipari still had questions about his rotation,” writes Medcalf.

“But Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham and Antonio Reeves have emerged as the nucleus of this momentous crew. In the second meeting, Wooden Award contender and projected NBA draft lottery pick Dalton Knecht had a career-high 40 points — and the Vols still lost. The third matchup might feel like a Final Four game.”