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Kentucky Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Wildcats

By Brian Rauf

LEXINGTON, KY - FEBRUARY 06: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats gives instructions to his team against the Tennessee Volunteers during the game at Rupp Arena on February 6, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - FEBRUARY 06: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats gives instructions to his team against the Tennessee Volunteers during the game at Rupp Arena on February 6, 2018 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 22: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats speaks to PJ Washington #25 in the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 22: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats speaks to PJ Washington #25 in the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

With another top recruiting class and several key returners, Kentucky Basketball enters 2018-19 as a projected top-ranked team. Will they live up to expectations?

The Kentucky Wildcats enter every season with the same expectation – win the national championship.

Head coach John Calipari brings in elite recruiting classes loaded with future NBA first-round picks every year, but this year is slightly different. Several freshmen chose to bypass the draft to return to Kentucky, and with Coach Cal welcoming the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class, the Wildcats project to have their most talented and experienced roster since the 2014-15 team that nearly went undefeated.

That group has also been joined by Stanford grad transfer Reid Travis, who is a kind of player Calipari has never had at Kentucky. He’s an experienced fifth-year senior with Kentucky-starter-level skill (he was a first-team All-Pac 12 selection last year). How much of a difference will that kind of a leader make?

Despite all of that talent, this team is still entering the season with a number of questions – many of which are the same from last year. Can they make three-pointers consistently? Will anyone step up and become a go-to guy?

Those questions aren’t enough to derail the hype train in Lexington. Kentucky is widely projected as the preseason No. 1 team in the country and is expected to stay there (or at least at the top of the polls) for the entire season.

Will they be able to do that? Just how good will the Wildcats be? Here’s a full 2018-19 season preview for Kentucky, including a look at their projected rotation and a breakdown of their non-conference schedule.

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