Kentucky holds steady in Bracketology following addition of Zvonimir Ivisic

Kentucky now has three seven-footers on the roster, but that’s not enough to move up in the eyes of Joe Lunardi.

On Tuesday morning, Lunardi unveiled an updated version of his 2024 NCAA Tournament Bracketology. In it, he slotted the Wildcats as a No. 6 seed in the West Region — the same spot he had them at over a month ago, just before the team went a perfect 4-0 and won a gold medal in Canada at the GLOBL JAM. Lunardi must not have put much stock into those summer games though, or the addition of 7-foot-2 Croatian center Zvonimir Ivisic, who committed to UK at the beginning of the month and will play this season.

Lunardi has Kentucky taking on No. 11 seed Dayton in the first round, which would take place in Pittsburgh, PA. A potential second-round matchup would come against either No. 3 Marquette or No. 14 Eastern Kentucky. The SEC is tied with the Big 12 for most teams projected to make the tournament with eight.

Kentucky has been trending upward in preseason rankings since dominating the competition up north in July, but not to the point where they’re cracking the top 10. Also from ESPN, staff writer Jeff Borzello moved UK up from unranked to No. 17 in his “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 (before the addition of Ivisic), while Gary Parrish of CBS Sports now has the Wildcats at No. 16 with Ivisic in the fold.

On the flip side, Las Vegas is already much higher on Kentucky. The folks over at DraftKings give the ‘Cats +1400 odds to win the 2023-24 national championship — fourth-best in the country behind only Duke (+1100), Purdue (+1200), and Kansas (+1200). Most major sportsbooks have Kentucky at anywhere from +1400 to +1800 odds to win the title.

The regular season is roughly three months away.