The 2025-26 season has been off to a bit more of a rocky start than last year, when the Cats were knocking off top-10 teams left and right and defying every expectation.
Michigan State and Gonzaga ran the Cats out of NYC and Nashville, and in contests with UofL and UNC, they came close but couldn’t get over the hump.
Victory tasted pretty sweet in Atlanta last Saturday in the first game against Rick Pitino since 2016. The first regular-season game against the Indiana Hoosiers since 2011 also resulted
in a W, and both historical games have helped swing momentum back in the right direction heading into the holidays.
Here are three takeaways on the Kentucky season so far and where they stand going into Christmas:
1. Beating the middle, losing to the top very different from last year
Last year UK in the nonconference lost to unranked Clemson and unranked Ohio State, but beat top-10 Duke and Gonzaga on big stages. This year, the Wildcats don’t have any losses to unranked teams, but have four losses to top-20 opponents, Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina, and Gonzaga. The trend continued into SEC play last year, where UK took four more losses to unranked teams but beat three more top-10 ones.
What we’re seeing this year is very different, and while it is good that UK can take care of business against the unranked teams, they need to also show they can beat the top of the sport if they want to win the national championship.
2. IU and St. John’s provided much-needed righting of the ship
The blowout loss to Gonzaga set off some alarm bells after the Cats dropped to 5-4, but a three-game winning streak since, with victories in the renewal of the Indiana series and the highly anticipated St. John’s showdown in Atlanta, has put those bells away…for now.
After trailing both teams at halftime, Kentucky found ways to lock down on defense, go on some runs, and take the game to make their NCAA Tournament bracketology positioning much more comfortable heading into Christmas.
Without those wins, they’d likely be out of the bracket entirely, but now they’re a 9-seed at ESPN and a 7-seed at CBS Sports, and both sites have not yet factored in the St. John’s win.
3. SEC play doesn’t look as intimidating as last year
The AP poll has six SEC teams in it heading into Christmas, and none of them are in the top ten. 12-0 Vanderbilt leads the way at #11, and #14 Alabama, #18 Arkansas, #19 Tennessee, #22 Florida, and #23 Georgia are behind them. That’s a far cry from a year ago, when there were five SEC squads in the top ten alone!
Ten SEC teams were in the polls this time of year last year, but now UK might be able to breathe a bit easier this January and February and not have to run through as much of a gauntlet as in 2024-25.
All in all, it could be better, and it could be worse. Lot of ball left to play. Go Cats!
