Kentucky MBB trending up in ESPN's latest Bracketology update

Joe Lunardi isn’t quite sure what to think about Kentucky men’s basketball during this still-early stage in the offseason.

On Tuesday morning, Lunardi released another update to his 2024 Bracketology over at ESPN. He’s been wishy-washy on the Wildcats since the 2022-23 season came to an end, but he now appears to be coming back around. In his latest update, Kentucky is now projected as a five-seed in the Midwest (Detroit) Region for the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a first-round matchup against 12-seeded VCU in Brooklyn, NY.

In Lunardi’s previous update, he had Kentucky all the way down to a seven-seed. After initially slotting the ‘Cats as a potential one-seed back in mid-March, he’s been dropping UK ever since. Lunardi dropped Kentucky all the way down to a five-seed in the first Bracketology of the spring then down to a six-seed in the update following that. After sliding the ‘Cats down one more time to a seven-seed, he’s now bumped them back up two seed lines.

Also of note, Lunardi has Eastern Kentucky projected as a 14-seed in the East (Boston) Region, earning an automatic qualifying bid out of the ASUN Conference. EKU would play three-seeded Kansas in the first round of this scenario.

Why the sudden change of heart from Lunardi for UK? Unfortunately, he does not provide team-by-team breakdowns of every team projected in his field. Maybe he knows something we don’t? *cough, cough — Hunter Dickinson — cough, cough* Or maybe he’s beginning to grow on the potential of Kentucky’s No. 1 ranked incoming recruiting class plus the hopeful returning pieces? Either way, Lunardi is showing some optimism for the ‘Cats that he hadn’t in recent weeks.

Sticking with the Worldwide Leader in Sports, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello unveiled an updated “Way-Too-Early” Top 25 rankings for the 2023-24 season earlier this week. Like Lunardi, he was high on the ‘Cats early on, initially slotting Kentucky at No. 4 before moving them down to No. 9 in his second update from a couple of weeks ago. This time around, Borzello again dropped UK, although it was just two spots to No. 11.

All this being said, there is still plenty of roster building to be done for head coach John Calipari between now and the beginning of the regular season in the fall.

Odds to win the 2024 national championship

Five-seed or not, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas are much higher on Kentucky than Lunardi. Over at Vegas Insider, Kentucky still holds the fifth-best odds to win the 2024 national championship at +1500.

Connecticut +1100
Duke +1300
Arizona +1500
Alabama +1500
Kentucky +1500
Purdue +1600
Creighton +2000
Marquette +2000
Michigan State +2000
North Carolina +2400
UCLA +2500
Arkansas +2500
Kansas +2500
Houston +2500
Gonzaga +2500
Florida Atlantic +3000