Mark Pope explains why playing a preseason game against a top team is so valuable

It's not often you get to see your team take on the best team in college basketball before the season even starts, but Kentucky fans will get that unique opportunity on Friday. But it's not just the fans who get the unique opportunity, it's also the players and coaches, who really get to test themselves to see their strengths and weaknesses.

Unlike the past, where the tune-up exhibition games would really be tune-up games, now, Kentucky will get to test themselves at the highest level, and Mark Pope explained why this preseason marquee matchup is such a benefit for the Wildcats as they get closer to the season officially starting.

"This is an incredibly, incredibly important data collection moment for us, and it's unbelievable that we get to do this against this Purdue team, and Matt Painter, if he's not the best coach in college basketball, he's got to be right up there in the top two or three or four right now. He's incredible. And what they've done recently with this group, you think about how often do you get to go test yourselves before the season even starts with the lights on against a team that's composed of three guys that have been to a National Championship game and been to a Sweet 16, and I think some of the guys actually lost in the first round of a Sweet 16. They've experienced everything."

Pope knows that this isn't just the #1 team coming into Rupp Arena, it's one that features the best player in college basketball in Braden Smith and a team that has experience everywhere you look. You can tell Pope is a huge fan of the NCAA now allowing D1 exhibition games instead of playing teams in other divisions in preseason matchups.

"Normally, with these exhibition games, the best you're probably getting out of it is getting your guys under the lights, in front of our fans, getting used to the arena, getting used to the the regimen of the day, the emotion, getting all that stuff into a comfort level. We get to do all that, but we actually are going to play against probably who a lot of people call the best point guard in America right now. Certainly, if he's not the most experienced, he's got to be close to the most experienced and an elite level playmaker and so it's an unbelievable opportunity to go really see who we are at the very highest level. We're not we're not going to see who we are at a medium level. We get to go compare ourselves to the very, very best right now, and it's going to give us an incredible vision of how we have to grow, and so it's a gift I love."

This incredible and unique advantage these two teams have of going against each other is very common among the sport, with marquee preseason matchups across the country, and thanks to the new rule allowing it, coaches are going to continue to keep scheduling these games every year. The Wildcats will get to see where they stand on Friday among the best of the best in college basketball.