Summer workouts are winding down and that means college basketball is inching closer -- surely but slowly.
There are three months until the Kentucky basketball program tips off its new era -- without John Calipari on the sidelines. After a busy -- but good -- offseason, Mark Pope has put Kentucky back in the conversation as a team that can make some noise late in the season.
While that may not be in terms of a National Championship or Final Four contender -- it doesn't need to be. Kentucky hasn't made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019 and have lost in the first round in two of the last three postseasons.
So, where do the Wildcats land in the latest ESPN Bracketology? About where you would expect and a very reasonable spot.
Kentucky is the six seed in the Midwest Region -- with top overall seed Kansas.
And, that's not the only intersting potential matchup for the Wildcats. North Carolina is the two seed, Indiana is the five seed and Dayton is the 11 seed -- meaning a potential first round matchup between Kentucky and Koby Brea with his former team, the Flyers.
There are nine SEC teams in total in the projected field with Georgia as the one team on the bubble from the league. They are the first team out.
Kentucky is coming off of a 23-10 season and fist round shocking loss to Oakland as a three seed.
Mark Pope led BYU to a 23-11 record last season -- but fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as well.
Outside of Mark Pope, Kentucky will look entirely different as its entire roster is full of new players. All 12 players on the roster came elsewhere -- with only one former UK commit staying on board after Pope took the job.
Kentucky will certainly need some time to adjust to playing for a new coach, in a new system and with new teammates. But, the talent and coaching is there. We'll see if they can all put it together.