Mark Pope shares his way-too-early Troy scouting report: "It's a terrific team."

Mark Pope was minutes removed from learning Kentucky’s fate in the NCAA Tournament, CBS just wrapping up its Selection Show with the field of 68 finally revealed. It’d be the No. 3 seed Wildcats taking on the Trojans of the Sun Belt, Troy earning a No. 14 seed with tip-off scheduled for 7:10 PM ET on Friday.

His immediate reaction?

“I think it worked out pretty well,” Pope said. “I think it broke down pretty much the way we expected. I think there’s so much analysis now pre-bracket that it gets increasingly accurate.”

Troy finished the year 23-10 with a Sun Belt championship, defeating Arkansas State to punch its ticket to the Big Dance. Tayton Conerway is the team’s leading scorer at 14.3 points per game, followed by Myles Rigsby at 12.0 points and Thomas Dowd at 9.8.

The Trojans entered Selection Sunday as the No. 98 team in KenPom and No. 99 in the NET, coming in with zero Quad 1 victories and six combined Quad 3 and 4 losses.

What does Pope know about Kentucky’s next opponent — again, with zero research immediately following the bracket reveal, truly his first take on the Trojans? Surprisingly more than you’d expect.

Actually, is it even a surprise at this point? Pope knows his stuff.

“Well, I’ve seen them a little bit this year. They’re — I think they’re the No. 7 steals team in the country, they’re one of the top 20 or 30 offensive rebounding teams in the country, they’re an elite-level defensive team,” the Kentucky head coach said. “They’ve won a boatload of games this year. Scott Cross is a great coach who’s been doing this for a long time at a high level. I’ve got a ton of respect for him.”

Troy is in the field because it belongs in the field — just like everyone set to play in the coming days. When you get in as an automatic qualifier, your reward is an opportunity like this one.

Pope knows the Trojans will be ready, just as his team will be ready. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, right?

“I haven’t gotten into the nuts and bolts of them yet, but it’s a terrific team,” he said. “Every team in this tournament is so good. Look at the teams that didn’t get in, right?

“This is a big-time tournament. They’re all great teams.”

Koby Brea hasn’t done that level of research on his next opponent quite yet, but he’s got experience against the Trojans, interestingly enough.

“I actually got to play them last year when I was at Dayton and I think they have a pretty similar team looking at the roster,” he said. “Every team in this tournament is pretty good, so you’ve got to be able to lock in.”

As for Lamont Butler, he’s set to return to the event that helped him become a March icon — his nickname is LaMarch thanks to the game-winning buzzer-beater he hit in the Final Four to advance to the national championship game.

Back healthy, he’s excited for another shot at a deep run, this time wearing the blue and white.

“I was happy, of course. I mean, anytime you’re able to play in March Madness, you’re happy,” he said. “I’ve been blessed with playing in this event for my fifth year now. A lot of people can’t say that, so it’s definitely a blessing. I’m just excited to go out there and see what we can do.”

All of the blood, sweat and tears they’ve put into this season is for this moment. Brea is grateful for that opportunity in his final postseason of college basketball.

“Just super exciting, man,” he said. “Honestly, it’s a surreal experience to be able to hear your name called, your team’s name called — especially in this kind of environment. All of the hard work we put in this year, it’s kind of rewarding. We’re just excited for what’s to come.”

We’ll find out what this team can do when the Cats tip off against the Trojans at 7:10 PM ET on Friday.