Kentucky among First Four Out in latest Bracketology

MrsTylerKSR

kentucky-ncaa-tournament-first-four-out-bracketology-south-carolina-loss — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

Here’s a sentence I didn’t imagine myself typing back in October: midway through the season, Kentucky is an NCAA Tournament bubble team. In fact, if you look at their current resume, the Cats don’t even deserve a bid. In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology update, Kentucky is one of the “First Four Out,” meaning that if the tournament started today, the Wildcats would be sitting at home watching the games instead of preparing for one themselves.

pic.twitter.com/OtQgjm4bSg
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) January 11, 2023

How did we get here? That’s a loaded question that would probably take hours to unpack, but when it comes to Kentucky’s resume, it’s simple: the Cats have more Quad 4 losses (1) than Quad 1 wins (0), and that does not a tournament team make. In the past two years, only four teams have received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with a Quad 4 loss: North Carolina, San Francisco, and Rutgers in 2022, and Drake in 2021. The rest of the teams in the tournament with Quad 4 losses all earned automatic bids.

Following the 71-68 loss to South Carolina, Kentucky is down to No. 62 in the NET, a 16-spot drop from yesterday. The Gamecocks from No. 263 to No. 242, but unless they rise above No. 161, that game is staying in Quad 4. Michigan State is up to No. 48 in the NET, moving that loss from Quad 2 to Quad 1. So, as of Jan. 11, here is Kentucky’s resume:

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Quad 1: 0-5
Quad 2: 1-0
Quad 3: 3-0
Quad 4: 6-1

In an ESPN roundtable, Lunardi summed up Kentucky’s resume perfectly.

“The ‘Cats are halfway through the season and haven’t beaten a single team that’s in any projected NCAA field, which should be impossible.”

Where does Kentucky go from here?

To make the NCAA Tournament, the Cats have to pick up some Quad 1 wins. They just have to. As of the current NET rankings, there are eight opportunities remaining, starting on Saturday:

Jan. 14: at Tennessee
Jan. 28: Kansas
Feb. 7: Arkansas
Feb. 15: at Mississippi State
Feb. 18: Tennessee
Feb. 22: at Florida
Feb. 25: Auburn
March 4: at Arkansas

If all else fails, it’s time to run the table in Nashville, even if it means starting on Wednesday.