Kentucky Basketball: Obstacles Standing Between Wildcats and a Perfect Season

The madness is coming. At the eye of the storm? The Kentucky Wildcats.

They stand as giants at 28-0 just three games away from the postseason—the only remaining undefeated team in the nation. But the road to a perfect season won't be the smooth sailing they've experienced through this point in the year. There are obstacles still standing between them and a clean 40-0 record.

Arkansas

Gareth Patterson/Associated Press

Saturday marks the first meeting between the Razorbacks and the Wildcats this season.

Arkansas is the only other remaining Top 25 team in the SEC. While five losses make the Razorbacks far from perfect, they do come into Saturday with a perfect record against Kentucky in the teams' last three meetings. The Razorbacks can win in Rupp Arena—they did it for the first time in two decades, defeating the Wildcats 71-67 in overtime in February 2014.

However, Kentucky brings four freshmen—including starting forward Karl-Anthony Towns—into this year's contest.

"That was last year. Last year doesn't have anything to do with this year," Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson told reporters Thursday.

Anderson may have a point. But just as Kentucky brings fresh faces, Arkansas returns to Lexington with six players who scored in that last matchup—including star forward Bobby Portis.

SEC Tournament

Kentucky will likely glide to the tournament final as it has glided through much of its conference schedule. But, with the way this season has shaped up, Arkansas will be there again.

If the Razorbacks can't trip Kentucky up the first time, they'll likely have one more chance.

March Madness

An unblemished record doesn't guarantee anything in the NCAA tournament—March Madness didn't earn its name by being predictable, after all. 

Wichita State entered the 2014 tournament with a perfect regular-season record, only to be knocked off by Kentucky in the third round. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Nothing is out of question in March.

The consideration of an unpredictable upset aside, the Wildcats could see a top-seeded team as early as the Sweet 16. What happens then? With a young squad that blew out then-No. 5 Kansas 72-40, maturity might be a problem.

The Wildcats' victories against ranked teams came largely in the early parts of the season. The last ranked team they saw was Louisville in late December. Teams have grown since then and will bring nothing short of their A-game to the tournament. Kentucky will be out of practice, with only the SEC to prepare it.