Bracketology: Kansas and Kentucky in the Midwest Region

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Kentucky was a No. 2 seed and the No. 6 overall team in the Selection Committee’s early reveal on Saturday. Joe Lunardi’s latest projections look similar to those from the committee with a few exceptions. Kentucky is still the No. 2 seed to Kansas’ No. 1 seed in today’s Bracketology, but he’s got the two teams in the Midwest Region (Chicago) instead of the East Region (Philadelphia). After losing to Florida, Auburn is now the No. 1 seed in the East Region, paired with No. 2 seed Purdue. Lunardi moved Texas Tech up to the No. 2 seed line over Duke, which is down to a No. 3 seed.

Here’s Kentucky’s hypothetical path to the Final Four:

Lunardi said the fact that Kansas is the No. 1 seed over Kentucky after last month’s result in The Phog is proof the committee doesn’t factor in head-to-head results.

“My biggest takeaway from the NCAA bracket reveal is a familiar one: Head-to-head results mean very little. Kentucky routs Kansas at the Phog, but the Jayhawks get a 1-seed with the Wildcats two spots behind on the seed list. Duke beats Kentucky on a neutral floor, but it’s UK two spots ahead of the Blue Devils. And Texas Tech sweeps Baylor at home and away, yet the Bears are a 2-seed and the Red Raiders just a 3-seed. There’s still a long way to go before Selection Sunday, of course, but it was an important reminder that even seemingly obvious single-game results are rarely a factor for the committee.”

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Six SEC teams are in, per Lunardi: Auburn (1), Kentucky (2), Tennessee (4), Alabama (5), LSU (6), and Arkansas (6). Florida is the fifth team out. He still has Auburn winning the SEC Tournament to get the automatic bid.

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— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 22, 2022

Kentucky is still a No. 2 seed in all of the other major projections. The Cats are the No. 2 seed to Kansas’ No. 1 seed in the East Region per Jerry Palm and Shelby Mast. Kentucky’s the top No. 2 per the Bracket Matrix, an aggregate of all the NCAA Tournament projections on the internet.

Just think: in less than three weeks, we’ll know for certain.