"Kentucky wins the Breakup" and other national takes on the 2024-25 Cats

Opening day for college basketball is finally here and it feels like Christmas. A full slate of hoops is underway on your televisions and streaming devices, but if you’d rather spend your time before tipoff reading, I’ve got just the thing.

As is tradition, college basketball writers dropped their predictions for the 2024-25 season this morning. None that I can find were brave enough to pick Kentucky to make the Final Four or win the title in Mark Pope’s first season, but the Cats were a popular talking point. Here’s a roundup of what the national media is saying about Kentucky at the start of the new era.

ESPN

None of ESPN’s four college basketball writers (Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, Joe Lunardi, and Neil Paine) picked Kentucky to win the SEC or make the Final Four. Three of the four writers have Alabama taking home the SEC crown and making the Final Four. Borzello and Lunardi believe Kansas will win it all, while Medcalf goes with the Crimson Tide and Paine Houston.

Lunardi did play the heel by suggesting Kentucky could be the first Top 25 team to lose in the NCAA Tournament.

Just a hunch, obviously, but wouldn’t it be ironic if the early-round woes continued for Kentucky? Certainly Mark Pope has assembled a roster that could be playing into April, but it might also turn out that John Calipari wasn’t the problem. We shall see.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN

Borzello and Medcalf also sorted 99 teams into 12 tiers. Kentucky is listed as one of 12 “Second Weekend Threats,” the third group behind “National Championship Favorites” and “Final Four Contenders.” John Calipari and Arkansas are there too.

New coaches were the theme of the season at Arkansas and Kentucky, with John Calipari leaving Lexington for Fayetteville. Calipari took three Kentucky players and three Kentucky signees with him to Arkansas, also adding top-tier transfers Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic) and Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee). He was ultimately replaced at Kentucky by Mark Pope, who’s bringing dramatic change to the Wildcats. Out are the one-and-done five-star prospects in Lexington; in is a veteran-laden, up-tempo, 3-point-happy system. There are plenty of proven college players on this roster, led by Jaxson Robinson, who followed Pope from BYU.

ESPN

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CBS Sports

Kentucky did not crack the Final Four or NCAA Champion predictions in CBS Sports’ seven-person panel either. Houston and UConn were the most popular picks to win it all, and all but one of the seven has Alabama in the Final Four. I think you’ll like David Cobb’s bold prediction.

Kentucky wins the breakup: Arkansas finished fourth in the SEC preseason poll while Kentucky finished eighth. But by the end of John Calipari’s first season coaching the Razorbacks, it will be clear UK won the breakup. First-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope assembled a veteran roster full of players with well-defined skill sets and roles, which should help make for a successful debut campaign. Arkansas has more sheer talent, but that means expectations will be difficult to meet for a coach who must prove he still has the championship touch.

David Cobb, CBS Sports

Last week, CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter included Kentucky in his tier of dark horses for the national title, along with Illinois, Wake Forest, St. John’s, and UCLA.

Mark Pope’s process offensively is going to be outstanding. This roster is filled with veterans who can pass, dribble and shoot a million 3-pointers. Plus, this point-of-attack defense should be stiff whenever Otega Oweh or Lamont Butler is on the floor. If Kentucky’s 3-pointers are falling in March, it can rattle off numerous wins in a row.

Isaac Trotter, CBS Sports

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The Athletic

Gonzaga is the title favorite in The Athletic’s predictions, with all the other usual suspects — Alabama, Houston, Kansas, UConn — listed as popular Final Four picks. Jesse Temple predicted Arkansas will make the Final Four in John Calipari’s first season in Fayetteville. For his bold prediction, Tobias Bass said he thinks Kentucky will make it to at least the Sweet 16 in the first year under Pope.

Mark Pope and Grant McCasland lead their teams — Kentucky and Texas Tech — to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. To make runs in March you have to have five things: shot makers, NBA-caliber players, the ability to play and adjust to multiple styles, depth and solid coaching. Both teams have all five of those traits. The Red Raiders added four transfers and all have played in at least one NCAA Tournament game. The Wildcats added nine players via the portal — seven averaged at least 10 points per game last year while another, Lamont Butler, averaged 9.4 points and has Final Four experience while at San Diego State.

Tobias Bass, The Athletic

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Yahoo Sports

Alabama is one of the frontrunners to win the national championship, but Yahoo Sports’ Ryan Young writes that John Calipari’s move to Arkansas and Mark Pope’s return to Lexington steal the headlines in the SEC.

The SEC is about as good as it’s ever been basketball-wise. But how Calipari and Pope do in their first seasons in their new homes — and how Calipari fares when he makes his first return trip to Kentucky with the Razorbacks on Feb. 1 — is sure to be the main focus in the league. Among the top games currently on the schedule, that contest at Rupp Arena is sure to be extremely entertaining.

Ryan Young, Yahoo Sports

In his 68 bold predictions for the season, Jeff Eisenberg opines that both Kentucky and John Calipari needed a fresh start and that neither the Cats nor the Razorbacks are Final Four contenders.

Will Kentucky have a better season under Mark Pope? Or will Arkansas have bragging rights after Calipari’s debut season? The boring truth is that both project similarly as teams that should comfortably make the NCAA tournament but aren’t likely to contend for the Final Four. Arkansas has more top-tier talent. Kentucky’s modern style of play is more likely to maximize the array of shooters acquired via the transfer portal.

Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo Sports

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Kentucky in the Preseason Rankings

Kentucky is No. 23 in the AP and Coaches Preseason Polls. Here’s where the Cats stand in all the other preseason polls making the rounds:

• Andy Katz: No. 14
• CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander: No. 15
• The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy: No. 16
• ESPN: No. 23
• Jon Rothstein: No. 31
• Gary Parrish: Not Ranked
• The Athletic: Not Ranked

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