Kentucky named dark horse to win national championship by CBS Sports

Do you believe in Kentucky under Mark Pope? You’re not the only one. In fact, CBS Sports believes the Wildcats have a shot to win a national championship under the first-year coach.

When ranking the 2025 NCAA Tournament title contenders by tiers, Kentucky was included in the list of 20 schools who could hang a banner this coming April. And while the Cats weren’t named “no-brainers” or schools “on the doorstep,” they were included in that third tier of “dark horses.”

“Mark Pope’s process offensively is going to be outstanding,” CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter said of the Cats. “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.”

CBS Sports pointed out that every national champion since 2002 rated inside the KenPom top 25 entering postseason play. Each of the past 22 title winners also rated inside the top 57 offensively and top 44 defensively — no massive outliers for offense- or defense-heavy teams.

So who are those teams expected to be this year? Here are the tiers and the 20 schools listed across each:

No-brainers

• Houston
• Iowa State
• Kansas
• Arizona
• Duke
• Alabama
• Auburn
• Baylor
• Gonzaga
• UConn

On the doorstep

• Tennessee
• North Carolina
• Creighton
• Texas Tech
• Purdue

Dark horses

• Kentucky
• Illinois
• Wake Forest
• St. John’s
• UCLA

You’d love to be in one of the top two tiers, obviously, but there are worse places to be than dark horse territory as a championship contender in year one if you’re Mark Pope.

Let’s see where the conversation stands by year’s end.