By parting with longtime head coach John Calipari, the Kentucky Wildcats were set to embark on a new era. Yes, Calipari is one of the best head coaches in college basketball history, but if we're being honest, it felt as if the Wildcats needed a new voice based on how the Calipari era ended.
That new voice turned out to be Mark Pope, a former Wildcats player who was previously coaching at BYU. This hire was met with mixed reactions from Wildcats fans, to say the least, but proved to pay major dividends immediately.
Kentucky didn't exactly dominate in conference play, as evidenced by their 10-8 record, but that had a lot more to do with how tough the SEC was than how good of a team the Wildcats were. The Wildcats wound up earning the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, and a first-round opponent of No. 14 Troy.
The odds were in Kentucky's favor to win their Round of 64 game comfortably, and that's exactly what transpired on Friday. The Wildcats held an eight-point lead at the half and pulled away quickly thanks to a dominant second half. They wound up winning the game by a final score of 76-57, punching their ticket to the Round of 32.
While it's nice to see Kentucky earn a first-round win with their lack of recent NCAA Tournament success in mind, this school always has lofty expectations. They have their eye on appearing in the tournament's second weekend, and based on their second-round matchup, that goal shouldn't be too difficult to achieve.
Who does Kentucky play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament?
Waiting for UK in the second round will be the renewal of an old rival: No. 6 seed Illinois, which pulled away from No. 11-seeded Xavier in its opening-round game late Friday night. It's been an up-and-down year for Brad Underwood's team, which got out to a 12-3 start with wins over Arkansas, Wisconsin and Missouri before suffering a midseason swoon in which they lost eight of 13 games.
The Illini have righted the ship of late, though, closing the regular season with wins over Purdue and Michigan and blasting the Musketeers in their tourney opener. Point-forwrard Kasparas Jakucionis is a legitimate lottery prospect who can do a little bit of everything at 6-foot-6, and he's surrounded by athletes who love to get out and run, get shots up and then crash the offensive glass.
How many times has Kentucky reached the Sweet 16?
While the Wildcats are one of the most storied programs in college basketball history, their recent NCAA Tournament success has been tough to spot, and the losses have been embarrassing.
Despite being a No. 3 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats were upset by No. 14 Oakland. Two years prior, they were a No. 2 seed and took a frustrating loss against No. 15 St. Peter's. To be fair, the Peacocks made a shocking run to the Final Four that year, but the Wildcats still failed to take advantage of a matchup that should've been heavily in their favor.
With all of that being said, the Wildcats haven't been to the NCAA Tournament's second weekend a single time since the 2018-19 season. They were a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region that time around and made a thrilling run to the Elite Eight. Unfortunately, they wound up taking a crushing overtime loss to No. 5 Auburn in the regional final, ending their run in heartbreaking fashion. Wildcats fans hope that if they're able to get that far this time around, the result will be a different one.