College coaches do not view Kentucky as a top contender entering Mark Pope’s debut season in Lexington, adding fuel to the fire for the Wildcats going into 2024-25.

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander of CBS Sports polled over 100 Division I men’s coaches in the last month, exchanging their unfiltered opinions for anonymity. Among the questions asked: Who will be the best team this team?

Nine different programs were named among the coaches with Kansas emerging as the overwhelming favorite with 35.6% of all votes. Not too far behind? Alabama with 27.9% of all votes. From there, Houston came in third at 13.5%, followed by Duke at 9.6% and UConn at 7.7% with Arizona, Baylor, Gonzaga and North Carolina also receiving votes.

Kentucky will take on three of those teams in Alabama, Duke and Gonzaga — including a home-and-home with the Crimson Tide. Including the rest of CBS Sports’ Top 25 And 1, the Cats will participate in 12 ranked matchups among 10 different opponents.

A few quotes on Kentucky’s toughest competition entering the Mark Pope era:

“That machine is rolling. [This] year will be their year to cut the nets,” one coach said of Alabama.

“They have the resources to build great rosters — and a coach (Nate Oats) who understands how to maximize them. They got their first Final Four. A championship is next. Just a matter of time,” another said of the Crimson Tide.

“How good is Cooper Flagg going to be? That’s the question,” one coach said of Duke. “But I think he’ll be great, and there are enough really good pieces around him for Duke to win it all. That’s the most talented team in the country. Just gotta see if it comes together. But the talent to win it all is there.”

Kentucky is not ranked in CBS Sports’ Top 25 And 1 while seven other SEC schools made the cut in Alabama (No. 2), Auburn (No. 10), Texas A&M (No. 11), Arkansas (No. 13), Tennessee (No. 14), Texas (No. 20) and Florida (No. 22).

Time for the Cats to prove them all wrong.