The Cats are inching up to the 2-seed line.
March Madness is here, folks!
The Kentucky Wildcats are a lock for the NCAA Tournament next week, and now the fanbase can relax and just follow and track what seed line the Cats might land on for this year’s postseason.
Most of the projections for the last week or so have had Kentucky earning a 3-seed, but could it go higher?
Bracketology Roundup
According to Bracket Matrix, the Cats currently sit firmly on the 3-seed line, with a few outlets thinking the Cats might still be a 4-seed (come on CBS). However, the BBN might be interested to see the latest update from Joe Lunardi at ESPN.
In his latest update, he has Kentucky moved up to the top 3-seed sitting as the No. 9 overall seed. That means the Cats are awfully close to making a move to the 2-seed line.
Elsewhere, a projection from On3 writer James Fletcher III has the Cats edging out Texas Tech for a 2-seed in the East Region.
“Kentucky currently holds a razor-thin advantage over Texas Tech for the final spot on the 2-seed line in the latest bracketology projections. Despite a worse overall record, they hold a better Quad 1 record and no Quad 3 loss, which shows up in their WAB advantage,” wrote Fletcher.
This projection features several potential storylines, including a Round of 32 matchup with Orlando Antigua and Illinois, a Sweet 16 matchup with Rick Pitino’s St. John’s squad, and a possible Elite Eight game vs. Duke or Louisville.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller also has the Cats earning a 2-seed, this one being in the West Region with Florida as the top seed.
At USA Today, Eddie Timanus has Kentucky earning a 3-seed in the South Region with Texas Tech as the 2-seed and Auburn as the 1-seed.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm still has Kentucky with a 4-seed in the Midwest Region, where Houston would be the top seed.
Finally, Blogging the Bracket’s Chris Dobbertean has the Cats earning a 4-seed in the West Region with Florida as the 1-seed.
Now overall, making the move to the 2-seed line obviously lightens the path to a deeper run, but the biggest advantage really comes on still sticking away from the 1-seed side of the bracket. With the top seeds seemingly having a massive gap on the rest of the field, setting up a matchup in the Elite Eight is a lot more appealing than the Sweet 16.
With this move to the top of the 3-seed line, as long as the Cats avoid an upset on Thursday, they should be safe from dropping to a 4-seed. However, a big win over Alabama on Friday night could propel UK up into the top eight seeds.
SEC Tournament Championship Odds
Heading into SEC Tournament play, Kentucky is tied with Texas A&M for the fifth-best odds to win the championship, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
In this week’s SB Nation Reacts survey, only 6% of voters picked Kentucky to win the league title.
Going to be a fun week in Nashville!