NCAA Tournament Resume Rundown: Where Kentucky sits 6 weeks from Selection Monday

Kentucky is out of the top 25 for a second consecutive week following a 2-2 mark that included yet another rubber match loss on Sunday in SEC play. The Bat Cats (25-10, 7-8) won’t be able to go .500 this week. A huge home series with Vanderbilt is on deck. Nick Mingione‘s club will attempt to use the third SEC home series of the season as a resume-building opportunity.

In recent bracket updates from D1 Baseball and Baseball America, Kentucky is listed as both a No. 2 seed and No. 3 seed. The former as UK as a No. 3 seed traveling to Corvallis to play in No. 7 overall seed Oregon State’s region. The latter has UK has one of the final No. 2 seeds (No. 29 overall) traveling to Chapel Hill to play in No. 4 overall seed North Carolina’s region. The Bat Cats are firmly in the field of 64 just six weeks away from Selection Monday.

Why is that? The resume remains solid for multiple reasons despite three Quad 4 losses at Kentucky Proud Park.

A closer look at Kentucky’s team sheet

Kentucky sits at No. 17 in RPI heading into this weekend. That is one spot below West Virginia and one spot ahead of Oklahoma. The Mountaineers are projected to host. The Sooners are firmly a No. 2 seed. UK remains in a good spot.

This is what the team sheet currently looks like.

Kentucky remains in steady shape despite a 7-8 mark since the home sweep over Alabama with a 5-8 record against power conference competition. That is mostly due to a winning record in Quad 1 (5-4) and a strong non-conference RPI (No. 21). Kentucky’s road wins over UNC Greensboro and Evansville are helping the resume. The sweep over The Citadel has a chance to enter Quad 2 as the Bulldogs are seen in a positive light by RPI despite a 17-19 overall record.

But the Quad 1 opportunities are slim — for now.

• vs. Vanderbilt (No. 95): Quad 3
• at Louisville (No. 106): Quad 2
• at South Carolina (No. 76): Quad 2
• vs. Tennessee (No. 29): Quad 2
• at Florida (No. 5): Quad 1
• vs. Northern Kentucky (No. 230): Quad 4
• vs. Arkansas (No. 35): Quad 2

Northern Kentucky is the only remaining Quad 4 game on the schedule. The home series against Vanderbilt are the only remaining Quad 3 games on the schedule. Kentucky will get three opportunities to get some big resume marks on the road against Florida, but SEC series against South Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas are all Quad 2 games. Tennessee and Arkansas are right on the edge of Quad 1.

What does that mean? The path to getting back to host range currently feels difficult. Kentucky simply does not have enough Quad 1 opportunities. That’s probably the bad news. The good news? UK seems to have a high floor. The Bat Cats have a great chance to avoid bad losses and all of the Quad 2 games don’t hurt you if you play .500 ball. The resume is in a rock-solid position right now.

Kentucky is very much trending towards a fourth consecutive at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament even if it looks like Kentucky Proud Park won’t be hosting for a third time.