Kentucky among Dickie V’s Dazzling Dozen — the best 12 teams in college basketball

 

 

Kentucky forward Trent Noah and guard Collin Chandler – Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Kentucky forward Trent Noah and guard Collin Chandler – Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

We know Kentucky is going to be good in Mark Pope‘s second season as head coach, but how good? Good enough to be included in Dickie V’s Dazzling Dozen — Dick Vitale’s ranking of the best 12 teams in college basketball going into 2025-26.

 

The hoops legend wanted to celebrate 150 days from the start of the season by dropping his summer rankings, breaking down the teams “that look ready to rock the hardwood,” as he puts it. The Wildcats belong in that bunch, thanks to the returns of Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison, among others.

 

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“Mark Pope reloads again, folks,” Vitale said of Kentucky. “Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison will be looking to lead an incredible group of transfers including Jayden Quaintance, Jaland Lowe and Mouhamed Dioubate. The Wildcats are roaring loud in Lexington.”

 

Just how loud are they roaring? Not the loudest in the country — or even the SEC, for that matter — but still pretty darn loud. Kentucky sits at No. 11 in Dickie V’s rankings, good for No. 3 in the conference behind only Florida (No. 3) and Arkansas (No. 8).

 

Take a look at the complete top 12:

 

Purdue Boilermakers

Houston Cougars

Florida Gators

UConn Huskies

St. John’s Red Storm

Texas Tech Red Raiders

BYU Cougars

Arkansas Razorbacks

Duke Blue Devils

UCLA Bruins

Kentucky Wildcats

Michigan Wolverines

Not as high as we’d like, Dick, but we’ll take it at this stage.

 

“Mark Pope has his sights set on more after taking the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in his first year on the job in Lexington, Ky,” Kevin Sweeney added. “The Wildcats spent big on their roster this spring, adding 10 new players, including high-profile transfers Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance while bringing back star wing Otega Oweh.”