Kentucky listed as one of nine teams who can win the NCAA Tournament

Mark Pope has an excellent basketball team that is going to have a special 2025-26 season. Coach Pope used the portal, high school recruiting, and player retention to get this roster looking like one of the best in college basketball.

Ricky O'Donnell of SB Nation wrote an article where he listed nine teams that are capable of winning the national title this season, and Kentucky was one of the teams.

Here is what O'Donnell had to say about the Wildcats: "I’m ready to admit that I was wrong about Mark Pope. I was highly skeptical he’d be an upgrade over John Calipari coming into the season, but Pope made me a believer by developing connectivity and a whirling offense out a roster entirely patched together through the transfer portal in his first year in Lexington. Kentucky does have some continuity this year with Oweh and Brandon Garrison returning, but much is riding on the country’s priciest transfer portal class again. Kam Williams is a big wing who can stretch the floor from three, Jayden Quaintance can be one of America’s best defensive centers if he’s healthy coming off an ACL tear, and guards Jaland Lowe and Denzel Aberdeen add some shot-creation and playmaking. Add in some more five-star freshmen (Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno) and the Wildcats might have the deepest rotation in the country. Lowe’s lack of shooting (26 percent from three on 154 attempts last year with Pitt) is the biggest cause for concern to me, and how the big man rotation shakes out will also be something to monitor. Pope proved his system can manufacture good offense, and he has the pieces to figure it out again this year."