Jay Bilas ranks the 65 best college basketball teams, likes Kentucky Wildcats’ potential

“Kentucky supporters want and expect more.”

That snippet comes from Bilas’ analysis of Kentucky in his annual “Bilas Index,” where the ESPN college basketball analyst ranked who he believes are the best teams in college basketball.

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Bilas has the Wildcats at No. 19, sixth among SEC teams.

“Mark Pope’s first two Kentucky teams won a combined 46 games — only one more than John Calipari’s last two Kentucky teams,” Bilas wrote. “Though both win totals are worthy of celebration at most other programs in the country, Kentucky supporters want and expect more.”

Pope took the Cats to the Sweet 16 in 2025, Kentucky’s first trip to the second weekend since 2019. But in a season that began with expectations of the program’s ninth national championship, the Cats only made it to the Round of 32 in 2026.

After a successful offseason, there is genuine hope that this Wildcats team can get back to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and maybe keep going from there. After all, this is a program and fanbase that measures success by Final Fours and National Championships.

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Bilas certainly is confident in Kentucky’s chances this season.

“If Kentucky stays healthy, Pope should expect to deliver a terrific season in 2027, mostly because of an excellent transfer class,” said Bilas. “Kentucky will be a much better shooting team this season — the key will be fitting all of the new players together and staying healthy in the process.”

That transfer class is led by Milan Momcilovic, who starred in Kentucky’s season-opener with six three-pointers and 24 points. Alex Wilkins and Zoom Diallo could be a really good backcourt. Malachi Moreno looks like a more potent force than he was as a Freshman. Again, the pieces are there.

As Bilas points out, can they fit together? If they can, this can be a really good Wildcats team.

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jay-bilas-ranks-65-best-110500591.html

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Publish date : 2026-11-06 11:05:00

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