UK Fans of the Day want more Final Four, Season Predictions from the National Media

The 2025-26 college basketball season tips off today, and in turn, we’ve got even more predictions from the national media on what will unfold. Expectations for Kentucky are high, with a few pundits even picking the Cats to win it all in Mark Pope’s second season.

Here’s a rundown of the latest predictions from the talking heads and the latest rankings. Reminder, we’ll get a new AP Poll next Monday, November 10.

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The Athletic

The Athletic’s 10-person panel voted on a variety of topics, most notably who will go to the Final Four and who will win the national championship. Three of the ten believe Kentucky will make it to Indianapolis, with one of those three, Tobias Bass, picking the Cats to cut down the nets.

Tobias Bass

Final Four: Louisville, Kentucky, Michigan, UConn
Champion: Kentucky

Mark Cooper

Final Four: Houston, Kentucky, Purdue, UConn
Champion: UConn

CJ Moore

Final Four: Arizona, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan
Champion: Michigan

The Athletic

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CBS Sports

Half of CBS Sports’ six-person panel picked Kentucky to make the Final Four. One, Isaac Trotter, has the Cats winning it all.

Trotter raved about the Cats’ potential on both sides of the ball.

The ‘Cats have a feasible path to a top-10 offense and defense, which is why they’re my title pick for 2025-26.

Offensively, you’re trusting Mark Pope to design a system that maximizes a roster chalked full of athleticism and dynamic individual creators. This transition offense should hum with Mo Dioubate, Otega Oweh, Jaland Lowe, Denzel Aberdeen or a host of others being able to grab and go to generate early offense.

This backcourt, specifically, should have serious juice. Lowe is a nightmare to stay in front of with his creativity and speed. Oweh is a freight train. Aberdeen is a slippery, powerful driver. All three of those dudes can generate a paint touch, which unlocks everything else in Kentucky’s playbook. I trust Pope to find the right combinations to complement those veteran guards, especially when he can mix in Jasper Johnson (instant offense), Kam Williams (3-and-D), Trent Noah (shooter) or Collin Chandler (shooter, part two).

Oh, and freshman big man Malachi Moreno looks like an absolute hit already with his combination of size, feel, playmaking and IQ. The 7-footer looks like the steady connector this group so desperately needed.

Defensively, the bones of a vicious unit are alive and well, too. Aberdeen and Oweh are two diligent point-of-attack defenders. Dioubate is a physical, multi-positional forward who can guard anyone. Even though he’s a freshman, Moreno has already shown excellent defensive instincts, and when Jayden Quaintance gets back, buckle up. Kentucky transforms into a unit with tons of skilled size, length and oodles of defensive switchability. Trusting a team with 10 newcomers is scary, but Pope has so many answers to the test in the chase for a title.

Isaac Trotter

Isaac Trotter ranked the national champion contenders by tiers. Kentucky, his pick to win it all, is in tier one, “No-brainers,” alongside Houston, Purdue, UConn, Florida, Texas Tech, Duke, and Michigan.

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ESPN

ESPN’s college basketball staff released its season predictions last week. You may recall that Myron Medcalf was the only one of the four to pick Kentucky to make the Final Four. He also has the Cats winning the SEC regular-season championship and Mark Pope winning National Coach of the Year.

National champion

Borzello: Purdue
Lunardi: Michigan
Medcalf: Houston
Paine: Houston

Final Four

Borzello: Purdue, Florida, Louisville, BYU
Lunardi: Duke, Purdue, Michigan, UConn
Medcalf: Kentucky, Houston, Purdue, BYU
Paine: Houston, Purdue, Michigan, Florida

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Zach Braziller, NY Post

One of Zach Braziller’s five bold preseason predictions is that Kentucky will win it all. He likes how Mark Pope filled the holes on last year’s roster.

Kentucky cuts down the nets

The Wildcats have depth and shotmakers, they have scorers and defenders, they have guard play and size.

Kentucky’s roster reportedly cost more than $20 million, and it’s easy to see why with the talent second-year coach Mark Pope has accumulated.

Pope brought back multiple key contributors, highlighted by SEC preseason player of the year Otega Oweh. He added elite defenders Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama) and Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State) and an experienced floor general in Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh) in the transfer portal and also brought in top-30 freshmen Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno.

Kentucky, having stitched up its weakness from a year ago on the defensive end, is my pick to win it all.

Zach Braziller

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Yahoo Sports

Yahoo Sports’ staff took a slightly different approach with its season predictions, adding No. 1 seeds to the mix. Dan Wolken voted for Kentucky to earn a top seed and win the SEC.

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On3’s Jamie Shaw

Shaw ranked Kentucky No. 3 in his first Top 25 of the season. Houston is No. 1, UConn No. 2, Michigan No. 4, Purdue No. 5, and Louisville No. 6. Florida, typically in the top five of most preseason rankings, is No. 10.

3. Kentucky

Kentucky has depth across all positions. Oweh is a returning second-team All-SEC performer and could make a run at SEC Player of the Year honors this season. Garrison and Moreno are former McDonald’s All-Americans. Lowe could be the SEC’s biggest x-factor. Look for Dioubate to make a run at all-defense honors. Johnson could push for starters’ minutes, and Chandler could get minutes at both guard spots. Williams was a coup out of the transfer portal, and Aberdeen played 18 minutes in last year’s national championship game. Jayden Quaintance, a projected first-round draft pick, will start the season injured. Depth and spacing.

Jamie Shaw

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The Sporting News

Kentucky is No. 4 in Mike DeCourcy’s rankings behind Houston (No. 1), Purdue (No. 2), and Florida (No. 3). DeCourcy says Otega Oweh is the reason the Cats crack his top five.

4. Kentucky

Oweh’s decision to return after experimenting with NBA Draft entry – and not being all that far removed from first-round pick material – gives UK a potential All-American who change a game at either end. Lowe’s arrival from Pitt provides a legit, high-level playmaker. And the Quaintance-Garrison combination gives the Wildcats 10 fouls in the post they might not need because these two simply might block anything near the bucket. UK struggled a bit on defense last year, but this group is built to be better there.

Mike DeCourcy

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Gary Parrish

Parrish released his final preseason rankings this morning. Kentucky remains No. 12, two spots ahead of Louisville (No. 14). St. John’s is Parrish’s No. 1 team, followed by Purdue and Houston.

12. Kentucky

Mark Pope’s Wildcats should be led by SEC Preseason Player of the Year Otega Oweh and a transfer-portal class highlighted by Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), Jaland Lowe (Pitt), Denzel Aberdeen (Florida) and Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama). Kentucky opens the season Tuesday against Nichols.

Gary Parrish

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The KSR staff will reveal our season predictions tonight, so check the site and the KSR YouTube Channel later for our thoughts on how the Cats will do (spoiler: well).