Kentucky Wildcats
Record: 24-10
Head Coach: John Calipari (5th year)
Season summary: Loaded with young talent—including one of the most highly-touted recruiting classes in college basketball history—the Wildcats were slated as the No. 1 team in the nation in the preseason AP poll. Led by a bevy of talented freshmen, as well as a pair of savvy sophomores in Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky went 10-3 in non-conference play, including an impressive victory against in-state rival Louisville in Rupp Arena. Freshman Julius Randle, who averages 15.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, has been the driving force offensively for the Wildcats all season and remains on the short list for the Wooden Award. But the back half of the SEC schedule wore down Randle and the rest of Calipari's young squad, as Kentucky dropped three of its last four regular season games and fell out of the AP top 25 entirely. Fortunately for Calipari, his young squad seems to be gelling at just the right time. Despite their stumbles at the end of the regular season, the Wildcats played some of their best basketball of the year in the SEC tournament, defeating LSU and Georgia handily and taking top-seeded Florida down to the wire in the championship game.
How they make a run: Kentucky's freshman core will have to limit its turnovers and knock down its free throws, as well as focus on pounding the ball inside to the powerful trio of Randle, Dakari Johnson and Cauley-Stein. If the Wildcats' big men can stay out of foul trouble and sharpshooter James Young can stay hot from the outside, Kentucky will prove to be a difficult out as an eight seed.
How they falter: The young Wildcats fall apart under the pressure of the NCAA tournament and revert to the selfish style of play that plagued them during the second half of the regular season.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.