Kentucky moves up to No. 33 in NET rankings

Kentucky basketball just had a very good week. Last Sunday, the Wildcats were on the outside looking in of the NCAA Tournament bubble following a bad road loss to Georgia. After Wednesday’s road win over Mississippi State and Saturday’s home victory over No. 10 Tennessee, the Cats are now off the bubble and are a consensus No. 10 seed in bracketology.

After all of Saturday’s results were crunched by the computers, Kentucky comes in at No. 33 in the latest NET rankings jumping six spots from No. 39. Texas A&M also made a three-spot jump to No. 29. The Wildcats added three Quadrant 1 victories to their resume this week.

The Cats are now 4-7 in Quadrant 1 games with two victories over Tennessee (No. 3) and wins against Texas A&M (No. 29) and Mississippi State (No. 42) on the road. Kentucky has a combined 9-8 record in Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 contests. That has John Calipari’s team firmly off of the bubble for the moment.

“Talking us out of the NCAA Tournament does not work,” Calipari said after the big home win on Saturday. “You either play yourself in or you play. So people talking, ‘They’re done,’ and I just said, ‘Look, don’t listen to it.’”

There are still some resume-boosting games remaining on the schedule for the Wildcats. Kentucky seems to have a legitimate shot to get a No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament if the wins keep coming.

Remaining games with Florida (No. 53), Auburn (No. 30), and Arkansas (No. 19) are all Quadrant 1 opportunities for the Cats. However, the game with Auburn at Rupp Arena on Feb. 25 could easily become a Quadrant 2 game because the Quadrant 1 range for home games is between NET rankings 1-30.

Vanderbilt (15-12, 8-6) has won five games in a row playing itself onto the bubble. However, the NET rankings are still down on the Commodores. Jerry Stackhouse’s team sits at No. 89 in the NET making UK’s home game with Vandy on March 1 a Quadrant 3 opportunity for now. That might be the most important game for the Wildcats left on the schedule. In this current seeding structure for the Big Dance, bad losses often matter more than good wins. UK cannot afford a Quadrant 3 loss as they currently own a Quadrant 4 loss already to South Carolina.

Some big games remain for the Wildcats. Kentucky has a great chance to improve its resume over the last two weeks of the season, but there is also one big landmine. March Madness is almost here.