Roundtable: What we’re expecting from the Wildcats in Year 3 of the Pope era

For the Kentucky Wildcats, the 2026-27 college basketball season starts tonight, with the team’s home opener against Manhattan at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.

Before the Cats hit the court for real, the Inside Kentucky Basketball staff (John Clay, Ben Roberts and Derek Terry) tackled a series of questions related to Mark Pope’s third season in charge of the program.

Can Kentucky outplay the expectations (a No. 23 preseason ranking and some skepticism in national circles) against what is shaping up to be another tough schedule? We’ll find out starting tonight. And here are a few of the storylines we’ll be tracking all season long.

The player I can’t wait to watch this season is …

Ben: Give me Alex Wilkins, who is going to be pure entertainment from November through the NCAA Tournament. (He already provided plenty in October, and the games didn’t even count.) Pope has never had a scorer quite like Wilkins, who has plenty of wiggle with the ball and should shoot the 3 a lot better in UK’s system than he did as a freshman at Furman last season. He’s an ultra-competitive player who will hit the floor for loose balls and get feisty on the defensive end. He also won’t back down from opponents, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a technical or two over the course of the season. Wilkins might have fans (and Pope) scratching their heads at times, but when he’s on, you’re going to want to be watching.