Clark Kellogg, Jay Wright predict big NCAA Tournament run for John Calipari, Kentucky

Kentucky learned their NCAA Tournament draw on Selection Sunday as a No. 3 seed in the South Region. With that being their circumstances, the CBS desk is high on their path. That includes one who now sees them making an appearance in Phoenix in April.

Clark Kellogg, Jay Wright, and Seth Davis spoke about UK’s position during the reveal of the official bracket earlier this evening. Kellogg started before they even announced the final five seeds as he liked their spot so much that he has them set up nicely for a Final Four spot.

“They are a dangerous team,” said Kellogg. “As a matter of fact, I actually spy a chance to move them to my Final Four without even seeing the rest of the bracket.”

Wright liked Kentucky’s spot too, especially based on what they’ve done this year on the offensive end. He thinks that can drive them to the second weekend alone before they need a defense to advance further on.

“I’ll tell you one thing – Kentucky is really interesting to me,” said Wright. “John Calipari, one of the coaches that has always been known as a defensive coach, has kind of changed and gone offense. There’s a couple teams in the tournament like that”

“How far can it take them? I think it could take them to at least the Sweet 16 against Marquette. Then see what they’ve got defensively at that point,” Wright opined.

As for Davis, he sees the Wildcats as a potential contender in their bracket with their style of play. It’s just, to him, their portion of the games and who makes it to and beyond the second weekend will come down to the health of some other team’s key players, including their No. 2 seed.

“The big question on this side of the bracket is the health of Tyler Kolek,” said Davis. “Either way, the way that Kentucky plays, gets up and down the floor? I know Florida has got an injury issue too. But Kolek, to me, is a big-time X-factor in this tournament and, certainly, in this side of the bracket.”

Kentucky sits at 23-9 overall after their early exit from the SEC Tournament this week. It has been a wild season for the Wildcats with high highs and low lows throughout. Still, with March Madness here, there’s plenty of pressure on them to at minimum make a Sweet 16

The path is here for Kentucky now that the committee has released the bracket in its entirety. Playing the games and going as far as they can is all that’s left for the Wildcats to do from here on out.