Kentucky down to a No. 3 seed in the final Bracketology of 2024

Today’s game vs. Brown is Kentucky’s last tune-up before SEC play. On Saturday, the No. 6 Florida Gators come to town for a top-ten matchup at Rupp Arena. If the NCAA Tournament started today and Joe Lunardi seeded the field, it could be a Sweet 16 showdown.

Lunardi released his final Bracketology of 2024 this morning. Kentucky is down to a No. 3 seed. The Cats were a No. 1 seed following the win over Louisville. Lunardi dropped them to a No. 2 seed after the loss to Ohio State, and, although the Cats haven’t played since then, another seed line to No. 3 today. The No. 2 seed in Kentucky’s region? Florida. If this hypothetical bracket was real, the two teams could be facing off in the Sweet 16 in San Francisco, with the winner potentially playing No. 1 Duke for a spot in the Final Four.

Kentucky and Florida are two of 13 teams from the SEC in Lunardi’s field. Both Tennessee and Auburn are No. 1 seeds. Alabama joins the Gators on the No. 2 seed line, while Texas A&M is a No. 3 seed alongside Kentucky. Missouri is his first team out.

• Tennessee: No. 1 seed
• Auburn: No. 1 seed
• Florida: No. 2 seed
• Alabama: No. 2 seed
• Kentucky: No. 3 seed
• Texas A&M: No. 3 seed
• Mississippi State: No. 4 seed
• Oklahoma: No. 5 seed
• Ole Miss: No. 8 seed
• Arkansas: No. 9 seed
• Georgia: No. 9 seed
• Texas: No. 11 seed
• Vanderbilt: No. 11 seed

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14 of Kentucky’s remaining 19 games are in Quad 1

If you need yet another reminder of how loaded the SEC is this season, take a look at the NET Rankings. Kentucky is No. 22 in the NET, which ranks behind Auburn (No. 1), Tennessee (No. 2), Florida (No. 4), Alabama (No. 8), Mississippi State (No. 18), and Texas A&M (No. 20) in the SEC. Fourteen of Kentucky’s remaining 19 games are in Quad 1. If you go even deeper, 10 of them are Quad 1A, meaning the toughest of the tough.

Quad 1A: Home 1-15, Neutral 1-25, Away 1-40

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
1	03/01/2025	Auburn
2	01/28/2025	at Tennessee
2	02/11/2025	Tennessee
3	11/12/2024	Duke (Champions Classic)	W 77-72
4	01/04/2025	Florida
7	12/07/2024	Gonzaga (Seattle, WA)	W 90-89 (1 OT)
8	02/22/2025	at Alabama
8	01/18/2025	Alabama
18	01/11/2025	at Mississippi St.
23	12/21/2024	Ohio St. (CBS Sports Classic)	L 65-85
28	01/07/2025	at Georgia
31	01/25/2025	at Vanderbilt
33	02/15/2025	at Texas
36	12/03/2024	at Clemson	L 66-70

Quad 1B: Home 16-30, Neutral 26-50, Away 41-75

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
20	01/14/2025	Texas A&M
41	02/26/2025	at Oklahoma
42	02/04/2025	at Ole Miss
50	03/08/2025	at Missouri

Kentucky has zero Quad 4 games remaining and just two in Quad 3: today’s game vs. Brown and the home game vs. South Carolina on Feb. 8.

The SEC really does just mean more this year.