Kentucky's NCAA Tournament Resume after the win over Texas A&M

With 48 days until Selection Sunday, Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament resume is trending up. Saturday’s win over Texas A&M was the second-best of the season per the NET rankings and improved the Cats’ record in Quad 2 to 2-0. That loss to South Carolina remains firmly in Quad 4, an ugly blemish on the team sheet, but Kentucky has seven Quad 1 opportunities remaining to help offset it, starting with Saturday’s game vs. Kansas.

Kentucky sits at No. 39 in today’s NET update. Just ten days ago, the Cats were No. 65. What a difference three wins make, right? In Bracketology, Kentucky is still on the bubble, the first team just outside of the projected at-large cut by the Bracket Matrix. On average, the Wildcats are a 10.63 seed, appearing in 40 of 64 bracket projections.

Here’s a breakdown of Kentucky’s team sheet heading into another big week:

• Quad 1: 1-5 (7 games remaining)
• Quad 2: 2-0 (4 games remaining)
• Quad 3: 4-0 (1 game remaining)
• Quad 4: 6-1 (0 games remaining)

Quad 1: 1-5

Home: 1-30, Neutral: 1-50, Away: 1-75

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
2	01/14/2023	at Tennessee	W 63-56
2	02/18/2023	Tennessee
3	01/07/2023	at Alabama	L 52-78
5	12/17/2022	UCLA (CBS Sports Classic, New York, NY)	L 53-63
8	01/28/2023	Kansas
12	11/20/2022	at Gonzaga	L 72-88
23	02/25/2023	Auburn
27	03/04/2023	at Arkansas
27	02/07/2023	Arkansas
41	11/15/2022	Michigan State (Champions Classic, Indianapolis, IN)	L 77-86 (2 OT)
44	02/22/2023	at Florida
58	12/28/2022	at Missouri	L 75-89
63	02/15/2023	at Mississippi St.

Quad 2: 2-0

Home: 31-75, Neutral: 51-100, Away: 76-135

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
44	02/04/2023	Florida
52	01/21/2023	Texas A&M	W 76-67
77	12/04/2022	Michigan (London Showcase, London, England)	W 73-69
85	01/24/2023	at Vanderbilt
104	01/31/2023	at Ole Miss
105	02/11/2023	at Georgia

Quad 3: 4-0

Home: 76-160, Neutral: 101-200, Away: 136-240

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
85	03/01/2023	Vanderbilt
94	12/10/2022	Yale	W 69-59
105	01/17/2023	Georgia	W 85-71
130	01/03/2023	LSU	W 74-71
133	11/11/2022	Duquesne	W 77-52

Quad 4: 6-1

Home: 161-357, Neutral: 201-357, Away: 241-357

NET Ranking	Date	Opponent	Result
259	11/29/2022	Bellarmine	W 60-41
265	11/07/2022	Howard	W 95-63
279	01/10/2023	South Carolina	L 68-71
285	11/23/2022	North Florida	W 96-56
334	12/31/2022	Louisville	W 86-63
343	11/17/2022	South Carolina St.	W 106-63
358	12/21/2022	Florida A&M	W 88-68

The Road Ahead

This week, Kentucky can pick up another Quad 2 win at Vanderbilt (NET No. 85) and a coveted Quad 1 victory vs. Kansas (NET No. 8) at home. The Jayhawks only dropped two spots in the NET following the 23-point loss to TCU at home. Despite back-to-back losses, Kansas still has one of the most impressive NCAA Tournament resumes in the country. The Jayhawks are tied with Purdue for the most Quad 1 wins (7) and have 11 more Quad 1 games remaining. Kentucky’s win at Tennessee will likely remain the Cats’ most impressive of the season, but a victory over the Jayhawks would go a long way on Selection Sunday as well.

First, the Cats need to take care of business in Nashville. Here is the remaining schedule with each team’s NET Ranking and where that contest falls on the team sheet.

Date	Opponent	NET Ranking	Quad
01/24/2023	at Vanderbilt	85	Q2
01/28/2023	Kansas	8	Q1
01/31/2023	at Ole Miss	104	Q2
02/04/2023	Florida	44	Q2
02/07/2023	Arkansas	27	Q1
02/15/2023	at Mississippi St.	63	Q1
02/18/2023	Tennessee	2	Q1
02/22/2023	at Florida	44	Q1
02/25/2023	Auburn	23	Q1
03/01/2023	Vanderbilt	85	Q3
03/04/2023	at Arkansas	27	Q1

Just keep winning.