Coaches don’t view Kentucky among top college basketball teams entering 2024-25
College coaches do not view Kentucky as a top contender entering Mark Pope’s debut season in Lexington, adding fuel to the fire for the Wildcats going into 2024-25.
Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander of CBS Sports polled over 100 Division I men’s coaches in the last month, exchanging their unfiltered opinions for anonymity. Among the questions asked: Who will be the best team this team?
Nine different programs were named among the coaches with Kansas emerging as the overwhelming favorite with 35.6% of all votes. Not too far behind? Alabama with 27.9% of all votes. From there, Houston came in third at 13.5%, followed by Duke at 9.6% and UConn at 7.7% with Arizona, Baylor, Gonzaga and North Carolina also receiving votes.
Kentucky will take on three of those teams in Alabama, Duke and Gonzaga — including a home-and-home with the Crimson Tide. Including the rest of CBS Sports’ Top 25 And 1, the Cats will participate in 12 ranked matchups among 10 different opponents.
A few quotes on Kentucky’s toughest competition entering the Mark Pope era:
“That machine is rolling. [This] year will be their year to cut the nets,” one coach said of Alabama.
