Kentucky Baseball now projected to be No. 1 overall seed in NCAA Tournament

How hot is the Kentucky Baseball team right now? The Bat Cats are now projected to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament by D1 Baseball.

After Kentucky’s series win over Arkansas and Texas A&M’s series loss at LSU, the D1 Baseball staff flipped the Cats and the Aggies in their Field of 64 projections, giving Kentucky the overall No. 1 spot with ten days left in the regular season. During that stretch, Kentucky plays a road series vs. Florida, hosts Wright State, and ends the regular season with a series vs. Vanderbilt at Kentucky Proud Park.

The Cats are up to No. 4 in D1 Baseball’s Top 25, while the Aggies are No. 3. Tennessee currently occupies the top spot, followed by Clemson. All four of those teams are in the Field of 64 top eight, along with Arkansas, North Carolina, Florida State, and East Carolina, meaning they are projected to host a Super Regional. The D1 staff doesn’t see that changing with just over three weeks until the Regional rounds begin.

“Kentucky leads the SEC regular season standings and is two games ahead of the Aggies, while also having three more wins against Quad 1 teams and two more wins against Quad 2 teams.

“The rest of the top eight includes Tennessee, Clemson, Arkansas, North Carolina, Florida State, and East Carolina. If those teams continue to take care of business, it will take a Herculean effort from teams in the 9-16 range to move into the top eight.”

Obviously, hosting a Regional and Super Regional would greatly help Kentucky’s chances of making it to the College World Series for the first time in program history. If Kentucky is designated as a host site, there are plans to bring in additional bleacher seating to boost capacity and give the Bat Cats an even better homefield advantage.

Yes, there are plans to add additional bleacher seating(in place vs Vandy) in the left field near the bullpen for Regionals and Supers, but it won’t get the capacity to 10K but could top out at 7500 exceeding record crowds vs Tenn. It should be a GREAT atmosphere for the CATS!! https://t.co/pNclyYELyF pic.twitter.com/OKF5OGbeqe

— tgh3316 (@tgh3316) May 8, 2024

Kentucky in the driver’s seat for No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament

Before the NCAA Tournament comes the SEC Tournament. Kentucky currently sits atop the SEC standings at 18-6 with a one-game lead over Tennessee and Arkansas. Texas A&M is in fourth, followed by Mississippi State. Georgia and South Carolina are currently tied for sixth at 13-11. Only the top 12 teams in the standings make it to Hoover.

As long as Kentucky stays in the top four, the Cats will start their journey on Wednesday, April 22.

Seed	Team	SEC Record	SEC Winning Percentage
1.	Kentucky*	18-6	0.750
2.	Arkansas*	17-7	0.708
3.	Tennessee*	17-7	0.708
4.	Texas A&M*	16-8	0.667
5.	Mississippi State*	14-10	0.583
6.	Georgia* / South Carolina*	13-11	0.542
7.	Georgia* / South Carolina*	13-11	0.542
8.	Vanderbilt	11-13	0.458
9.	Alabama / Florida	10-14	0.417
10.	Alabama / Florida	10-14	0.417
11.	LSU / Ole Miss	9-15	0.375
12.	LSU / Ole Miss	9-15	0.375
—
13.	Missouri	7-17	0.292
14.	Auburn	4-20	0.167

2024 SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket

Daniel Hager and Steven Peake will discuss the Cats’ chances in Hoover and the NCAA Tournament on the next episode of KSR’s new baseball podcast, “Bat Cat Beat.” It starts at 4 p.m. ET on the KSR YouTube Channel:

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