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For Kentucky, the game before The Game was a tough one on paper — a Tuesday night road contest against Rick Barnes' Tennessee Vols, who were ranked No. 1 in the country just a few weeks ago and listed as 10.5-point favorites at tip-off. Also: UT entered with an 11-0 record at home this season featuring nothing but double-digit victories.
So it was a big challenge for Kentucky, undeniably.
But the Wildcats handled it, impressively.
Final score: UK 78, UT 73.
The five-point victory represented the biggest win anybody had Tuesday, is one of the best wins anybody has this season, and it allowed the Wildcats to move to No. 8 in Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Auburn remains No. 1 for the 22nd consecutive day.
As I said last week on Inside College Basketball, the national coach of the year race is fluid, there are lots of sensible candidates, and it's far from over. But if I had to submit a ballot this morning, the name at the top would still be the same name I said last week -- Kentucky's Mark Pope.
Could somebody else reasonably go with Auburn's Bruce Pearl, Duke's Jon Scheyer, Iowa State's TJ Otzelberger or Michigan State's Tom Izzo? Yes, of course. Are there other coaches in their first years at their schools also doing knockout jobs? Absolutely, yes — among them Louisville's Pat Kelsey, Michigan's Dusty May, Vanderbilt's Mark Byington, West Virginia's Darian DeVries, Utah State's Jerrod Calhoun and Drake's Ben McCollum. (Last offseason could go down as one of the best offseasons of coaching hires in recent history). But the truth is that no coach has done as well in his first year at his new school as Pope has done in his first year at his alma mater.
His Wildcats were unranked in the preseason Top 25 And 1 but are now No. 8 thanks to a resume featuring 7 Quadrant 1 wins, which is a number that ranks third nationally behind only Auburn and Oregon. Bottom line, when it comes to COY races, whether you like coaches of true title contenders or coaches who overachieve, Pope happens to check both boxes after inheriting zero returning players from the previous staff, which forced him to totally rebuild through the transfer portal in one offseason.
Recent history suggests that approach doesn't often lead to success. But Pope has made it work while reinvigorating a fanbase that badly needed it.
Next up for UK: John Calipari!
The former Kentucky coach is bringing his Arkansas Razorbacks to Rupp Arena on Saturday for the first time since leaving UK last April after spending 15 years guiding the program to four Final Fours and one national championship. Asked this week how he'll feel returning to the place where he became a Naismith Hall of Famer and won the 2012 NCAA Tournament, Calipari acknowledged he doesn't really know.
"Can't say I'm looking forward to it," he said. "I'm looking forward to coaching. But to walk in, the vibe, I don't know how I'm gonna take it, to be honest with you. I mean, that was a special time in my life and in [my wife] Ellen's life. Fifteen years we gave. Fifteen."
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Johni Broome finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday's 53-51 win over Tennessee. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday at LSU. | -- | 30-5 |
| 2 |  | Cooper Flagg finished with 28 points and seven rebounds in Monday's 74-64 win over NC State. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 33-3 |
| 3 |  | Aden Holloway finished 19 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 80-73 win over LSU. The Crimson Tide's next game is Wednesday at Mississippi State. | -- | 27-8 |
| 4 |  | Walter Clayton Jr. finished with 17 points and five steals in Saturday's 89-59 win over Georgia. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Tennessee. | -- | 32-4 |
| 5 |  | Curtis Jones was 1-of-11 from the field in Monday's 86-75 overtime loss at Arizona. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday against Kansas State. | -- | 25-10 |
| 6 |  | Stevie Mitchell finished with 22 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 78-79 win at Butler. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday against UConn. | 1 | 23-11 |
| 7 |  | Tre Holloman finished with 12 points and three assists in Tuesday's 73-51 win over Minnesota. The Spartans' next game is Saturday at USC. | 1 | 29-6 |
| 8 |  | Koby Brea finished with 18 points and three assists in Tuesday's 78-73 winat Tennessee. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Arkansas. | 3 | 24-11 |
| 9 |  | Braden Smith finished with 24 points and 10 assists in Friday's 91-64 win over Michigan. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against Indiana. | -- | 24-11 |
| 10 |  | J'Wan Roberts finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 92-86 double-overtime win at Kansas. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday at West Virginia. | -- | 32-4 |
| 11 |  | Jahmai Mashak was 1-of-5 from the field in Tuesday's 78-73 loss to Kentucky. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Florida. | 5 | 29-7 |
| 12 |  | Riley Kugel finished with 15 points and two steals in Saturday's 65-60 win at South Carolina. The Bulldogs' next game is Wednesday against Alabama. | -- | 21-13 |
| 13 |  | Zeke Mayo finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 91-87 win over UCF. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Baylor. | -- | 21-13 |
| 14 |  | Nate Bittle was 0-of-3 from the field in Saturday's 77-69 loss at Minnesota. The Ducks' next game is Thursday at UCLA. | -- | 25-10 |
| 15 |  | PJ Haggerty finished with 23 points and nine assists in Sunday's 100-77 win over UAB. The Tigers' next game is Thursday at Tulane. | -- | 29-6 |
| 16 |  | Zhuric Phelps finished with 15 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 75-68 win over Oklahoma. The Aggies' next game is Saturday at South Carolina. | -- | 23-11 |
| 17 |  | Tamar Bates finished with 26 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 83-75 win over Ole Miss. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Mississippi State. | -- | 22-12 |
| 18 |  | Kylan Boswell finished with 17 points and four assists in Sunday's 83-74 win over Northwestern. The Illini's next game is Thursday at Nebraska. | -- | 22-13 |
| 19 |  | John Tonje finished with 27 points and five rebounds in Sunday's 83-55 win over Nebraska. The Badgers' next game is Wednesday at Maryland. | -- | 27-10 |
| 20 |  | Sean Pedulla committed four turnovers in Saturday's 83-75 loss at Missouri. The Rebels' next game is Wednesday against Texas. | -- | 24-11 |
| 21 |  | Danny Wolf was 1 of 7 from the field in Friday's 91-64 loss at Purdue. The Wolverines' next game is Monday against Penn State. | -- | 27-9 |
| 22 |  | Zuby Ejiofor finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 66-41 win at Georgetown. The Red Storm's next game is Saturday against Providence. | -- | 31-5 |
| 23 |  | Terrence Edwards Jr. finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 72-59 win over Wake Forest. The Cardinals' next game is Saturday at Georgia Tech. | -- | 27-8 |
| 24 |  | JT Toppin finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 81-71 win at Cincinnati. The Red Raiders' next game is Sunday against Oklahoma State. | -- | 27-8 |
| 25 |  | Chauncey Wiggins finished with 16 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 72-57 win at Virginia Tech. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at NC State. | -- | 27-7 |
| 26 |  | Jason Edwards finished with 18 points and four assists in Saturday's 74-69 win over Kentucky. The Commodores' next game is Saturday at Oklahoma. | -- | 20-13 |
