The Kentucky Wildcats will travel across the country to Seattle, Washington, to take on the #7 Gonzaga Bulldogs, and head coach Mark Pope says that it will feel like a Final Four game. That's the level that the Wildcats are preparing for, and that's the caliber of competition they expect.
Each team comes in with one loss to an unranked opponent on their schedule. Kentucky lost to Clemson on Tuesday, while Gonzaga lost to West Virginia in the Battle for Atlantis over the Thanksgiving break. Each team also has a top-10 win on their resume. Kentucky knocked off (at the time) #6 Duke, and Gonzaga beat (at the time) #8 Baylor to start the season.
Each team is perennially among the best in the country. Kentucky and Gonzaga are always in the conversation for the top programs in college basketball. Though they've only played each other three times, the Bulldogs hold the series lead 2-1.
This is a top 10 matchup with #4 Kentucky taking on #7 Gonzaga.
""This Gonzaga game will feel like a Final Four game. That's what it's supposed to be.""Mark Pope
In terms of the caliber of play and top-level competition, this very well could be a Final Four matchup, but both teams have a lot to prove to get there. They each will need to go on a decent run and start gelling together.
ESPN rates it as one of the best games of the early season, with a 95.9 grade. This is nearly as strong as a matchup without it being the nation's #1 and #2 teams. ESPN predicts it will be a back-and-forth contest that will eventually go to the Zags. However, don't count Mark Pope and his squad out; they won't want to lose back-to-back.
You can catch the game on ESPN2 at 10pm on Saturday, December 7th.