Sun Belt Conference champion Troy takes on SEC powerhouse Kentucky in the first round of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Friday. Tip-off is set for 6:10 p.m. Central, with television coverage on CBS.

Troy (23-10) is the No. 14 seed in the NCAA East Region, while Kentucky (22-11) is the 3-seed. The Wildcats are considered double-digit favorites by most odds-makers.

Here are 5 things you need to know:

1. Trojans seeking first NCAA tournament win as Division I program

Troy made the championship game of the NCAA Division II tournament in 1993, but has reached March Madness just three times since moving up to Division I the following season.

The Trojans won the Sun Belt tournament in 2003, but lost to Xavier in the opening round. Troy repeated the feat in 2017, but fell to Duke in Round 1. A win over Kentucky would be the Trojans’ first in the Division I NCAA tournament.

It’s also just the second NCAA tournament trip — and first in 17 years — for Trojans coach Scott Cross, who took UT-Arlington to the Big Dance in 2008 after winning the Southland Conference tournament. The Mavericks lost to Memphis in the first round that year.

Kentucky, on the other hand, has as rich an NCAA tournament history as any program in the country. The Wildcats have been to the tournament a record 62 times, and also have the most appearances of any program in the Sweet 16 (44) and Elite Eight (38). Kentucky’s 17 Final Four appearances rank third behind North Carolina (21) and UCLA (19), while its eight national championships are second only to UCLA’s 11.

Mark Pope is in his first season as Kentucky head coach, but has extensive NCAA tournament experience as both a player and a coach. He was a team captain on the Wildcats’ 1996 national championship team (and also part of Kentucky’s 1995 SEC title squad), and coached BYU to the tournament in both 2021 and 2024.

2. Wildcats have had major March Madness struggles of late

Despite its championship pedigree, Kentucky hasn’t exactly ruled March in recent years the way it did in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The Wildcats have not won a national championship since 2012, and have not been to the Final Four since 2015 — their second-longest drought in the latter category since the 1940s.

Kentucky has famously lost to a double-digit seed in the tournament in two of the last three years. The Wildcats fell 85-79 in overtime to No. 15 St. Peter’s in 2022, then got bounced 80-76 by No. 14 Oakland last year. (Both those losses came under former Kentucky coach John Calipari, who is now at Arkansas and pulled off a minor upset of No. 7 seed Kansas on Thursday night).

Twenty-three No. 14 seeds have beaten a 3-seed in the first round since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. In addition to Oakland last year, other 14-over-3 upsets over the years include Abilene Christian over Texas in 2021, Georgia State over Baylor and UAB over Iowa State in 2015, Mercer over Duke in 2014, Bucknell over Kansas in 2005, Chattanooga over Georgia in 1997, East Tennessee State over Arizona in 1992 and Cleveland State over Indiana in 1986. (The only 14-seeds to reach the Sweet 16 are Chattanooga in 1997 and Cleveland State in 1986.)

3. Troy is loaded with veterans, Kentucky packed with newcomers

Troy has just three scholarship players classified as seniors this season — starting point guard Tayton Conerway and reserve forwards Theo Seng and Randarius Jones. However, the Trojans are loaded with veterans.

Troy returned eight of its top 10 scorers and seven of its top nine rebounders from last year’s 20-win team. Of the Trojans’ top 11 in minutes played this season, only one — freshman guard Cooper Campbell — was not on the team last year.

The Trojans have eight players with at least 59 games of experience and five with 31-plus starts in the Cardinal, Silver and Black. Center Jackson Fields leads the way with 94 games (59 starts), followed by Conerway (65-35), forward Thomas Dowd (64-49), forward Victor Valdes (64-15), guard Marcus Rigsby (63-53), forward Myles Rigsby (61-31), forward Theo Seng (60-16) and forward Randarius Jones (59-1).

Kentucky’s playing rotation is entirely new, consisting of eight transfers and three freshmen. The Wildcats’ top eight scorers all played at other Division I schools last season, including starters Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Jaxson Robinson (BYU), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) and Amari Williams (Drexel), as well as sixth man Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State).

Still, that’s quite a change from Calipari’s Kentucky teams, which relied heavily on “one-and-done” freshmen most years. None of the Wildcats’ three freshman contributors this season — forward Trent Noah and guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry — average more than 11 minutes or 2.7 points per game.

4. Trojans’ Conerway, Wildcats’ Oweh are game-changers

Perhaps no player exemplifies Troy’s blue-collar mentality like Conerway, the Sun Belt Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player of the conference tournament. He has taken on the role of the team’s alpha dog this season after being named Sun Belt Sixth Man of the Year in 2023-24.

The former junior-college transfer from Burleson, Texas, leads the Trojans in scoring at 14.8 points per game and has been the team’s high-scorer in six of its last seven games. He has an unusual ability to finish at the rim for a 6-foot-3 guard, leading to a particularly-high field-goal percentage of .472.

But it is in the other phases of the game where Conerway is a true difference-maker. He averages nearly five assists and three steals per game, has pulled down as many as 13 rebounds and has even blocked 14 shots.

Likewise, Oweh is the engine that makes Kentucky go. The 6-foot-4 junior is the Wildcats’ leading scorer (16.2 points per game), averages 4.6 rebounds per game and shoots 78% from the free-throw line.

Oweh was a good but not particularly dynamic player at Oklahoma, but has become one of the top players in the SEC at Kentucky. He was a second-team all-conference pick this season, and hit a game-winning buzzer beater against Missouri in the SEC tournament quarterfinals.

Another player to watch for Kentucky is Butler, who is expected to play after injuring his shoulder in the second round of the SEC tournament against Oklahoma. Butler — the Wildcats’ assists and steals leader this season — reached the NCAA championship game with San Diego State in 2023, a run that included a game-winning buzzer-beater of his own against Florida Atlantic in the Final Four.

5. Troy’s affinity for Waffle House has become a national story

Speaking of blue-collar, the Trojans have given Waffle House tons of free publicity in the lead-up to the NCAA tournament.

First, Cross said in an interview with Kentucky Sports Radio on Monday that he asks all prospective Trojans whether or not they like the classic all-day breakfast diner during recruiting visits. If they say “no,” Troy will likely move on to another recruit.

Then in a Zoom meeting with in-state reporters on Tuesday, Cross said the Trojans team not only celebrates most birthdays — including the coach’s own — at Waffle House, but also holds various one-on-one meetings there. Something about the establishment fits Troy’s team ethos, Cross said.

“Every one of our guys absolutely loves Waffle House,” Cross said. “You can’t be bougie if you want to be here at Troy. … That’s what makes our team special. We’re guys that will dive on the floor, that will do the dirty work, that will ‘take the stairs.’ That’s the only way we have a chance in this game, is to be that type of team.”

Finally in his pre-game press conference in Milwaukee on Thursday, Cross was asked again about Waffle House. He estimates that between family-only trips with his wife, Jen, and sons and other team-related events, he has eaten several hundred meals there in his six seasons at Troy.

“A lot of times after we win, it’s the only place open,” Cross said. “And we love it there. They’re family. And so yeah, the stories are all true. None of it is made up.”