What the latest bracketology projections say about Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament chances
Kentucky’s résumé for NCAA Tournament consideration took a ding Tuesday night with an 88-73 loss to Arkansas, yet another double-digit defeat to a Quad 1 opponent.
UK is now 1-7 in such games, and the Cats have lost all of them by at least nine points (though one went to overtime). Five of those losses came by double digits, and Kentucky lost by at least 15 points in four of them. There’s also that Quad 4 home defeat to lowly South Carolina.
Where does that leave the Wildcats with seven games remaining in the regular season and heading into Georgia on Saturday afternoon? Still squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The latest batch of bracketology projections following the UK-Arkansas game put the Cats just barely on the right side of that bubble.
ESPN updated its bracket Friday morning, and Joe Lunardi has Kentucky as one of his last four teams in the March Madness field, which would put UK in one of the “First Four” games in Dayton on the Tuesday night of the tournament’s first week. Others in that four are New Mexico, North Carolina and Texas A&M.
The latest projections from Bracketville also have Kentucky in a “First Four” game in Dayton, with Oregon, Southern Cal and Wisconsin as the other at-large teams in that pool.
The BracketWAG.com tournament projections were updated late Thursday night and also placed Kentucky among the last four teams in the field. Memphis, Oklahoma State and Wisconsin join the Cats in that group.
The USA Today bracketology board — updated Friday morning — also puts the Wildcats among the last four in, joining Nevada, New Mexico and North Carolina in the opening night in Dayton.
Sports Illustrated’s update, posted the day after the loss to Arkansas, is a tad bit rosier for the Wildcats, who are a 10 seed and one of the “last four byes” in that bracket projection. That would mean UK would avoid a trip to Dayton.
Staying out of that “First Four” would be big for Kentucky. Going to Dayton means the Cats would need to win a game — against a similarly struggling but possibly dangerous at-large team — just to make it to the round of 64. And even with a victory there, UK would have a quick turnaround to get to its next NCAA Tournament site, where it would need to win two games to make it to the Sweet 16.
Of course, simply getting into the field is the main concern for Kentucky at the moment. And the only way to feel secure on Selection Sunday will be to win some basketball games.
The Wildcats (16-8, 7-4 SEC) play at Georgia (14-10, 4-7 SEC) at noon on ESPN. This will count as a Quad 2 game for Kentucky.
