Kentucky makes another jump in NET Rankings

Kentucky basketball keeps moving in the right direction. On Saturday at Rupp Arena, the Wildcats hammered Auburn as the Tigers saw their long losing streak in Lexington continue. All of a sudden, UK appears to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

Over at Bracket Matrix, the Cats are now a consensus No. 8 seed as the Wildcats have jumped from First Four Out to a team just outside of the top-25 in seeding in just two weeks. Once again, UK made a big jump in the NET ratings.

Following the 86-54 beatdown over War Eagle, Kentucky is up eight spots to No. 20 overall in the latest NET Rankings released on Sunday.

Kentucky owns a 5-7 Quadrant 1 record and improved to 6-0 in Quadrant 2 following the home win over Auburn. The Cats have a Quadrant 3 (at No. 145 Georgia) and Quadrant 4 loss (vs. No. 239 South Carolina) that aren’t helping things, but there is no denying that the arrow is pointing up in Lexington.

The Cats now rank inside the top 25 in each of the five computer metrics used by the selection committee. Kentucky has a top-25 strength of schedule (No. 20) and three Quad 1A wins. John Calipari’s squad is climbing the charts fast.

At 20-9 (11-5), Kentucky is a win away from locking up the No. 3 seed at the SEC Tournament. There is just one week remaining in the regular season where the Cats have a Quadrant 3 game (vs. No. 87 Vanderbilt) and another Quad 1A opportunity (at No. 14 Arkansas). There are still chances to improve the resume before traveling to Nashville.

The bracketologists are currently splitting hairs in the middle of the NCAA Tournament field. Wins are the biggest need, and Kentucky can keep climbing if those keep stacking. Don’t be surprised if Kentucky continues to climb moving forward if the hot play continues.