Kentucky holds steady in No. 8 spot but has path to move up before SEC Tournament

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Mar 1, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats center Amari Williams (22) celebrates during the first half against the Auburn Tigers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Welcome to the last week of the regular season, Big Blue Nation. Kentucky is probably not where you expected them to be. The Wildcats are 8-8 in conference play with two games left on the regular season schedule. In the most stacked SEC of all-time, securing top seeds for the SEC Tournament has never been more difficult.

Once again, a rematch against Auburn on Friday at the SEC Tournament seems possible. It might even be the favorite as long as UK can handle business on Friday.

Kentucky sits in a three-way tie for the No. 8 spot along with Mississippi State and Vanderbilt but owns the tiebreaker due to best winning percentage (.667) in games against the tied teams. However, Kentucky is only one game back of the No. 6 spot and owns the tiebreaker over Texas A&M if it can climb the ladder. Ole Miss could complicate things since they are tied with A&M at 9-7 and own the tiebreaker against Kentucky.

There is still much to play for in the last week of the regular season. Kentucky should be a heavy favorite against LSU and a small dog against Missouri. Win both and there could be a chance to climb to the No. 5 seed. Go 1-1 and it likely means starting the SEC Tournament as the No. 8 seed. Lose both and you will be watching Kentucky play in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday. The Cats could fall all the way to the No. 11 seed if that happens.

We’re breaking down where everything stands with two games to play.

Current standings

Auburn (15-1 — CLINCHED)
Florida (12-4)
Alabama (12-4)
Tennessee (11-5)
Missouri (10-6)
Texas A&M (9-7)
Ole Miss (9-7)
Kentucky (8-8)
Mississippi State (8-8)
Vanderbilt (8-8)
Arkansas (6-10)
Georgia (6-10)
Texas (5-11)
Oklahoma (4-12)
LSU (3-13)
South Carolina (2-14)

Kentucky still sits where they’ve been for a few weeks now and that is in the No. 8 spot, but a 2-0 week could change due to how tight everyone sits. The Cats have chance to own the tiebreakers against Missouri, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt by the end of this week. That could travel well.

Auburn clinched the No. 1 seed on Saturday. That leaves everyone else fighting for the best seed possible. Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee are in a logjam and that could end with any getting any of the seeds 2-4. That means a top-five team in college basketball will likely be the No. 4 seed at the SEC Tournament.

Projected SEC standings

Using KenPom‘s projections, this is what the SEC Tournament field would look like. I used some projected results to find tiebreaker winners. There are seven teams projected to reach double-digit wins.

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Auburn (17-1)
Tennessee (13-5)
Alabama (13-5)
Florida (13-5)
Missouri (11-7)
Texas A&M (10-8)
Ole Miss (10-8)
Kentucky (9-9)
Mississippi State (9-9)
Vanderbilt (9-9)
Arkansas (7-11)
Georgia (7-11)
Texas (6-12)
Oklahoma (5-13)
LSU (3-15)
South Carolina (3-15)

Kentucky would face the winner of Mississippi State/South Carolina in the first game on Thursday in Nashville. A chalk road to an SEC championship would include wins over Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee.

SEC Schedule

Tuesday (March 4)

Georgia at South Carolina (6:00 | SEC Network)
LSU at No. 17 Kentucky (7:00 | ESPN2)
Texas at No. 24 Mississippi State (8:00 | SEC Network)
No. 1 Auburn at No. 12 Texas A&M (9:00 | ESPN)
Arkansas at Vanderbilt (10:00 | SEC Network)

Wednesday (March 5)

No. 3 Florida at No. 6 Alabama (7:00 | ESPN2)
No. 14 Missouri at Oklahoma (8:00 | SEC Network)
No. 5 Tennessee at Ole Miss (9:00 | ESPN2)

Saturday (March 8)

No. 24 Mississippi State at Arkansas (Noon | SEC Network)
Vanderbilt at Georgia (Noon | ESPNU)
No. 17 Kentucky at No. 14 Missouri (1:00 | ESPN)
South Carolina at No. 5 Tennessee (2:00 | SEC Network)
No. 6 Alabama at No. 1 Auburn (2:00 | ESPN)
No. 12 Texas A&M at LSU (4:00 | SEC Network)
Ole Miss at No. 3 Florida (6:00 | SEC Network)
Oklahoma at Texas (8:00 | SEC Network)

Kentucky has to handle its business on Senior Day against LSU. There is no getting around that. But there are also some important games to monitor. Mississippi State should handle business at home against Texas but an Auburn win over Texas A&M is needed to keep UK alive for the No. 6 seed. The Tennessee-Ole Miss game will be important on Wednesday. The Cats could use a win from the road team. The only path to get to No. 5 seed includes Oklahoma beating Missouri on Wednesday. Kentucky’s hard ceiling could be set at the No. 6 seed if the Tigers handle the Sooners.

A reminder that Ole Miss has two very difficult games with week as they host Tennessee and go to Florida. Could be very likely that Chris Beard’s team goes 0-2 but Mississippi State will be favored at home against Texas and has a winnable road game against Arkansas. Kentucky probably will need John Calipari’s team to win a game next weekend. Vanderbilt will also have a chance to win out with games against Arkansas (home) and Georgia (away). They will be a team worth monitoring.

There are still a lot of possibilities on the table but Kentucky does have an avenue for upward movement if they can win some games this week.