UK basketball learns its path for 2025 NCAA Tournament. Here’s who the Wildcats will play

Since his arrival as the Kentucky men’s basketball coach last April, Mark Pope has championed the pursuit of banner No. 9 for the Wildcats.

Now, the path has been laid out as Pope tries to guide UK back to NCAA Tournament glory.

Kentucky was given a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional (Indianapolis) on Sunday night during the selection show for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

UK (22-11) will begin March Madness action against No. 14 seed Troy (23-10) in the round of 64 on Friday in Milwaukee. The Trojans went 13-5 in regular season play in the Sun Belt Conference. Troy won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the 3 seed.

The Wildcats and Trojans are scheduled to tipoff at 7:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on CBS.

UK is the No. 11 overall seed in the 68-team bracket.

The winner of that contest between the Wildcats and Trojans will play the winner of No. 6 seed Illinois (21-12) and the winner of a First Four game between No. 11 seeds Texas (19-15) and Xavier (21-11) in the round of 32 on Sunday.

Former UK player Cam’Ron Fletcher is on Xavier. The fifth-year forward — who spent one season at UK, three seasons at Florida State and is now in his first season at Xavier — has only appeared in 11 games for the Musketeers this season.

Fletcher played in nine games for Kentucky during the Wildcats’ ill-fated 2020-21 season.

A potential Sweet 16 matchup for UK in the Midwest Regional is 2 seed Tennessee (27-7). The Wildcats have already defeated the Volunteers twice this season.

The 1 seed in the Midwest Regional is Houston (30-4).

Kentucky will enter the postseason on the heels of its worst-ever defeat in the SEC Tournament. UK bowed out of the conference tournament on Friday night, losing by 29 points to Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

But while in Nashville, Tennessee, for the league tournament, Kentucky did dramatically secure its first win in that event since 2022. UK’s 85-84 buzzer-beating win over Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament second round gave Pope his first postseason win as the Kentucky coach.

UK’s NCAA Tournament résumé was chock-full of quality results. The Wildcats won eight games this season against teams that were ranked in the top 15 of the AP poll at the time of the game. Kentucky recorded wins this season over two teams that earned 1 seeds in March Madness: Duke and Florida.

By hearing its name called on Selection Sunday, UK is making its 62nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the most of any school. The Cats own a 130-55 (70.3%) all-time record in NCAA Tournament games.

Of course, significant success in March Madness has eluded Kentucky for several years. The Cats last advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2019. Last year, Kentucky was a 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and suffered an upset loss to 14 seed Oakland in the first round in Pittsburgh.

This proved to be John Calipari’s final game as the UK coach, ending a 15-season run at the school.

Pope will be making his third appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a college head coach, and his first with the Wildcats. Pope — who won the 1996 NCAA championship as a player at UK — twice took BYU to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and 2024.

Pope lost in the round of 64 with the Cougars on both occasions. BYU lost both of those games as a 6 seed in an upset to an 11 seed.

Auburn named top overall seed for the NCAA Tournament

Auburn (28-5) is the No. 1 overall seed for this year’s NCAA Tournament will play in the South Regional (Atlanta). The 1 seed in the East Regional (Newark) is Duke (31-3).

The 1 seed in the Midwest Regional (Indianapolis) is Houston (30-4). The 1 seed in the West Regional (San Francisco) is Florida (30-4).

Auburn, the tournament’s top seed, will begin its NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Lexington against the winner of a First Four game between 16 seeds Alabama State (19-15) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (16-17).

The winner of this matchup will face the winner of another Thursday game at Rupp Arena between 8 seed Louisville (27-7) and 9 seed Creighton (24-10) in the round of 32. The Cardinals are making their first trip to March Madness since 2019.

Other first-round games in Lexington on Thursday will be 7 seed UCLA (22-10) against 10 seed Utah State (26-7), and 2 seed Tennessee (27-7) against 15 seed Wofford (19-15). Both of those games will be part of the Midwest Regional.

Wofford is coached by ex-UK guard Dwight Perry, who played in 19 games as a walk-on at UK from 2006-09.

SEC sets record for most teams from a conference in NCAA Tournament

All season long the SEC was championed as the best conference in men’s college basketball.

And on Selection Sunday, the SEC set a record for the most teams from one league in the March Madness field.

The SEC got 14 of its 16 schools into the 68-team NCAA Tournament field this year. This means SEC schools accounted for 20.6% of March Madness entrants.

The only SEC schools that didn’t make this year’s NCAA Tournament were LSU and South Carolina. Here is a full rundown of the SEC schools who will compete for a men’s basketball national championship.

Teams are listed in order of seed.

▪ 1 seed Auburn (South Regional): Will play the winner of a First Four game between 16 seeds Alabama State and Saint Francis (Pa.) in the round of 64 at 2:50 p.m. Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky.

▪ 1 seed Florida (West Regional): Will play 16 seed Norfolk State in the round of 64 at 6:50 p.m. Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

▪ 2 seed Alabama (East Regional): Will play 15 seed Robert Morris in the round of 64 at 12:40 p.m. Friday in Cleveland.

▪ 2 seed Tennessee (Midwest Regional): Will play 15 seed Wofford in the round of 64 at 6:50 p.m. Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky.

▪ 3 seed Kentucky (Midwest Regional): Will play 14 seed Troy in the round of 64 at 7:10 p.m. Friday in Milwaukee.

▪ 4 seed Texas A&M (South Regional): Will play 13 seed Yale in the round of 64 at 7:25 p.m. Thursday in Denver.

▪ 6 seed Ole Miss (South Regional): Will play the winner of a First Four game between 11 seeds San Diego State and North Carolina in the round of 64 at 4:05 p.m. Friday in Milwaukee.

▪ 6 seed Missouri (West Regional): Will play 11 seed Drake in the round of 64 at 7:35 p.m. Thursday in Wichita, Kansas.

▪ 8 seed Mississippi State (East Regional): Will play 9 seed Baylor in the round of 64 at 12:15 p.m. Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

▪ 9 seed Oklahoma (West Regional): Will play 8 seed UConn, the two-time defending national champions, in the round of 64 at 9:25 p.m. Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

▪ 9 seed Georgia (Midwest Regional): Will play 8 seed Gonzaga in the round of 64 at 4:35 p.m. Thursday in Wichita, Kansas.

▪ 10 seed Arkansas (West Regional): Will play 7 seed Kansas in the round of 64 at 7:10 p.m. Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island.

▪ 10 seed Vanderbilt (East Regional): Will play 7 seed Saint Mary’s in the round of 64 at 3:15 p.m. Friday in Cleveland.

▪ 11 seed Texas (Midwest Regional): Will play 11 seed Xavier in a First Four game at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.

By placing 14 teams in this year’s March Madness, the SEC broke the record of the Big East Conference (11 teams) that was set in 2011. The Big East also had 16 members that year.

This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 6:28 PM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription