Kentucky plummets in ESPN's latest Bracketology update

Kentucky has zero wins of significance through nine games this season. And while there is a long way to go until March, that isn’t ideal for the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament odds.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi dropped a fresh Bracketology update on Tuesday morning, which was none too kind to Mark Pope‘s program. Kentucky plummeted to a 9-seed in Lunardi’s projected field of 68, this coming just two weeks after he tabbed the ‘Cats as a 5-seed. In this scenario, UK’s opening round opponent would be 8-seed UCLA in St. Louis. The winner would take on the winner of 1-seed Iowa State and 16-seed Southern/Long Island in the Round of 32.

In its five wins, Kentucky has smacked every single one of them, beating Nicholls, Valparaiso, Eastern Illinois, Loyola (MD), and Tennessee Tech by a combined average of 42.4 points. But all of those teams rank outside of KenPom’s top 199. Meanwhile, the four losses have come against Quad 1 opponents: Gonzaga, Michigan State, Louisville, and North Carolina.

If the season were to end right now, a 9-seed would feel generous for Kentucky.

The good news? There will be plenty of opportunities for Kentucky to pick up resume-building wins the rest of the season. Two of them will take place later this month. After hosting North Carolina Central on Tuesday night, the ‘Cats will take on Indiana (Dec. 13) and St. John’s (Dec. 20). Indiana is a Quad 2 game, while St. John’s is a Quad 1 game. The SEC schedule will be loaded with Quad 1 and Quad 2 opportunities.

BartTorvik’s computer-generated numbers are a bit higher on Kentucky at this stage, projecting the ‘Cats to earn an average seed of 7.3. The site gives UK a 65.6 percent chance to make the NCAA Tournament and a six percent chance to earn an auto-bid by winning the SEC Tournament. Both BartTorvik and KenPom predict Kentucky will finish with an overall record of 18-13 (10-8 SEC).