Kentucky MBB down to an 8-seed in latest Bracketology update

Heading into Tuesday night’s matchup against the LSU Tigers, Kentucky men’s basketball is trending in the wrong direction.

After beginning the season as the projected top overall seed in the upcoming 2023 NCAA Tournament, Kentucky has since slid significantly. On Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his latest Bracketology update where he dropped the Wildcats down to an eight-seed in the Louisville Region with a first-round matchup against nine-seed Creighton. Purdue is the region’s one-seed and would potentially face Northern Kentucky in the opening round.

Just two weeks ago, Lunardi had Kentucky as a five-seed, but a 14-point blowout loss to No. 20 Missouri (now considered a six-seed) on the road left another resume-building win on the table. A 23-point win for the ‘Cats over Louisville — arguably the worst Power 5 team in hoops — a few days later didn’t do much to move the needle.

UK sits on a 9-4 overall record this season with zero wins against teams among the Top 50 in NET rankings.

Kentucky is currently ranked No. 41 overall in the NET with an 0-3 mark against Quad 1 opponents. A win over LSU, which is ranked 75 in the NET despite a 12-1 record, tonight would certainly help the ‘Cats, but the big opportunities will come over the next few games. Kentucky will go on the road to face No. 7 Alabama on Saturday before making another trip away from Lexington to take on No. 8 Tennessee the following weekend. Alabama and Tennessee are both considered two seeds in Lunardi’s latest Bracketology.

According to Lunardi, seven SEC teams are expected to make the NCAA Tournament: Alabama (two-seed), Tennessee (two-seed), Arkansas (three-seed), Missouri (six-seed), Auburn (seven-seed), Kentucky (eight-seed), and Mississippi State (nine-seed). LSU is on the outside looking in as one of the “First Four Out”.

Kentucky and LSU will tipoff tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.