Kentucky sees big rise in ESPN's Bracketology following addition of Milan Momcilovic

The offseason is in full effect, but Joe Lunardi never sleeps.

On Tuesday morning, ESPN’s bracket expert rolled out an updated look at his projections for the 2027 NCAA Tournament, which will include 76 teams for the first time. The last time Lunardi put out a fresh Bracketology, Kentucky was sitting on an 8-seed and had yet to bring in Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic. But with the sharpshooter now on board, his addition has changed how the Wildcats are viewed going into 2026-27.

Lunardi has since moved Kentucky up three spots to a 5-seed with a projected first-round matchup against the winner of the 12-seed matchup between Clemson and Maryland. He has UK playing in Sacramento for the first two rounds with a potential Round of 32 showdown against Houston.

Lunardi pointed directly to Momcilovic as the driving reason behind Kentucky’s big rise.

“One of the nation’s premier programs garnered the wrong kind of attention this spring portal period,” he wrote. “Kentucky made more news for the players it didn’t sign than the ones it did. Until the beginning of June, that is, when former Iowa State sharpshooter Milan Momcilovic — who was at or near the top of the transfer rankings — pulled out of the NBA draft in favor of a stint in Lexington.

“His best-in-the-nation 3-point shooting (48.6%) and top-10 offensive efficiency from last season should be worth at least three or four seed lines for the Wildcats next March. That’s the difference between a coin-flip game in the first round (8 vs. 9) or playing for the Sweet 16 in the round of 32 (4 vs. 5). The cynics might say neither is up to Kentucky’s standards, but for a program with only one trip to the second weekend this decade, Momcilovic’s impact is a very, very big deal.”

Kentucky is one of 12 SEC teams in Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, just one shy of the Big Ten’s leading 13. UK is joined by Florida (1), Arkansas (2), Alabama (3), Texas (3), Tennessee (5), Vanderbilt (6), Auburn (8), Missouri (8), Texas A&M (9), Oklahoma (11), and LSU (12). Looking at the Wildcats’ non-conference slate, Louisville is a 2-seed, Kansas and Virginia are 4-seeds, and North Carolina and Indiana are 7-seeds.