UK Fans of the Day want May Bracketology and a Kentucky vs. Duke Elite Eight matchup

Kentucky could add another developmental piece to the 2025-26 roster tonight in four-star forward Braydon Hawthorne. Even in its current form, Joe Lunardi believes Kentucky’s roster is capable of winning the SEC Tournament and securing a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Lunardi released his second Bracketology of the offseason this morning. May Bracketology is nothing to get riled up about, but this one provides some fun hypotheticals — and, let’s be honest, until Hawthorne’s announcement, we’ve got to talk about something. Kentucky is the No. 2 seed in the South Region, playing its first-round game vs. Florida Gulf Coast — Dunk City! — in St. Louis. Should the Cats win, they’ll face the winner of No. 7 seed Kansas and No. 10 seed Miami in the second round. BYU, Mark Pope’s former school, or Wisconsin could be waiting in the Sweet 16 in Houston.

To get to the Final Four in Indianapolis, the Cats may have to knock off No. 1 seed Duke. Kentucky beat the Blue Devils last season in the Champions Classic, but both teams now have very different rosters. Duke’s may include Dame Sarr, the Italian star who is considering taking his talents to Durham. There are other familiar names in the top of Lunardi’s South Region (Auburn, Michigan State, Texas), but Kentucky vs. Duke in the Elite Eight would be pretty epic.

Kentucky is the highest-seeded team from the SEC in Lunardi’s projections. He also designates the Cats as an automatic qualifier, meaning they would win the SEC Tournament. I’d be very happy about that. In all, he has 13 SEC teams making the field, one shy of last year’s record and the most of any conference. I should note that this update dropped before the news that Boogie Fland will transfer from Arkansas to Florida broke.

• No. 2 seed Kentucky – AQ
• No. 3 seed Florida
• No. 3 seed Tennessee
• No. 4 seed Arkansas
• No. 5 seed Auburn
• No. 7 seed Missouri
• No. 7 seed Oklahoma
• No. 8 seed Alabama
• No. 8 seed Vanderbilt
• No. 8 seed Mississippi State
• No. 9 seed Texas
• No. 10 seed Georgia
• No. 11 seed Ole Miss (play-in game)

Houston, Purdue, UConn, and Duke are the No. 1 seeds, and Michigan, St. John’s, and Arizona are alongside Kentucky on the No. 2 seed line. The Cats will face Purdue in an exhibition game at Rupp Arena on Oct. 24 and Rick Pitino’s St. John’s squad in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on Dec. 20. The matchups for the ACC/SEC Challenge have yet to be announced, so we could have a regular season clash between the Cats and the Blue Devils as well.