Why Kentucky fans need to have confidence Mark Pope's team will beat Santa Clara

So far this week, many Kentucky fans have felt that their Wildcats are on upset alert, and this is because like 90% of college basketball media is picking Santa Clara to take down Kentucky in the Round of 64. In our articles here at Kentucky Wildcat on SI this week, there has been a lot of concern about this game shared.

Before I try to convince you why Kentucky will win this game, it is important to add that Santa Clara is a really good basketball team. They are well coached by Herb Sendek, who is a former Kentucky assistant. The Broncos have a lot of size and shoot the ball well from three.

Mar 7, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope claps during the first half against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The reality is that Coach Pope has done an excellent job against mid-major programs during his time in Lexington. His only mid-major loss would be Gonzaga this year, but obviously, the Bulldogs are a bit of an outlier. Santa Clara does play in Gonzaga’s conference, but they are 0-3 against the Zags this season, and in two of those three losses, Gonzaga didn’t have Braden Huff.

The Broncos have truly just not played an elite level of competition this season. The Broncos are 2-6 in Quad 1 games this year, and some of those are not high-level Quad 1 games. Aside from the matchups with Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga, there really isn’t an impressive other name on this schedule.

The Broncos lost to Arizona State, got steamrolled by New Mexico by 27 points, they beat a bad Xavier team, and beat a bad Minnesota team. This shows that the Broncos have played some power conference schools and won, but the teams they have beaten are either middle of the road or one of the worst teams in their respective conferences. If Santa Clara played in the SEC, their numbers in KenPom and NET would be much lower, and they would likely finish near the bottom of the conference.

Feb 14, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; Santa Clara Broncos head coach Herb Sendek talks to media members after the game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Leavey Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

If the Broncos were an SEC team, I do believe they would win some games in conference play, but not a bunch. There is a world where the Broncos take down Pope’s Wildcats. I am not saying that this isn’t a really good basketball team because that wouldn’t be true. The point here is Kentucky is better, and they should win and cover in this ball game.

This is not going to be an easy Round of 64 game for the Wildcats, but this is expected when you are a seven-seed. Kentucky fans need to have some confidence in this team to go and take care of the mid-major Broncos, which Coach Pope has done at a high level while at Kentucky.