SEC Tournament 2-Seed Well Within Reach For Kentucky

Despite how difficult this season has been for Kentucky, the team still has a lot of potential in front of them. The season is nowhere near a waste. While most people have focused on NCAA Tournament bracketology, I think the Cats’ No. 1 goal should be securing a Top 4 seed at the SEC Tournament, guaranteeing a double-bye and the easiest road to their first conference tournament title in five years.

Currently, Kentucky is tied with Florida for fifth in the SEC standings, setting up a tiebreaker game on Saturday at Rupp Arena. Here are the standings ahead of them:

1. Alabama: 9-0
2. Tennessee: 7-2
3. Texas A&M: 7-2
4. Auburn: 7-2
5. Kentucky: 6-3

It seems very likely that Alabama is the class of the league this year and likely not to be passed in the standings. Plus they have already beaten Kentucky with no other meetings on the books, so it’s almost impossible Kentucky will pass them up. But the other three teams ahead of Cal’s team are there for the taking. Here’s why:

TENNESSEE

Most importantly, Kentucky already has a win over the Vols. But even more importantly, Kentucky gets a chance to notch a second win over UT, and this time at Rupp Arena on February 18. If the Cats can pull that one out too, they would hold the tiebreaker over the Vols. UT’s loss to Florida last night was huge for the Cats as that means a win in two weeks would mean they just need to play even with the Vols for the rest of the season. Tennessee still has road games against Texas A&M and Auburn left, along with a home game against Alabama.

TEXAS A&M

It seems as if the Aggies might be cracking a bit already, losing to the Cats and dropping a game on Tuesday to Arkansas. Now their schedule is easier than most with road games against LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State left. But home games against Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn, and Arkansas still await and it’s hard to imagine to Aggies not dropping a couple of those. Kentucky already holds the tiebreaker over them as well, so again, they just need to match A&M in conference record at the end of the season.

AUBURN

Kentucky finds itself just one game back of Auburn right now and luckily has a matchup with the Tigers at Rupp on February 25. So passing Auburn is entirely in Kentucky’s hands right now.

RECAP

If Kentucky could navigate their last nine games and go 9-0, it seems very likely they would vault up to the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament. They are likely to be favored in eight games, with the trip to Arkansas a likely underdog spot (maybe Tennessee). Could a 14-4 conference record get the Cats a No. 2 seed? That will be the biggest question.

But the bigger point is despite all of the issues that have faced this team, their place in the conference is still largely in their own hands for the final month of the year. At a minimum, Kentucky has to get into the Top 4 and earn that double-bye. Very few SEC Tournament champions have come from outside the Top 4 in the standings. But it’s all in front of the Cats and if they are truly going to turn a corner, the schedule is there for them to make some noise.