KSR Today: Getting you ready for the last week of college basketball's regular season

Good morning, friends. Today is a bittersweet day for college basketball fans because it is our last Monday of the regular season. Only two Kentucky games remain on the 2023-24 schedule, and yesterday marked two weeks until Selection Sunday when the official 2024 NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed. The Madness is almost here.

At Kentucky, the Wildcats are in a good place heading into Senior Night in Rupp Arena. They’re on a three-game winning streak for the first time this calendar year, scoring a combined 319 points in those wins over Alabama, Mississippi State, and Arkansas. On Wednesday, Vanderbilt comes to Lexington for one last ride in Rupp Arena for Kentucky’s seniors and an undetermined number of its star freshmen. Kentucky should defend homecourt in that one, then it’s on to Knoxville for the regular season finale and a rematch against the Vols.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, there are more pressing issues in front of us as we begin this last week of the regular season. Let’s review the news around Big Blue Nation, what’s ahead, and more.

Kentucky’s down time before Senior Day

Kentucky has a longer window between games this week, so let’s catch up on all of the fun from Saturday to keep the basketball celebration going:

Bradshaw: Kentucky Bigs Play Selfless Basketball. “We all love each other”
Justin Edwards is giving Kentucky another quality offensive option
Kentucky has been full of century-mark milestones this year
Eric Musselman believes Kentucky is good enough to win the national title
Arkansas couldn’t stop the Dillingham-Ivisic pick-and-roll down the stretch
Led by Dillingham and the freshmen, Kentucky came back to beat rival Arkansas in Rupp

Hopefully, we see a new version of The Journey today, too.

Cats in the Top 25

Where oh where will Kentucky land in the new Top 25(s) later today? The Wildcats woke up this morning ranked 16th in the AP and 15th in the USA Today Coaches’ polls; however, those positions will soon change when both publications update their rankings Monday afternoon. Alabama is ranked two spots ahead of the Wildcats with one more loss since last week’s update, so maybe Kentucky can pass the Crimson Tide in the Top 25. Their head-to-head in Rupp Arena should help make that case. We’ll see how it shakes out around lunchtime when the new rankings are revealed for the final week of the regular season.

Reed Sheppard on SEC Freshman of the Week Watch

Around the time we learn Kentucky’s new place in the polls, Reed Sheppard should be named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week for his unforgettable performance against Mississippi State last Tuesday night. Sheppard’s big night in Starkville has him in the conversation for SEC Player of the Week, too. If he were to win it over the other worthy performers (i.e., Dalton Knecht scored 52 in wins against Alabama and Auburn), it would be the first time a Kentucky Wildcat won the SEC’s Player of the Week award all season.

SEC Tournament seeding becoming clear

With two games remaining, the SEC Tournament seeding picture is a little clearer, although still confusing. The short version: win out to get a double-bye in Nashville. If not, Kentucky will likely play its first game on Thursday as the No. 5 seed. Current projections believe that will be the case, one projecting only a 38 percent shot at a top-four seed. The current projected bracket sets up the Wildcats in the top half of the bracket with the teams Kentucky has a losing record against.

John Calipari’s call-in radio show

Because Kentucky plays on Wednesday rather than Tuesday this week, we wait another day for the pregame press conference. Tomorrow, someone, likely an assistant coach, will take questions about the team before the year’s final two games. However, John Calipari is expected on his weekly Monday night call-in radio show with Tom Leach tonight. Tune in at 6 p.m. on the UK Sports Network for comments from Calipari about Saturday’s win and the upcoming challenges in hosting Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Kentucky Women’s Basketball lost at No. 9 LSU

On Sunday, Kentucky Women’s Basketball played its last game of a disappointing regular season; unfortunately, on the road against LSU, the ninth-ranked team in the country. If there is any life left in the Wildcats’ program this season, it wasn’t shown in Baton Rouge as Kentucky fell to the defending national champion, 77-56, completing a 4-12 record in SEC play and an 11-19 record overall. Against the Tigers, Ajae Petty notched her 16th double-double with 13 points and 15 boards. Still, LSU was too much for Kentucky the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. UK turned the ball over 23 times in the loss.

UKWBB is the No. 12 seed in the 2024 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament

Kentucky’s women begin postseason play on Wednesday in the first round of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. The tournament’s No. 12 seed, Kentucky plays Georgia on the first day of competition in Greenville, South Carolina. Take a look at the entire bracket:

First Round

(13) Georgia vs. (12) Kentucky
———-
(14) Missouri vs. (11) Florida

Second Round

(9) Texas A&M vs. (8) Mississippi State
(5) Tennessee vs. (13) Georgia / (12) Kentucky
———-
(10) Arkansas vs. (7) Auburn
(6) Vanderbilt vs. (14) Missouri / (11) Florida

Quarterfinals

(1) South Carolina vs. (9) Texas A&M / (8) Mississippi State
(4) Alabama vs. (5) Tennessee / (13) Georgia / (12) Kentucky
———-
(2) LSU vs. (10) Arkansas / (7) Auburn
(3) Ole Miss vs. (6) Vanderbilt / (14) Missouri / (11) Florida

Kentucky Baseball swept Lipscomb in Lexington

In Lexington, Kentucky Baseball wrapped up a three-game weekend series with Lipscomb on Sunday, completing the sweep of the Bison in Kentucky Proud Park. Kentucky won Sunday’s Game 3 by the score of 9-1 to move to 10-1 on the young season. The Cats had a season-high 16 hits in the victory. Ryan Waldschmidt, Émilien Pitre, and Patrick Herrera had three hits apiece. Read Daniel Hager’s game story for more on the weekend series in Lexington.

I got called in for the KSR Preshow today.

Shannon The Dude is under the weather, so Billy Rutledge broke the emergency glass to phone me in for this morning’s KSR Preshow at 9 a.m. Then, Matt Jones and I will be without Shannon and Ryan Lemond on KSR at 10 a.m. It’s a busy morning over here for this guy. I better get going. Have a nice day. Go Cats.