Kentucky drops in NET, KenPom Rankings following Florida loss

How costly was Kentucky’s loss to Florida? The Cats fell to fifth in the SEC standings, in a tie with Ole Miss and Florida. To secure a double-bye at the SEC Tournament, there’s considerable work to do, and Kentucky has yet to face the top three teams in the league, Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama. The first of two games vs. the No. 5 Vols is this Saturday at Rupp.

When it comes to Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament resume, well, it didn’t help there either. The Cats fell from No. 21 to No. 25 in the NET Rankings, their lowest position since December. Because Florida is not in the NET Top 30 (although they did jump five spots to No. 36 with the win), last night’s game is in Quad 2 on Kentucky’s team sheet. With 45 days until Selection Sunday, the Cats have as many Quad 2 and 3 losses (2) as Quad 1 wins (2). Thankfully, Kentucky’s got six Quad 1 games remaining to change that (shoutout to Gonzaga for climbing back into the NET Top 30 with a win over Loyola Marymount).

We’ll get a fresh batch of NCAA Tournament projections from the internet’s bracketologists tomorrow. Coming into the Florida game, Kentucky was trending as a No. 3/No. 4 seed. After last night, it feels more like a No. 5 seed to this untrained eye. I typically reserve this for our Monday NCAA Resume Watch, but here is where each remaining game sits on Kentucky’s team sheet according to the current NET rankings. Time to steal some Quad 1 wins to offset last night’s loss.

Date	Opponent	NET Rank	Quad
2/3/2024	Tennessee	5	Quad 1
2/6/2024	at Vanderbilt	238	Quad 3
2/10/2024	Gonzaga	26	Quad 1
2/13/2024	Ole Miss	57	Quad 2
2/17/2024	at Auburn	8	Quad 1
2/21/2024	at LSU	95	Quad 2
2/24/2024	Alabama	7	Quad 1
2/27/2024	at Mississippi St.	37	Quad 1
3/2/2024	Arkansas	123	Quad 3
3/6/2024	Vanderbilt	238	Quad 4
3/9/2024	at Tennessee	5	Quad 1

KenPom projects five more losses

Kentucky is down two spots in the KenPom ratings to No. 23. While the Cats’ adjusted offense still ranks in the top ten (No. 10, to be exact), the adjusted defense is No. 75, well outside the historical trend for a national championship contender.

With the Florida game now in the loss column, KenPom projects Kentucky to finish 11-7 in the SEC (losses to Tennessee x2, Auburn, Alabama, and Mississippi State), which would tie the Cats with South Carolina and Florida for fourth in the standings behind Alabama, Tennessee, and Auburn. Using KenPom’s projections and the SEC tiebreakers, that would mean the Gamecocks get the No. 4 seed and the double-bye, Kentucky the No. 5 seed, and Florida the No. 6 seed. The Cats would face the winner of Arkansas and Vanderbilt on Thursday afternoon in Nashville for the chance to play South Carolina on Friday.

Obviously, a lot of basketball to be played, but suffice it to say that the Cats didn’t do themselves any favors by losing to Florida at home last night.