Kentucky earns 2-seed in East Region; will face Saint Peter's in opener

Kentucky Men’s Basketball has learned its path to a ninth national championship.

On Sunday night, the 68-team field for the upcoming 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed where the Wildcats drew a two-seed in the East Region with a first-round matchup against the 15-seed Saint Peter’s Peacocks. Kentucky will play its first round matchup on Thursday, March 17 in Indianapolis, IN with a potential Round of 32 matchup against the seven-seeded Murray State in the Round of 32 set for Saturday, March 19.

Saint Peter’s finished second during the regular season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) before winning the conference title over Monmouth on Saturday. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Peacocks and the Wildcats.

The top-four seeds in the East Region are as follows: No. 1 Baylor, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Purdue, and No. 4 UCLA.

The East Region!#SelectionSunday #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/11GdNAQW37

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 13, 2022

Kentucky is coming off a 69-62 loss the Tennessee Volunteers in the semifinals of the 2022 SEC Tournament on Saturday. It was UK’s second straight loss to UT, which shockingly earned a three-seed in the South Region. UK was in line to snag a one-seed had it taken down Tennessee. The Vols went on to win the league title for the first time since 1979.

Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky is 5-3 over its previous eight outings, with two of those losses coming to Tennessee and the other to four-seeded Arkansas. The wins haven’t exactly been all that comforting, either. UK hasn’t been clicking at the same level it was about a month ago, but still managed to escape the SEC Tournament without any longterm injuries and will have another four days to reset before taking on Saint Peter’s.

Below is the entire 2022 NCAA Tournament bracket.