A quick look at Kentucky's path to the Final Four

Kentucky’s draw in the NCAA Tournament has been set, with the Wildcats announced as a No. 2 seed in the East Region. UK will take on No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s on Thursday in Indianapolis in the opening round.

It’s a draw that features name-brand programs and one in-state school, a matchup that could potentially come in the Round of 32. First Saint Peter’s, then potentially Murray State before a trip to Philadelphia for Regionals.

If you ask John Calipari, though, Kentucky isn’t looking beyond Thursday.

“These guys haven’t played in an NCAA Tournament, so I’m trying to keep them focused on the little pod,” Calipari said. “Really basically saying you don’t even need to worry about San Francisco or Murray (State). We don’t know who’s winning that game. And we need to worry about Saint Peter’s, that’s how this goes. You’re playing in a pod for a weekend, that’s all you worry about. Nothing else.”

The players have bought into the one-day-at-a-time mindset.

“Before we were selected, my heart was racing. The suspense was killing all of us, we just wanted to know we’re going to play,” Jacob Toppin said. “I’m excited. This is the first tournament game for most of us, and I think we’re all excited. We’re focused on our first game, and we’ll worry about the rest when it comes.”

“I think there are a lot of good teams, so I’m not gonna try to speculate whether we have an easier region than some of the others,” Kellan Grady added. “… We’re focused on Saint Peter’s and we’ll take this game by game.”

Kentucky may not be looking ahead, but that doesn’t mean Big Blue Nation can’t. It’s in the fanbase’s blood, an annual tradition and expectation. “What is Kentucky’s path to the Final Four?”

With the bracket now official, let’s map things out. Baylor is the No. 1 seed in the East, followed by Kentucky at No. 2, Purdue at No. 3 and UCLA at No. 4. Among other prominent teams to keep an eye on, Texas is the No. 6 seed, Murray State is the No. 7, North Carolina is the No. 8, Marquette is the No. 9 and Virginia Tech is the No. 10.

Should higher-ranked seeds win out — which never happens, obviously — Kentucky would play Saint Peter’s to open the tournament, followed by Murray State in the Round of 32, Purdue in the Sweet 16 and Baylor in the Elite Eight.

Saint Peter’s finished the year 19-11 overall and 14-6 in conference play, winning the MAAC Championship with a win over Monmouth. It lost to VCU, St. John’s, Providence and Iona (twice) on the year. Not the most exciting opening-round matchup Kentucky has had.

Murray State, however, finished the season 30-2 overall and 18-0 in conference play, with its only losses coming against East Tennessee and Auburn. The Racers beat Memphis on the road for its biggest win of the season, also defeating Morehead State to claim the OVC championship.

From there, Purdue finished the year 27-7 overall after starting the season 13-1 and ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation back in December. The Boilermakers finished conference play 14-6 overall, with losses coming against Wisconsin (twice), Iowa, Michigan State, Michigan and Indiana.

As for the potential Elite Eight battle, Baylor sits at 26-6 on the year and 14-4 in conference play, with the Bears falling to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship. After starting the year 15-0, Baylor ultimately lost to Texas Tech (twice), Oklahoma State, Alabama, Kansas and Oklahoma.

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Those are just the favorites, though. We could also see a potential matchup of Kentucky vs. Devin Askew and the Texas Longhorns (21-11, 10-8) in the Sweet 16. The former Wildcat guard is averaging just 2.2 points, 1.4 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game, a 14-minute-per-game drop from what he saw in Lexington.

You could also see Johnny Juzang and the UCLA Bruins (25-7, 15-5) make another run after going to the Final Four in 2021. They would have to upset Baylor in the Sweet 16 to set up a head-to-head battle of 19 total national championships (UCLA 11, Kentucky 8) in the Elite Eight. Individually, Juzang leads the Bruins with 16.0 points per game on 43.5% shooting and 36.2% from three.

Could North Carolina (24-9, 15-5) do some damage? A blue-blood battle in the Elite Eight could be on the table if the Tar Heels upset Baylor in the Round of 32 and UCLA in the Sweet 16. UK previously clobbered UNC in Las Vegas, defeating the Heels by a final score of 98-69.

What do you think of Kentucky’s path to the Final Four?