The latest crop of Wildcats freshmen is scary
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No. 3: KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Last season: 27-9, 13-5 SEC
Yep, there's another crop of heralded and talented freshmen in Lexington -- not exactly breaking news. This group is long and ultra-athletic and should be a ton of fun to watch. Bam Adebayo is capable of a double-double every night, Malik Monk could go for 30, and De'Aaron Fox is a ridiculously fast point guard. Toss in holdovers Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis, and this team should have a chance to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. The question for John Calipari, though, is perimeter shooting from his guards.? -- Jeff Goodman
Best case: SEC champs, Final Four, national championship. Kentucky has just as much NBA talent as Duke -- maybe more. But as has become the norm in Lexington, it is young talent. De'Aaron Fox is arguably the best prospect on this roster, and he will be a scoring point guard in the Derrick Rose and John Wall category. The returnees are not as strong as in 2015, when John Calipari had an embarrassment of riches, younger and older. No coach has gotten more out of young teams than Calipari.
Worst case: Second-weekend casualty. Youth is the only thing that keeps Kentucky out of the Final Four. Not every Kentucky team is able to overcome youth and inexperience to be of Final Four quality. Usually, it takes upperclass leadership to make the difference. This year, that falls to Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis. Unless those two show extraordinary leadership, Kentucky could have a few speed bumps on the way to Phoenix. Look, Kentucky won 94 games the past three seasons. That success isn't stopping this year.