
Wildcats drop to 2-1 and fall out of CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 rankings
AI-generated summary
Mark Pope entered his third season as Kentucky head coach facing job pressure and appearing on a so-called hot seat list. Kentucky lost 89-69 to Kansas in the Champions Classic, trailing by 10 at halftime and by 23 in the second half. The Wildcats fell to 2-1 and were removed from the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 rankings.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope entered his third season guiding his alma mater with real job pressure as the face of the so-called hot seat list. Unfortunately for him, nothing that happened Tuesday improved the odds that he'll get a Year 4.
Final score: Kansas 89, Kentucky 69.
That's a big swing and a miss for Pope in his first real test of the season. His Wildcats were down 10 points at halftime and down 23 in the second half before losing by 20. High-priced transfer Milan Momcilovic only got seven shots up for UK while former Kentucky recruiting target, Tyran Stokes, put 23 points on the Wildcats.
Bad stuff, all around.
Kansas' three-week trial thrashes Kentucky's five-month build in eye-opening Champions Classic performance
Isaac Trotter
And did you see that social media post from Kyle Tucker? The former Kentucky beat writer, who now works for 247Sports, noted that in 75 games as Kentucky's coach, Pope has trailed by double-digits in 27 of them, by 15-plus points in 20 of them and by 20-plus points in 13 of them. That's a lot of uncompetitive performances from one of the sport's biggest brands. If things don't improve, and quickly, the situation in Lexington will get even more uncomfortable.
Kentucky has been removed from Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings with a 2-1 record. The Wildcats are down to 39th at KenPom.com, 39th at BartTorvik.com and 43rd at EvanMiya.com. And when you remove the preseason bias at Torvik, Kentucky drops all the way down to 103rd -- one spot behind Florida Gulf Coast.
Next up for the Wildcats is Friday's game against Northern Arizona. Their next high-profile test will come a week later when they play Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on CBS.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Kentucky will play Northern Arizona on Friday
Very likely · Within days
Kentucky will play Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on CBS one week after the Northern Arizona game
Very likely · Within weeks

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