The college basketball season is almost here, and while plenty of coaches are eager for opening night, not every sideline comes with the same level of security. For a few men, the first few weeks could say a lot about what comes next.
At Kentucky, Mark Pope is stepping into a job where “good enough” rarely is. The Wildcats finished 22-14 last season, a result that would pass muster in many places but not in Lexington.
Pope did not make much noise in the offseason until he landed Iowa State star Milan Momcilovic through the transfer portal, and he has since assembled a roster that looks capable on paper. Now comes the harder part: turning that talent into results.
Early non-conference games against Kansas, Louisville and North Carolina could push Kentucky back into the national conversation fast. If not, Pope will be left with few excuses after the resources poured into the program.
Jeff Capel’s situation at Pitt has been marked by swings, not stability. He has had some real bright spots, including back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2022 and 2023, but recent years have cooled that momentum.
Since Capel arrived, the Panthers have heard their name on Selection Sunday only once, and the pressure around the job has only grown. Pitt also has not won three or more conference games in a row since the 2023 season, a streak that speaks to the inconsistency hanging over the program.
A soft November schedule offers a temporary cushion, but if the Panthers are not competitive in the ACC again, the school is unlikely to shy away from paying his buyout.
Porter Moser enters the season in a different kind of bind at Oklahoma. He probably would have been let go last year if the Sooners had not closed strong by winning six of their final seven conference games.
Even with that finish, the picture remains uneasy: Oklahoma has a new athletic director, and Moser has just one year left on his contract. The Sooners also have two transfers, Duke Brennan and B.J.
Edwards, who are still waiting on eligibility decisions. If they are cleared, they could make a real difference.
An early matchup with Purdue should give a clearer read on where the program stands and whether Moser can get Oklahoma to the NCAA Tournament for only the second time during his tenure.
Then there is Penny Hardaway at Memphis, where the expectations are tied directly to both his past and the program’s recent low point. Hardaway was a star as a player there and built a strong coaching run before last season went sideways in a major way.
Memphis went 13-19, its worst record since 1969, and that alone put the pressure back on. The Tigers are bringing in 13 newcomers, including transfers Jayden Reid and Tylik Weeks, which has created plenty of buzz around the roster.
But the schedule will answer the real questions early, with Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Louisville all coming in the first two weeks. Hardaway also recently asked athletic director Ed Scott for $9 million to build a roster he believed could reach the Sweet 16, even offering $2.6 million of his own money.
The school ultimately agreed to cover the $9 million, so the stakes around this season are already clear. If Hardaway misses his goals, the exit conversation will only grow louder.
In Other News...
Jeff Lebby Heads To Oklahoma With One Huge Mississippi State Problem
Mississippi States offense left a lot to fix after its recent loss to LSU, where the Bulldogs came away empty on all five fourth-down tries and still could not put points on the board despite running for 170 yards. The performance only sharpened the focus on the coaching staffs next steps, with Oklahoma now waiting on the schedule and a need for cleaner play-calling and more timely defensive stops.
Jeff Lebby is trying to piece together a workable plan with the players he has available, and that task looks even trickier with quarterback Kamario Taylor unavailable for the immediate future. The Bulldogs will spend the next stretch leaning on whatever adjustments can help them steady the offense while they wait for more clarity on Taylors health, a situation that could shape how they approach Oklahoma and beyond. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Just Got A Brutal Reminder Of That Kentucky Loss
Oklahomas SEC reality has already delivered plenty of reminders that there are no easy weekends in this league, and the latest rankings shakeup only sharpened that point. With upsets and near misses rippling through the conference, the Sooners are watching the landscape around them keep shifting as teams like Ole Miss and Kentucky continue to climb after statement wins.
For Oklahoma, the sting is tied to what happened against Kentucky, because that result looks even heavier now in the context of the broader SEC picture. As Paul Myerbergs updated USA TODAY Sports rankings reflect, the conference is still sorting itself out after another wild round, and the Sooners are left to measure how much ground they may have cost themselves with a loss that keeps aging badly. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Texas Breakthrough Suddenly Looks A Lot More Fragile
The Sooners came out of their Texas win looking like a team that might have finally turned a corner, but the follow-up against Kentucky made that feel a lot less certain. Oklahoma moved the ball well enough to finish with more yards and first downs, yet the day still slipped away in a 21-13 home loss that exposed how thin the margin can be when mistakes pile up.
Kentucky did what gritty road winners often do: it stayed alive, kept pressure on, and made Oklahoma pay for turnovers at every turn. The Wildcats did not need to dominate the stat sheet to leave Norman with the result they wanted, and for the Sooners the frustrating part is how much the game felt there for the taking before the giveaways took over. [Read more 🡒]