The Kentucky Wildcats are arguably one of the two of three best college basketball programs of alltime. With eight national championships and numerous trips to the Final Four, they have been at the top of the sport for a long time.
John Calipari won a lot of games as head coach, but his final five seasons were marred by early exits in March. Mark Pope took over and immediately led the Cats to the Sweet 16 and looks to improve on that this season with a talented roster of transfers and returning starters. However, not everyone is sure he’ll keep them as a yearly top five team, or even as the best team in the state.
Kyle Boone of CBS Sports projected the top 25 teams over the next 25 years, and the Wildcats aren’t as high as fans might think. He has them at number nine, saying:
Development, depth and deft evaluation of the transfer portal will be key to Kentucky under coach Mark Pope — a stark contrast to the one-and-done emphasis deployed under coach John Calipari. While I don’t think it will lead UK to top-five status the next 25 years, I do think it’ll lead to plenty of success and perhaps a title or two. The Wildcats are as appealing as ever and they will continue to produce some of the best players in the sport.
Now that doesn’t sound too bad, but who does Boone have above the Wildcats? The Duke Blue Devils are at number two, but the big insult comes at number three, where he has the Louisville Cardinals.
Give me Louisville over Kentucky as the top team the next 25 years in the Bluegrass State. Pat Kelsey has something cooking with the Cardinals and this is a team whose future is among the shiniest not just in the ACC, but in all of college hoops.
Certainly, Kelsey seems to have righted the ship at Louisville, but Kentucky fans will have to be excused if they chuckle at the sentiment. We’ll see how it plays out.