It’s a brand new season for Kentucky.
The Wildcats (22-11) earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play Sun Belt champion Troy in the opening round of the tournament Friday night (7:10 ET tipoff) in Milwaukee. Kentucky defeated the Trojans in their lone meeting in 2018.
Kentucky was projected as a third seed, but its destination wasn’t set in stone before the bids were announced on Sunday.
“I think it worked out pretty well,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said during a watch party event at the Central Bank Center. “I think it broke down pretty much what we expected. I think there's so much analysis now pre-bracket that it gets increasingly accurate.”
Pope’s squad is in the Midwest Region, along with top-seeded Houston and No. 2 seed Tennessee. Pope is 0-2 in the Big Dance and looking for his first career win as a coach in the tourney. However, the Kentucky coach said the main emphasis is the success of the program instead of personal accolades.
“This about Kentucky … what I'm really excited about is to see (how we can do in the tournament)," he said. "This team has been through it in an amazing way, and their resilience has been incredible. When you look at the analytics with the whole season wrapped up, we were 355th in the country in minutes continuity this season.
“That's an insane number and to do it in this league, in the SEC, as a brand new group that's never functioned together. What these guys have accomplished already is really incredible. What I'm excited about is seeing how much we can take these lessons (we learned) in the (regular) season into the NCAA tournament and (see) what the dividends will be. It's going to be really exciting to see.”
The SEC received an NCAA record 14 bids, with Auburn snagging the overall No. 1 seed and in the South Region. Florida, which won the league tournament Sunday, is the top seed in the West.
“I was really glad to see Texas get in,” Pope said. “I know some of the metrics were complicated, but it was great to see them get in. I think it's great for the league. I think it's great that we're gonna actually flesh this out and see what the SEC really was.”
NO BYU
Collin Chandler, who came to Kentucky from Brigham Young, breathed a sigh of relief when the No. 3 seed in the East Region was announced during the selection show.
Instead of a possible second-round matchup with Kentucky and Pope’s former Brigham Young squad, Wisconsin was selected as the No. 3 seed in the East Region. Pope said he wouldn’t have minded if the Wildcats were paired against the Cougars in the second round.
“I love BYU, I love that place,” Pope said. “I’m all about the drama, like I love it, and so, plus I love those kids that are there. I got to coach a lot of those kids and have so many friends there, so that would have been really fantastic, it didn't work out, you know not everything works out all the time, but it's still going to be an epic NCAA tournament.”
The Cougars finished the season at 24-9 and were 14-6 in the Big 12.
RICK AND CAL
Former Kentucky coaches Rick Pitino and John Calipari could meet in the second round in the West Region if St. John’s and Arkansas each win their first-round matchups.
St. John’s won its first Big East title in 25 years, while Arkansas got into the tournament as a No. 10 seed and will meet Kansas in the opening round. The Red Storm takes on Omaha in their opener.
“Coach P, he wants all the smoke — he wants all the smoke,” Pope said. “Bring it. It's so competitive. I mean, every single round is so competitive. Every single team, whether there's a sixth team by your name or a one, these are all championship-caliber teams.
“At the end of the day, probably the names don't matter that much. It's like everybody's fighting for their life. And that's why the NCAA tournament is so beautiful.”
GAMETRACKER: Kentucky vs. Troy, 6:10 p.m. Friday. TV/Radio: CBS, UK Radio Network - SuperTalk 94.3 WKYX, WiLLiE 102.
Coach Mark Pope encourages Kentucky's players on Thursday in the SEC tournament. The Cats are a No. 3 NCAA tournament seed and will face Troy in Milwaukee on Friday night at 7:10. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
