Where Kentucky MBB projects to land ahead of Selection Sunday
Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament fate is beginning to feel locked up.
After falling to the Tennessee Volunteers during Saturday’s 2022 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Wildcats likely lost its chance of potentially earning a one-seed. A win over the Vols likely would have been enough to push Kentucky into one-seed territory, but the loss now appears to have the ‘Cats comfortably sitting on a two-seed.
Looking across the many bracket projections, a two-seed feels all but certain for Kentucky. Head coach John Calipari said after Saturday’s game that he expects his team will “probably be a two, maybe a three” seed. If we take a look at BracketMatrix.com, a very convenient website that groups 61 different “Bracketology” predictions from various media outlets into one spot, UK is firmly on the two-seed line.
As of Sunday afternoon, Kentucky is considered a two-seed by 56 of the 61 brackets on BracketMatrix.com, with three outlets tabbing the ‘Cats as a one-seed and two others as a three-seed. The big boys — ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo Sports — all view UK as the top overall two-seed, ahead of Auburn, which also checks in as a two-seed. Despite Tennessee’s impressive late-season run and the win over Kentucky, BracketMatrix.com has the Vols averaging out as the top overall three-seed.
The three sites to pick Kentucky as a one-seed were Nick Tursi’s Best Damn Bracket Period, CrimsonCast (an Indiana affiliate, of all schools), and something called “Olives“. But hey, the Big Blue Nation loves to hear it either way. As for the two sites that projected UK as three-seed, those are BustedBracketology and Tom’s Bracket Madness. The Big Blue Nation does not love to hear that. Still, the general consensus is a looming two-seed.
KSR’s own Bracketologist, Alex Weber, fully agrees with Kentucky’s two-seed projection. In the latest update of his NCAA Tournament Master Sheet, Weber slotted the ‘Cats as a two-seed, although he dropped them below Auburn and Tennessee on the line. While conference title games on Sunday don’t tend to count towards the selection process, the Vols beating Texas A&M in the SEC championship should make them more than worthy of a two-seed, if they aren’t already.
If we look around at rankings and advanced analytics, the two-seed trend continues. Kentucky is currently No. 5 in the NET rankings, boasting a 9-7 record in Quad 1 contests. Evan Miya and Jeff Sagarin’s metrics also consider the ‘Cats to be a two-seed. KenPom, however, still ranks UK as the No. 3 team in the country, according to its statistics, behind only Gonzaga and Arizona.
The Selection Show will begin at 6:00 p.m. EST and air on CBS. What say you? Is a two-seed for Kentucky all but locked-in?
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