BBN anxiety levels would be nuclear.
Brace yourselves, BBN. There’s now potential for the Kentucky Wildcats to face John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
The latest ESPN Bracketology from Joe Lunardi has Kentucky projected as a 3-seed in the South Region, which has Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Catlanta. Kentucky would draw 14-seeded Jacksonville State in Cleveland for the Round of 64.
Needless to say, that would be a nice draw, but it would also present a potential Round of 32 clash with Cal and the Hogs.
In this projection, Arkansas makes the field as an 11-seed with a play-in game vs. San Diego State. If the Hogs were to win, they’d face 6-seeded Illinois. The 11-over-6 upsets are already one of the more common March Madness upsets.
The Illini are also just 5-5 over their last 10 games, which includes losses to USC (56th in KenPom) and Rutgers (71st), so the Hogs should be capable of taking them down.
Former Kentucky/Calipari assistant Orlando Antigua now being at Illinois would add a little more spice.
Then there’s San Diego State, who Lamont Butler led to the NCAA National Championship Game in 2024 and now plays for Kentucky.
Storylines abound!
Lunardi isn’t the only one who sees this potential. Blogging the Bracket’s Chris Dobbertean also has the Cats as a 3-seed in Cleveland to go with a potential first-weekend matchup with John Calipari and Arkansas if they can take down West Virginia and Maryland.
This would be in the East Region.
If Kentucky were to face Arkansas, it would be one of, if not ‘the’ all-time juiciest first-weekend matchup in NCAA Tournament history.
Of course, a lot still has to happen for this to be possible with four weeks left until Selection Sunday, but it’s clear that Cats vs. Cal Round 2 is very much in the realm of possibility.