Connelly ranks Kentucky among the next possible first-time champions

Eight days before Will Stein coaches his first game at Kentucky, ESPN's Bill Connelly put the Wildcats on his list of 20 programs that could follow Indiana and win a first national championship — the blueprint Stein has pointed to since he took the job in December.

Connelly put Kentucky 15th, and most of the reasoning was the coach.

"Stein immediately made some aggressive moves to upgrade the Wildcats' line play, and his first Kentucky team will be big, physical and likely improved," Connelly wrote. "We don't know nearly enough about the Wildcats' potential ceiling under Stein, but they have money and a young, hungry head coach. That's often an exciting combination."

The money is real. Kentucky reported $159.1 million in revenue, 16th nationally per USA Today, and among the public schools on Connelly's list only Virginia reported more, at $161.9 million. Kentucky is one of 35 Power Four programs without a title, six of them in the SEC. No. 1 on the list: Oregon, the job Stein left.

He inherits a 5-7 team that went 2-6 in the SEC, the worst Kentucky roster in a decade after Mark Stoops' 10-win seasons in 2018 and 2021. The Wildcats open Sept. 5 against Youngstown State, then get Alabama and a trip to Texas A&M.

"No new head coach in this cycle puts off more Potential Dan Lanning vibes," Connelly wrote.