“Many guys in that team that you're going to have to feed moneywise”: NCAA analyst dismisses Mark Pope and Kentucky’s preseason no. 1 chances

In a recent episode of Field of 68, hoops analyst Jeff Goodman suggested that Kentucky has an unusual situation-- too many players to satisfy. With the return of All-SEC guard Otega Oweh, Kentucky does have a talented and deep roster. Goodman stopped shy of declaiming the situation as a problem, but has some skepticism about the Wildcats.

Goodman unloads on Wildcats for too many mouths to feed

Asked about Otega Oweh's chances of being a preseason all-American led Goodman into this thoughts on the UK roster.

"I think there's going to be too many guys on that team that you're going to have to feed. Moneywise, a lot of those dudes are making money and they're all going to need minutes now. [After Goodman noted seven perimeter players on the Kentucky roster] That's seven perimeter guys, Rob, that's a lot of mouths to feed."-- Jeff Goodman, Field of 68

For his part, Dauster concurred on the situation.

"They probably go 11 or 12 deep at this point. We've seen Mark Pope play that many guys, but it's going to be the balancing act for him.... Maybe calling it a problem is the wrong phrasing... but that is going to be an obstacle that Mark Pope has to find a way to be able to navigate."-- Rob Dauster, Field of 68

Depth and Elite Talent

As Goodman and Dauster note, juggling elite talent can become a double-edged sword. For every team that finds a way to make it work, like Florida in 2025, there's one like Kansas, where the Jayhawks have lost the majority of their roster to the transfer portal and are going into next season with significantly lowered expectations.

Depth was a problem at times for Pope at Kentucky in 2024-25... but not the type of problem that Dauster and Goodman note. After a bevy of injuries at the point guard position, Pope was stuck playing true freshman in a starting role on in significant minutes off the bench. With freshmen Travis Perry and Trent Noah seeing increasing roles as the season went, Pope has gone all in on depth.

The current Kentucky team was loaded to withstand an NBA decision by Oweh, but still will benefit from returning the All-SEC leading scorer. Among the players mentioned by Goodman, Pitt's Jaland Lowe is the likely starting point guard with Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen likely to play a significant role.

That leaves McDonald's All-American Jasper Johnson and Oweh and returnees like Collin Chandler and Trent Noah to potentially battle for playing time. From a team that was at times short-handed, Pope has one that has plenty of depth-- and maybe, per Dauster and Goodman, a bit too much.

What do you think about Kentucky's upcoming squad? Share your take below in our comments section!