Could the D2 Basketball National Champions give Kentucky a run for their money?

Kentucky has an exhibition against a very good D2 team.

University of Kentucky’s new men’s basketball coach Mark Pope applauds as Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart introduces him to the thousands of fans in Rupp Arena for his press conference on Sunday, April 14, 2024. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY

The Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready for the 2024-25 season, and they will have an exhibition against an excellent team. Last season, Kentucky's exhibition games were against some not-great competition, but that won't be the case this season.

Coach Mark Pope is making sure the Wildcats are ready for the season. The staff has scheduled a game against Minnesota State for October 29th. This Minnesota State team is no joke; they won the Division II National Title last season after posting a 35-2 record.

While this team is a D2 school, Kentucky needs to be ready as all the time we see lower-level schools beat solid D1 teams in exhibition games. The Wildcats will only play two regular season games before their matchup with Duke in Atlanta, so this exhibition game against Minnesota State will be one of the last tune-up games before Kentucky plays one of its biggest games of the season.

The Kentucky Wildcats are going to have an excellent team this season, full of veteran players, which should help them take care of business against last year's D2 National Champions, but they can't look past this team.

It is excellent that Coach Pope is scheduling games that will really help the Kentucky Wildcats get ready for the season. This will be a fun matchup as one of the best D1 teams takes on the best team in D2. A lot of pride will be on the line for both basketball programs. Kentucky needs to make sure they are ready for this game, as it will be closer than many imagine.