Door has been opened for Kentucky to catch Auburn in SEC race

As we sit in the first in the second week of February, Kentucky is 20-4 and ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25. The Wildcats have an elite offense and a defense that has made real strides in recent weeks.

Yet, the Wildcats have seemed out of the SEC title race following a loss to Auburn on Jan. 22. However, that door has not been closed yet.

Arkansas was able to hand Bruce Pearl’s club their first loss of the conference season on Tuesday night in a thrilling game at Bud Walton Arena. Add that in with a 9-1 Kentucky record in their last 10 games, and the Wildcats now have a chance to catch Auburn to claim the program’s 50th regular-season championship.

KSR has the path for Kentucky to get there.

Win out or come close

The easiest way for Kentucky to win the league this season would be for the Wildcats to win all of their remaining games at finishing SEC play with a gaudy 16-2 record. That would then force Auburn to have to finish 7-0 the rest of the season while managing three more road trips against teams vying for an NCAA Tournament bid.

However, Kentucky still has some tough tests remaining. The Wildcats must go to Tennessee and Arkansas before the month of February ends. Meanwhile, the Wildcats host Alabama and LSU, and the last game on the road against Florida will not be easy.

A 6-1 finish would give the Wildcats a great shot at splitting a co-conference championship with the Tigers.

Auburn must begin road losing skid

Entering the game against Arkansas, Bruce Pearl’s Tigers had been road warriors. Auburn was 7-0 in true road games but was beginning to show some signs of weakness playing away from the friendly confines of Auburn Arena.

Against the worst two teams in the SEC, Auburn had to squeak out a one-point victory over Missouri on Jan. 25 and a two-point victory over Georgia on Feb. 5. That all caught up to the Tigers in a loss to Arkansas.

Now Auburn’s road schedule is about to heat up.

The Tigers go to Florida on Feb. 19, travel to Tennessee on Feb. 26, and make their final stop at Mississippi State on March 2. Auburn could be an underdog against Tennessee and a small favorite in the other two.

Auburn’s home slate is very manageable to end the season, but the road games are tricky. If the Tigers go 2-1, Pearl’s program should feel good about bringing home their fourth SEC championship. However, a 1-2 record opens the door to a split and an 0-3 finish gives Kentucky the inside track.

SEC dropped the ball on scheduling

Currently, in KenPom, the SEC has eight top-50 teams making this the best conference in college basketball. That is giving us some fun regular-season moments and should create an exciting SEC Tournament in Tampa.

Yet, somehow, Auburn was gifted a dream schedule even with all of the quality teams in the SEC.

Of the top three teams — Kentucky, Tennessee, LSU — the Tigers didn’t play either twice and got to host both Kentucky and LSU on the Plains. The Tigers did draw Alabama twice along with Florida but got to avoid two meetings with Arkansas and Mississippi State.

Elsewhere, Auburn got to draw Georgia, Ole Miss, and South Carolina as double-dip opponents. All three programs have a sub-100 KenPom ranking and double-digit losses with three-plus weeks of conference play remaining.

Meanwhile, Kentucky had to play Alabama, LSU, and Tennessee a total of six times with road trips to Arkansas and Auburn. The Wildcats have played the much tougher schedule and still have a chance at catching a top-10 team in the standings.

Fever season is here, and the last three-plus weeks of the year should be a wild ride.