MILWAUKEE — Midwest Region No. 3 seed Kentucky (23-11) is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 62nd time, the most of any school.
There have been eight NCAA championships, SEC regular-season and tournament titles galore and a parade of elite recruiting classes.
But Big Blue Nation — the most rabid fan base in the country — has absolutely hated the 2020s. Not a single SEC banner of either kind. A vastly underwhelming total of two NCAA wins, the second coming in this year’s first round by a 76-57 score against Troy.
John Calipari is gone. First-year coach Mark Pope, who was a center on Kentucky’s 1996 championship squad coached by Rick Pitino, is in one of college basketball’s most demanding jobs. Many fans disapproved — loudly — of his hiring, his résumé coming in too modest for their tastes.
“I’m fighting so hard to keep bringing myself back to not taking on the magnitude of the history and all the things that are just too big,” Pope said. “They all turn out to be distractions.”
Sixth-seeded Illinois (22-12) is in the way of a long-awaited return to the Sweet 16. Fiserv Forum will be a zoo when the ball goes up at 4:15 p.m. Sunday (CBS 2), with the Illini faithful taking a backseat to no one.
Here are a few things to know about the Wildcats.
1. All-new Blue: Kentucky returned precisely 0% of its production from 2023-24. Top scorer Otega Oweh came from Oklahoma, 44% three-point shooter Koby Brea from Dayton, defensive whiz Lamont Butler from San Diego State, and huge front-line standouts Amari Williams from Drexel, Andrew Carr from Wake Forest and Brandon Garrison from Oklahoma State.
You might remember Butler from his game-winning buzzer-beater against Florida Atlantic that sent San Diego State to the national final in 2023.
Transfer guards Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson, who was the team’s No. 2 scorer, are out for the season with injuries.
2. Big wins aplenty: The Wildcats’ eight wins against top-15 opponents is tied for the most by any college team, ever. They knocked off both Duke and Florida and are 4-4 against teams on this year’s 1 and 2 seed lines.
3. They’ll make it: The Wildcats average 85 points per game — sixth in the land — to 83.9 for Illinois (ninth). They’ve outshot the Illini 37.4% to 31.4% from the three-point line and have made double-digit threes in a school-record 19 games.