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LEXINGTON - Under first-year head coach Mark Pope, the Kentucky Wildcats will play as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. Their opening round matchup will feature a battle with No. 14 seeded Troy Friday inside Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum.
Kentucky will play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for just the second time in program history when it takes the floor Friday. Its only previous trip to Milwaukee came in 1940 when the Cats, led by legendary head coach Adolph Rupp, beat Marquette on the road 51-45.
Pope played for the Milwaukee Bucks, who plays its home games at the Fiserv Forum, under head coach George Karl from 2000-02. There, he was teammates with now-UK assistant coach Jason Hart.
During his time with the Bucks, the team played its home games at the Bradley Center.
"I have so many memories there," Pope said of Milwaukee during the Wildcats' bracket reveal watch party at Rupp Arena Sunday. "It's a really special place to me. George Karl was the only coach, sorry, George, but dumb enough to actually start me in the NBA. He started me most of the season there on a great team. We made an epic run all the way through the Eastern Conference Finals to a Game Seven. My first daughter, Ella, was born in Milwaukee.
"I would drive home every day. We lived right off Blue Mound Road and drove right by the Kopp's custard, and on the placard, they have what the custard of the day was, and I'd call Lee Ann end and be like, are we getting it or not? We have great friends there. Milwaukee is a special place to us."
UK assistant coach Cody Fueger is also a Milwaukee native.
The Wildcats' first opponent, Troy, won the Sun Belt Tournament title as the conference's No. 3 seed. Troy, coached by sixth-year head coach Scott Cross, went 23-10 on the year. They are ranked No. 99 in the NET, have a 2-1 record against Quad 2 opponents, and rank 11th in the country, averaging 13.9 offensive rebounds per game.
"I've seen them a little bit this year. I think they're the number seven steals team in the country; they're one of the top 20 or 30 offensive-rebounding teams in the country. They're an elite-level defensive team. They've won a boatload of games this year. Scott Cross is a great coach who has been doing this for a long time at a high level," Pope said of Troy.
"I got a ton of respect for him, so I haven't gotten into the nuts and bolts of them yet, but it's a terrific team.
Kentucky guard Koby Brea played against Troy last season while at Dayton. The Flyers won at home 82-70, and Brea scored eight points.
"I think they have a pretty similar team after looking at the roster just now for a little bit," Brea said of the Trojans. "Every team that's in this tournament is pretty good, so we just have to be able to lock in on them."
The only other Cat with a history against Troy is starting point guard Lamont Butler, who scored five points, dished three assists, and picked up two steals in a 60-55 victory for San Diego State over Troy in 2022.
All-time, UK is 1-0 against Troy, as the Wildcats beat the Trojans 70-62 in Lexington on Nov. 20, 2017. Kevin Knox scored a team-high 17 points for the John Calipari-led Wildcats.
If Kentucky were to advance, it would play the winner of a Round of 64 matchup between No. 6 seeded Illinois and either Texas or Xavier.
Seeded No. 11, Texas and Xavier will play in a First Four matchup in Dayton, Ohio, Wednesday, with the winner getting Illinois in Milwaukee Friday. Illinois' coaching staff features former UK assistant Orlando Antigua.
Texas beat Kentucky 82-78 in Austin on Feb. 15 in a game that saw UK blow a late lead. Xavier, located just 87 miles in Cincinnati from the University of Kentucky's Campus, snuck into the dance despite posing just a 1-9 Quad 1 record this season.
Looking even further ahead, a possible Sweet 16 matchup inside Indinapolis against an arch-rival could be on the table for the Wildcats.
The Volunteers, the Midwest Region's No. 2 seed, will play inside Lexington's Rupp Arena against No. 15 seeded Wofford in the Round of 32. With a win, they would face either No. 7-seeded UCLA or No. 10-seeded Utah State.
If Kentucky and Tennessee can both advance through the Round of 32, it would meet up for the third time this season in the Sweet 16.
After the CBS Broadcast projected a Volunteer win over Kentucky, despite UK sweeping its regular season series with the Vols this season, Butler was visably angered.
"Just us being doubted again. I feel like we've been doubted a lot this season going on with everything we had going on this year," Butler said of his reaction to the CBS panel picking Tennessee to beat Kentucky. "We continue to prove people wrong, so I'm ready to prove them wrong again."
Houston will be the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Bracket. Its pod includes No. 16 seeded SIUE, No. 8 seeded Gonzaga, and No. 9 seeded Georgia. Matchups will be played in Wichita, Kansas.
Whoever emerges from Wichita will play the winner of a pod headlined by No. 4 seeded Purdue, which will play in Providence against No. 13 seeded High Point. The winner will get either No. 5 seeded Clemson or No. 12 seeded McNeese.
Overall, Pope had no complaints about the draw. It was simply pure excitement as the former captain of the 1996 national championship Wildcats seeks his first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach and to deliver on his promise to Big Blue Nation to 'win banners.'