“You know, I never really liked the color blue,” head coach Greg Kampe said as Oakland was announced to take on Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Indeed, Kentucky has been one of the most polarizing presences in college basketball since, well, forever. They have eight national championships, the best all-time winning percentage, and the most all-time wins. They have the most overall NCAA tournament wins and most tournament appearances.

As of 2023 (excluding this year’s All-Americans yet to be named), Kentucky has had 87 total All-American selections. Seven NBA All-Stars from this season were Wildcats, and 46 overall NBA All-Star selections. Long story short, Kentucky is one of the most storied programs in college basketball history.

Recently, they’ve had some burnouts in the Big Dance. Last year, they were a No. 6 seed and lost to No. 3 seed Kansas State in the second round. Just two years ago, in 2022, the Wildcats bowed out in the first round as a No. 2 seed to No. 15 seed St. Peter’s. In the COVID-19-shortened season of 2021, Kentucky didn’t go dancing. Head coach John Calipari has been simultaneously praised and criticized by Wildcat fans; this season’s tournament must be a success for him.

Unfortunately, it won’t end happily for Big Blue Nation. Let’s break down Kentucky and see how Oakland can come out on top.

The Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky is led by coach John Calipari, who has led the Wildcats since 2009. He won a championship in 2009 and has six Final Fours (two vacated). Their leading scorer is Antonio Reeves, who averages 20 points a game on 50.8 percent shooting from the field. He’s a fifth-year senior, earning all-SEC first-team honors. He spent three seasons at Illinois State before transferring to Kentucky. Reeves shoots a staggering 44.1 percent from the 3-point line, helping him get 19 games with 20 or more points.

Freshmen duo Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard come off the bench as all-SEC second-teamers. Dillingham was a five-star recruit out of high school. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard averages 15.4 points per game on an efficient 48.2 percent field goal percentage. He is one of the craftiest shotmakers in the entire country and lights up the scoreboard despite only playing 23.1 minutes a game.

He also shoots excellent from the three at 44.9 percent. Sheppard joins his backcourt mate as the point guard for Kentucky. The star freshman is rocketing up draft boards because of his NBA-ready game and efficiency. The 6-foot-3 guard averages 12.8 points per game to go with 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists. The most astonishing part of his game is his 54.3 percent field goal percentage, along with an otherworldly 52.5 percent mark from beyond the arc.

He isn’t a slouch on defense, either, averaging 2.5 steals a game. Although he comes off the bench, he plays 29 minutes a game and finishes each game for the Wildcats. Sheppard steps up big in the biggest moments and craves the spotlight.

Kentucky has several bigs that anchor their frontcourt. Leading them is fifth-year senior Tre Mitchell. The power forward scores 10.6 points with seven rebounds per game. He provides a veteran presence in the paint, leading a trio of younger Wildcats. Freshman Ugonna Onyenso, a seven-footer, leads the Wildcats in blocks and is one of the best shot blockers in the country. Playing only 18.4 minutes a game, he averages 2.7 blocks a game.

He is joined by fellow freshman Aaron Bradshaw, a seven-footer himself, forming a formidable frontline. They don’t do much scoring for the Cats, only functioning as rim runners and receivers of drop-offs. Another freshman, Zvonimir Ivisic from Croatia, brings much more offensive prowess. At 7-foot-2, he can step out and shoot it from deep.

In his first game of the season against Georgia, he shot 3-4 on 3-pointers in only 16 minutes to go with five rebounds and three blocks. His playing time has wavered, but coach Calipari can call upon him for some offense.

As usual for Kentucky, they have several highly touted freshmen. Justin Edwards was the third-ranked high school recruit in the nation. He hasn’t exactly been stellar, averaging only 8.7 points, but all the tools are there. He’s 6-foot-8 with a good shooting stroke at 37 percent on 3-pointers.

D.J. Wagner, the sixth-ranked recruit, has started nearly every game for the Wildcats this season. He’s good for 10.3 points per game and 3.3 assists. Finally, Kentucky has Adou Thiero, a 6-foot-8 sophomore. Averaging 7.5 points, the lengthy forward snags 5.2 boards per game and shoots nearly 50 percent from the field.

As a team, Kentucky owns the second-best scoring offense in the country at 89.4 points per game, bolstered by a Division I-best 41.2 percent on 3-pointers. They have the eighth-best offensive rating, per Basketball Reference. However, they’re 345th out of 363 teams in scoring defense. They’ve let up 79.7 points per game.

Seven of their nine losses have come when teams score over 80 points on them. The key to beating Kentucky is to slow them down. Earlier this season, Oakland took on Illinois and kept it a halfcourt game for the most part. Coach Kampe will look to accomplish the same for this game. The Wildcats have far too much offensive talent for Oakland to get into a shootout with.

If the Grizzlies can keep the Wildcats out of transition and really run them off the 3-point line, Oakland will advance to the second round.