Following its 17-5 midweek drumming of No. 19 Louisville and back-to-back series victories over then ranked No. 4 Tennessee and South Carolina, Kentucky held firm as a No. 2 seed in On3’s Jonathan Wagner‘s latest Field of 64 Projections.

After teetering on the bubble just weeks ago, the ‘Cats have now won seven of their last 10 games and are solidly in the Tournament. If selected for the 2025 NCAA Tournament, it will mark the first time in program history that the Kentucky Baseball program has made back-to-back-to-back appearances in the Big Dance.

In just two weeks, Kentucky’s RPI has jumped from No. 39 to No. 29 after the ‘Cats won consecutive conference series for the first time this season.

Kentucky is currently projected in the Chapel Hill Regional, alongside No. 1 seed North Carolina, No. 3 seed UConn and No. 4 seed Bryant. Both Kentucky and North Carolina made an appearance in last season’s Men’s College World Series and went 1-2 in the event.

North Carolina, currently ranked No. 4 in D1Baseball’s latest Top 25 Rankings, sits at 33-10 (15-9) and are seemingly locks to host a Regional in Chapel Hill for the second consecutive season. UConn boasts a 26-17 (11-4) record in the Big East and would be making its seventh straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Finally, Bryant (22-16-1, 10-5) are seemingly favorites to earn the America East bid to the Big Dance, which would be its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008.

This upcoming week will be huge for the ‘Cats, as they will play a midweek game at Western Kentucky on Tuesday before traveling to Starkville for a road conference series clash with Mississippi State. The Hilltoppers are currently among On3’s Last Four In, while the Bulldogs are among the First Four Out. To say these four games this week for Kentucky’s opponents are massive would be an understatement.

With Mark Pope eagerly awaiting to see if his starting shooting guard, Otega Oweh, will return to Lexington or declare for the NBA Draft, and the sudden departure of Travis Perry, there is an open scholarship spot on the strong Kentucky Wildcats roster.

The latest player on the Cats’ radar is North Carolina A&T guard Ryan Forrest. This past season, as a true Sophomore, he averaged 19.1 points, shooting 39.9%, and 24.7% on shots from deep. Forrest also contributed 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in 32.6 minutes per game.

While Forrest has areas to improve, a move to Lexington could provide him with the opportunity to work on those weaknesses and grow as a player. At this moment, Forrest would likely serve as a utility piece for the Cats, adding depth to the team.

Hailing from Marion, Ark., Forrest who began his career at Northwestern has already garnered interest from several other schools, including Arkansas, Memphis, SMU, USC, Ole Miss, UNLV, Murray State, Dayton, Xavier, TCU, Butler, Texas A&M, Arizona State, New Mexico State, and UCF.

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For most Kentucky Wildcats basketball fans, the 2025-26 season can’t get here fast enough. After making it to the Sweet 16 in his first year, expectations are high for Mark Pope and a new squad that is loaded with talent.

Pope has assembled a roster that many consider to be one of the nation’s best heading into the season. Jeff Borzello, an analyst for ESPN, considers them a top ten team right now, listing them at number ten in a recent top 25 article. He specifically mentioned the backcourt, saying, “Kentucky is absolutely loaded on the perimeter next season, with the arrivals of transfers Jaland Lowe (Pitt), Kam Williams (Tulane) and Denzel Aberdeen (Florida) as well as five-star prospect Jasper Johnson to go with the potential return of leading scorer Otega Oweh and reserve Collin Chandler.“

Borzell also predicted the starting lineup for the Cats. He has transfer Jaland Lowe and Freshman Jasper Johnson as the guards, Otega Oweh on the wing, and Mouhamed Dioubate and Jaydan Quaintance as the starters inside. Obviously, that’s dependent on Quaintance being 100% after a knee injury in February.

This is an early prediction, and one of several different possible lineups. It’s fun to look ahead, but we’ll have a much clearer picture later in the summer.