LEXINGTON — To the shock of absolutely no one who follows college basketball even casually, Kentucky leads the way in nearly every category imaginable in the SEC Tournament. Most titles.

Never mind that Kentucky basketball’s season ended at 24-12, in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, without a regular-season SEC championship or an SEC Tournament championship and three victories shy of the ultimate goal of hanging a ninth national championship banner at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky basketball starts the 2025 SEC Tournament on Thursday. The Wildcats will be the 6-seed in next week's conference tourney. That seed gives UK and coach Mark Pope a single bye into the ...

The bad news: Kentucky’s 99-70 loss to Alabama on Friday night was the Wildcats’ worst loss, by margin, in the history of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. The good news: Kentucky basketball will not play Alabama or Auburn or Florida or Tennessee or any of UK’s fellow 15 SEC hoops members for the rest of the 2024-25 season.

In just one year at the helm, Mark Pope has already made a lasting impact on the Kentucky basketball program. While the Wildcats’ season still ended in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, Pope’s impact was felt by every member of the team.

Kentucky basketball’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee wasn’t the ending Mark Pope & Co. wanted, but it’s just the beginning of this new era

Kentucky basketball has a storied history at the SEC Tournament, claiming a record 31 titles. The Wildcats have struggled in recent years, going 2-5 in their last seven games at the league tourney.

Kentucky has defeated Tennessee twice already this season, but the Wildcats are underdogs again Friday night. But are they in a better spot to win this one?