This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Let the Games Begin

And Here. We. Go. Kentucky Basketball will tipoff their season on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden against the Duke Blue Devils. For college basketball junkies across the country, Tuesday is a national holiday. Countless games will take place beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Now that the season is here, each Monday we will take a look around the college basketball scene to preview the week ahead. We will begin with the top storyline associated with Kentucky Basketball and get an early look at the ‘Cats opponents. Then, we move outward first taking a glance around the Southeastern Conference before finishing with the best games to watch nationally.

You can almost hear the balls bouncing and the shoes squeaking. We are just about 24 hours from Division I college basketball on our television screens. Let’s dive in to what is happening this week in Kentucky Basketball.

Top Kentucky Basketball Storyline: What does the rotation look like?

All eyes are obviously on the Duke Blue Devils and Tuesday night’s Champions Classic. However, the Wildcats actually have two games this week as Robert Morris will come to Rupp Arena Friday night. That will give us two looks at what Coach Calipari will do with the rotation.

The exhibition games pretty much solidified the starting lineup of Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington, Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks, and Oscar Tshiebwe. However, how deep the rotation goes in a real game situation is yet to be seen. Is there a reason why Davion Mintz only played 11 minutes on Friday night? Who will play the backup five-man role? How much run will Dontaie Allen get? These are just some of the questions heading into week one.

Rotations generally start larger and then shrink down by SEC play. We won’t necessarily have a clear idea after these first two games. However, some questions start to get answered and roles begin to be defined. That will be one of the most interesting storylines to follow this week.

This Week in Kentucky Basketball: Duke Blue Devils & Robert Morris Colonials

Duke

With the Coach Mike Krzyzewski retirement tour getting a lot of national attention, fans probably feel like they know quite a bit about Duke. Paolo Banchero is a name that rings familiar to Kentucky Basketball fans as he spurned the ‘Cats for the Blue Devils. Now, he is a potential number one NBA Draft pick and expected to be one of the best players in college basketball as a freshman. Add in fellow freshman Jaylen Blakes and AJ Griffin and you have one of the best recruiting classes in the country taking the floor this season.

The Blue Devils are going to be big and physical around the basket. Mark Williams will be one of the best rim protectors in the country this year. Additionally, Marquette transfer Theo John gives Duke a bruising presence off of the bench. Only one scholarship player on the roster ways less than 200 pounds. Kentucky is going to be in for a physical basketball game Tuesday night.

Robert Morris

Looking ahead to Friday, the Wildcats will face the Robert Morris Colonials lead by Head Coach Andrew Toole in his 12th season. A 20-win campaign in 2020 culminated in a Northeast Conference Tournament championship and an automatic bid to The Big Dance. However, the tournament was obviously cancelled ending the Colonials season.

2021 was not as kind to Robert Morris as they went 4-15, including a 3-12 mark in their first season as members of the Horizon League. A pair of starters return and St. John’s transfer Rasheem Dunn joins the squad that will look to improve from a tough season. Dunn has a chance to be one of the better players in the Horizon League that will approach the 2000 career points milestone by year end. The Colonials were one of the worst defensive teams in college basketball last season so that is where most improvement will need to take place.

Around the Southeastern Conference

In case you missed it, check out KSR’s preseason SEC Power Rankings to get more information on the best teams in the league heading into the season. 11 of the conference’s 14 teams will tipoff on Tuesday evening with the three holdouts getting started on Wednesday.

Only Kentucky will face a ranked opponent in Duke as part of the Champions Classic. The next most interesting game will be #14 Alabama taking on a very good Louisiana Tech team. Big man Kenneth Lofton Jr. returns for his second season after being named Conference USA Freshman of the Year. The Bulldogs went 24-8 a season ago and finished third in the NIT.

Elsewhere around the league Tuesday night, #18 Tennessee hosts UT Martin, #22 Auburn hosts Morehead State, and #16 Arkansas welcomes Mercer. This will provide SEC fans their first look at Volunteers freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler and Auburn freshman forward Jabari Smith. Georgia’s game at Cincinnati will be a nice early season test for Coach Tom Crean as well.

A couple of common opponents for Kentucky Basketball will play SEC schools this week. Missouri plays Central Michigan on Tuesday while Texas A&M hosts North Florida Wednesday. It will be a fun opening week of Southeastern Conference basketball.

Games to Watch Nationally

Tuesday, November 9th

#4 Villanova vs. Mount St. Mary’s (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on FS1)

#17 Ohio State vs. Akron (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN2)

#24 UConn vs. Central Connecticut (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time)

#3 Kansas vs. Michigan State (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN)

#7 Purdue vs. Bellarmine (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#13 Oregon vs. Texas Southern (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on PAC12 Network)

#18 Tennessee vs. UT Martin (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on SEC Network)

#19 North Carolina vs. Loyola (MD) (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ACC Network)

#21 Maryland vs. Quinnipiac (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#23 St. Bonaventure vs. Siena (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#11 Illinois vs. Jackson State (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Big 10 Network)

#12 Memphis vs. Tennessee Tech (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#15 Houston vs. Hofstra (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#16 Arkansas vs. Mercer (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#22 Auburn vs. Morehead State (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#1 Gonzaga vs. Dixie State (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#5 Texas vs. Houston Baptist (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Longhorn Network)

#14 Alabama vs. Louisiana Tech (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on SEC Network)

#25 Virginia vs. Navy (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ACC Network)

#9 Duke vs. #10 Kentucky (9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN)

#2 UCLA vs. CSU Bakersfield (11:00 p.m. Eastern Time on PAC12 Network)

Wednesday, November 10th

#6 Michigan vs. Buffalo (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Big 10 Network)

#20 Florida State vs. Pennsylvania (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ACC Network)

Thursday, November 11th

#21 Maryland vs. George Washington (6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Big 10 Network)

Friday, November 12th

#9 Duke vs. Army (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ACC Network)

#10 Kentucky vs. Robert Morris (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on SEC Network)

#17 Ohio State vs. Niagara (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#25 Virginia vs. Radford (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#3 Kansas vs. Tarleton (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#14 Alabama vs. South Dakota State (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#15 Houston vs. Rice (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#22 Auburn vs. UL Monroe (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#7 Purdue vs. Indiana State (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Big 10 Network)

#8 Baylor vs. Incarnate Word (8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#11 Illinois vs. Arkansas State (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#19 North Carolina vs. Brown (9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ACC Network)

#13 Oregon vs. SMU (11:00 p.m. Eastern Time on PAC12 Network)

#2 UCLA vs. #4 Villanova (11:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN2)

Saturday, November 13th

#24 UConn vs. Coppin State (Noon Eastern Time on FS2)

#21 Maryland vs. Vermont (2:00 p.m. Eastern Time)

#16 Arkansas vs. Gardner-Webb (3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#12 Memphis vs. North Carolina Central (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#6 Michigan vs. Prairie View A&M (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Big 10 Network)

#9 Duke vs. Campbell (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)

#1 Gonzaga vs. #5 Texas (10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN2)

Sunday, November 14th

#18 Tennessee vs. East Tennessee State (Noon Eastern Time on SEC Network)

Florida vs. #20 Florida State (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN)

#23 St. Bonaventure vs. Canisius (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+)