Kentucky is a No. 1 seed in ESPN's latest Bracketology

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope - Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio

We’ve joked that Joe Lunardi is a dart-throwing March Madness inaccuracy vet in the past, but hey, it’s because we like to protect our Cats around here. When you’re high on Kentucky, you’re good in our book. And Mr. Lunardi is doing just fine on December 17.

In his latest update, ESPN’s senior bracketologist moved Kentucky up to No. 1 seed status, giving the SEC three of the four top seeds in college basketball. Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed while Tennessee and Iowa State make up the others.

The Wildcats would start their path to the Final Four in Cleveland in the West Region before potentially flying out to San Francisco for the second weekend. To get there, though, it’d take a potential head-to-head battle vs. No. 9 seed Arkansas in the Round of 32 — no explanation necessary on the magnitude of that one.

From there, it’d be either No. 4 seed UCLA or No. 5 seed Baylor in the Sweet 16, followed by a potential rematch vs. No. 2 seed Gonzaga or a battle of the blue bloods vs. No. 3 seed Kansas in the Elite Eight. Win that one and it’d be No. 1 overall seed Auburn in the Final Four with a spot in the national championship game on the line.

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As of today, the SEC is on pace to shatter the all-time record of tournament invites with 13 — all but three teams making it. Auburn (1), Tennessee (1), Kentucky (1), Alabama (2), Florida (3), Texas A&M (3), Mississippi State (5), Ole Miss (6), Oklahoma (7), Georgia (8), Arkansas (9), Texas (11) and Missouri (11) are the potential representatives in the league.

Interestingly enough, Vanderbilt and LSU are included in the next four out, meaning it’s not totally out of question that 15 SEC teams could make the field of 68. Unlikely, but not impossible — and crazy to think about when talking about the strength of the conference.

Take a look at the complete bracket below:

How would you feel about that potential path? And more importantly, how quickly would you make that trip to Cleveland to see Mark Pope vs. Coach Cal with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line?

(ESPN)