Kentucky drops to No. 4 seed in ESPN's latest Bracketology
Kentucky dropped from a No. 1 seed to a No. 2, then a No. 3, and now, a No. 4 seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology. The Wildcats’ jump to No. 1 came on Dec. 17, immediately following the team’s home win over Louisville. From there, the team lost two of four away from Rupp Arena, starting with a blowout loss vs. Ohio State in New York City before the holiday break, followed by another performance in the SEC road opener at Georgia.
They earned a third top-10 win by taking down Florida in Lexington, but it wasn’t enough to offset the trip to Athens and the 33-point losing margin in those two performances. That led to yet another seed-line drop by Joe Lunardi.
The Cats are a No. 4 seed out of the West Region, starting back out in Seattle — conveniently where they earned that 18-point comeback win over Gonzaga. Also conveniently, it’s where they’d have to take on the No. 5 seed Zags once again in the Round of 32, assuming they pull off the opening-round win over No. 13 seed UTEP. Win those two, and they head south to San Francisco where they’d potentially take on No. 1 seed Iowa State — or even a rematch vs. No. 9 seed Clemson in the Sweet 16. From there, it’d be a battle vs. No. 2 seed Florida or No. 3 seed Oregon, potentially, in the Elite Eight for a spot in the Final Four.
Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed, joined by the Cyclones, Duke, and Tennessee to round out the top dogs. From there, the Gators are joined by weekend foe Mississippi State and future foe Alabama, plus Marquette as the No. 2 seeds. The Ducks are joined by Texas A&M, Illinois and Kansas as the No. 3 seeds, followed by Michigan, Houston and Michigan State joining the Cats as No. 4s.
The SEC continues to lead all conferences with 13 bids, the aforementioned programs joined by Ole Miss (No. 6), Oklahoma (No. 7), Georgia (No. 9), Vanderbilt (No. 11), Missouri (No. 11) and Arkansas (No. 11).
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The Razorbacks are one of four teams included among the last four byes, for those curious, while Texas is included among the first four out. That puts as many as 15 teams out of 16 in the running to participate in the Big Dance.
Check out the complete bracket:
And more specifically, Kentucky’s path to a Final Four:
Fox Sports also projects a No. 4 seed for the Cats
How about another take on Kentucky? Fox Sports isn’t much different, Mike DeCourcy still sending the Cats out West a a No. 4 seed with Iowa State as the No. 1.
He has the Mississippi State Bulldogs projected as UK’s No. 2, though, with Kansas as the No. 3.
That’s still a record-breaking 13 teams out of the SEC making the NCAA Tournament. I think we’re seeing a theme here.
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