Kentucky Somehow Still has a Path to a Double-Bye in the SEC Tournament

After a little bit of research and some very meticulous calculations, Kentucky still has a path to get a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. Albeit a very slim one.

Jon Hale of the Courier-Journal showed the path last night, it goes as follows:

If I'm reading this correctly, there's one scenario remaining where UK can get No. 4 seed in SEC Tournament:

1. UK must beat Ole Miss and SC
2. LSU must lose to Vanderbilt and Missouri.
3. Tennessee must lost to Florida.
4. Missouri must lose to Florida but beat LSU.

— Jon Hale (@JonHale_CJ) February 28, 2021

Basically, here’s what to root for.

Kentucky owns the tiebreaker over LSU and Tennessee, so if all three were to finish SEC play at 9-8 Kentucky would jump over both of those teams into the fourth-seed of the SEC Tournament.

Obviously, it’s a slim chance all of these results come through, and it’s probably going to fall in its first leg when Vanderbilt squares off against LSU without Disu and Pippen Jr. on Tuesday night. However, if Vandy can pull off the upset against LSU on Tuesday the other five scenarios could all easily happen, and if they do, your Kentucky Wildcats will be in for the double-bye.

But, there is a bit of a caveat.

If the Wildcats magically find themselves as the fourth-seed, they would fall on the side with the SEC Regular-Season Champion Alabama Crimson Tide. The same team that is 2-0 against the Cats this year and handed Kentucky their worst loss at Rupp Arena in the John Calipari era.

It’s certainly not ideal, and it has a very slim chance of happening, but this is what lies ahead for Kentucky’s double-bye chances. They may just be better off shooting for the seven-seed to avoid Alabama and getting out of the Thursday Night 9 o’clock hole.

Should be a stressful two weeks ahead. Go Cats.