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Kentucky Wildcats’ potential road to the Final Four starts with Oakland in Pittsburgh

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Kentucky Wildcats’ potential road to the Final Four starts with Oakland in Pittsburgh


Clark Kellogg picked the No. 3 seed Kentucky Wildcats to reach the NCAA tournament Final Four during CBS’ Selection Sunday show, and Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg picked UK for the Final Four on ESPN’s Bracketology show.

UK has been a popular Final Four pick on social media as well, despite Houston and Marquette being higher seeds in the South region.

Which teams stand in the way of University of Kentucky’s first Final Four appearance since 2015?

What to know about UK in the Big Dance:

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Kentucky will face Oakland on CBS on Thursday night at 7:10 p.m., in head coach John Calipari’s hometown of Pittsburgh.

The broadcast team at PPG Paints Arena is Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn.

Calipari is good friends with Greg Kampe, who has been the Golden Grizzlies’ head coach since 1984. Kampe has been at Oakland longer than any Div. I head coach has been at his current school.

It’s the first-ever meeting between the two schools, and UK’s first NCAA tournament appearance in Pittsburgh.

UK is 23-9 overall, and went 13-5 in the SEC. Oakland is 23-11 overall, 15-5 in the Horizon League.

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Oakland is 1-3 in four NCAA tournament games, with its only win as a 16-seed in the 2005 play-in game.

The Kentucky-Oakland winner faces No. 5 Texas Tech or No. 12 N.C. State on Saturday, also in Pittsburgh.

The winner of the Round of 32 game will reach the Sweet 16, and play its next game in Dallas.

Kentucky hasn’t played an NCAA tournament game in Dallas since 1996, but the Wildcats did play in the Final Four in nearby Arlington in 2014.

Calipari has won the NCAA tournament with the Wildcats once, in 2012.

UK reached the title game two years after winning the championship, and reached the Final Four in 2015 as well.

The Wildcats haven’t been back to the Final Four since 2015, but have reached the South region final in 2017 and 2019.

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They’ve won just one game in the Big Dance, their first-round game last year against Providence, since 2019.

The team that emerges from the South region will play in the Final Four in Phoenix on TBS.

The South region teams and seeds are as follows:

  1. Houston
  2. Marquette
  3. Kentucky
  4. Duke
  5. Wisconsin
  6. Texas Tech
  7. Florida
  8. Nebraska
  9. Texas A&M
  10. Boise State/Colorado
  11. NC State
  12. James Madison
  13. Vermont
  14. Oakland
  15. Western Kentucky
  16. Longwood

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Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report

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Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report


Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.

One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.

Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.

The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.

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Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.



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Kentucky football spring game offers early look at Will Stein’s Cats

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Kentucky football spring game offers early look at Will Stein’s Cats


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LEXINGTON — Kentucky football had its first spring game under new coach Will Stein at Kroger Field on Saturday.

The offense, in blue jerseys, had its moments. So too the defense, donning white uniforms.

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Ultimately, the blue squad earned a 23-18 victory in a game called just after noon because of inclement weather.

Stein admitted he “got emotional” as he charged onto the field prior to kickoff.

“I know it wasn’t a real game, but when I ran on the field, I definitely — man, I felt it,” he said. “It was like a wave running over me. And very, very, just cool.”

While it doesn’t count in the standings, Stein walked away pleased.

“I think we got a lot of really good work,” he said. “That’s the goal of spring is to improve with fundamentals and technique, learn how to practice, learn what winning edges that we need throughout spring to go into summer and fall and prepare the team for play. And we came out of the scrimmage clean. There (were) no injuries, which to me, that’s the biggest win of the day. I could (not) care less about the score.

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“If we come out clean, that’s good. The Wildcats won.”

New starting QB Kenny Minchey looked about as expected, with sharp passes evened out by moments of inconsistency. Martels Carter Jr., a defensive back who is lining up at running back this spring, scored a touchdown and had several nice runs.

And the defense forced multiple three-and-outs and also picked off one Minchey pass on a two-point conversion.

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This story will be updated.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.



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Kentucky has reportedly moved on from top-10 transfer Paulius Murauskas

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Kentucky has reportedly moved on from top-10 transfer Paulius Murauskas


NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Texas A&M at Saint Marys

Mar 19, 2026; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Saint Mary’s (CA) Gaels forward Paulius Murauskas (23) takes a shot during a first round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images



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