Could Kentucky end up as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament? ESPN thinks it could.
With just three games remaining in the regular season, and Selection Sunday two weeks from Sunday, we’re at the time of the year when seed speculation runs wild.
Joe Lunardi, ESPN’s chief bracketologist, has been alternating Kentucky between a No. 4 and a No. 3 seed of late. He had dropped the Wildcats to a No. 4 seed despite the fact UK had won six straight games. After Kentucky’s Tuesday night win at Texas A&M, Lunardi moved the Cats back to a No. 3 seed.
Friday morning, however, ESPN’s Keith Lipscomb wrote that it’s not out of the realm of possibility that John Calipari’s club could end up as a No. 2 seed.
“There’s still time for Kentucky to potentially ascend to the 2 line, especially if the Cats can win out,” Lipscomb writes. “But how much does it really matter if Kentucky moves up or down a seed line? After all, John Calipari has already taken a No. 4 seed to the Final Four and a No. 8 seed to the title game during his time in Lexington.
“Simply put, it still matters a lot.”
Lipscomb then goes on to compare how No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds have fared in recent NCAA tournaments.
One stick-out stat: “In the modern tournament era — since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 — more No. 2 seeds have reached the Elite Eight than No. 3 and No. 4 seeds combined (64 to 57).”
There’s a lot more good stuff there from Lipscomb, so check out the story.
Kentucky can clinch the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament with a win over visiting Auburn on Saturday at Rupp Arena. (It’s a 3:45 p.m. start on CBS.) Should Auburn win, the Tigers will have swept the Cats in the regular season. If that happens, and UK loses to either Tennessee (home) or Florida (away) next week, while Auburn wins out, the Tigers would get the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
Here were my takeaways from Auburn’s 75-66 win over visiting Kentucky back on Feb. 1.
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 11:40 AM.
