Joe Lunardi has blessed us with a fresh Bracketology update

Another month of the college basketball offseason has passed us by. You know what that means, right? A fresh Bracketology update from the man himself, Joe Lunardi.

On Tuesday morning, Lunardi released his latest Bracketology projections for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Kentucky Wildcats remain locked into a 6-seed, which is where Lunardi has slotted Mark Pope’s first team in Lexington since June. He has Kentucky taking on 11-seeded VCU in the opening round of the South (Atlanta) Region. A win would pit the Wildcats against the winner of 3-seed North Carolina and 14-seed Samford in the Round of 32.

Lexington’s Rupp Arena will host first- and second-round games of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Kentucky is projected to play in Raleigh, NC though with top-seeded Alabama projected to start its postseason run in Lexington as part of the South Region, possibly against Morehead State in the first round.

The biggest takeaway from this month’s Bracketology update? It confirms that Kentucky is expected to face a challenging schedule in 2024-25. With Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC, the new-look league is projected to have 10 teams make the NCAA Tournament, more than any other conference. The Big Ten and Big 12 both have nine teams making the cut.

Looking at Kentucky’s upcoming schedule, Mark Pope‘s debut team will face 15 teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament, including home-and-homes against two of them.

Kentucky’s non-conference schedule: Duke (1-seed), Gonzaga (2-seed), Clemson (8-seed), Ohio State (10-seed), Louisville (11-seed), and Lipscomb (15-seed)

Kentucky’s SEC schedule: Alabama (1-seed) twice, Auburn (2-seed), Arkansas (4-seed), Tennessee (4-seed) twice, Texas A&M (4-seed), Texas (5-seed), Mississippi State (7-seed), Florida (9-seed), and Ole Miss (9-seed)

The Wildcats will tip off the regular season on Nov. 4 against Wright State.