Kentucky back in NCAA Tournament field with win at MSU

What a difference 24 hours makes. Going into the team’s trip to Starkville, Kentucky was firmly outside the NCAA Tournament field, a resume that lacked quality wins and suffered a few black eyes. John Calipari stressed patience, pointing to the Quad 1 opportunities the Wildcats had down the stretch, but nothing about the team’s recent play indicated a turnaround was inevitable.

The possibility of extending the program’s streak of zero March Madness wins since 2019 felt very real, a loss in Athens against a mediocre Georgia team being the potential dagger.

And then Wednesday came, with the Wildcats earning a hard-fought 71-68 win over Mississippi State. Factor in a few other results throughout the evening, and Kentucky found itself back in the field, with ESPN’s Joe Lunardi including the Cats among his last four teams in.

Also joining UK in the category? North Carolina, Wisconsin and Clemson, with Mississippi State falling out alongside Oregon, USC and New Mexico.

Still on the bubble, but in the field nonetheless.

pic.twitter.com/owsRcVYMCp

— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 16, 2023

How does John Calipari feel about where things stand currently? It’s right where he wants to be — well, maybe not fighting for a bid, but in the conversation. Get in the field and go from there.

No matter how or why this team has struggled throughout the season, no one wants to face Kentucky in March, especially as a lower seed.

“You got people trying to talk us out of this tournament. You can’t talk us out,” Calipari said after the win in Starkville. “… Who wants to play us? Remember what happened the last time one of my teams were an 8-seed or a 9-seed?”

One of the most magical NCAA Tournament runs in recent memory.

There’s a long way to go until then, five regular-season matchups before SEC Tournament play begins in Nashville. Plenty of time to salvage the resume, plenty of time to tank it. That’s the nature of the beast when you’re sitting firmly on the bubble.

“That’s one thing about us, we’re never going to back down,” forward Jacob Toppin said. “We’re in a hole right now, but we’re going to dig out of it. We believe we’re going to dig out of it. We’re a great group of guys who are going to stay together, and we’re going to continue to fight to the end. We’re going to figure this out and turn it around. It started (Wednesday), we got a good W.”

For now, the Wildcats are in. But there’s still work to do to keep it that way.