Kentucky the top overall seed in first 2023 NCAA Tournament Bracketology

We don’t even know Kentucky’s roster for next season, but of course, there’s already Bracketology. This morning, Joe Lunardi released his first projections for the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and despite all the roster uncertainty, he has your Kentucky Wildcats as the top overall seed. Before I show you Kentucky’s region, here is Lunardi’s disclaimer on his way-too-early projections.

“It is, of course, a fool’s errand to compile any kind of ‘next year’ bracket in college basketball. It takes an even bigger fool to attempt one with over 1,000 Division I players in the transfer portal. All of which suggests I am perfect for the job, as making an annual April fool of myself has become a true occupational hazard. That said, since doing the first ‘next year’ bracket way back in 2005, we average right around two No. 1 seeds per year landing in the same spot on Selection Sunday (and about 20 at-large teams overall). Think of this merely as a starting point for the long wait until November, when the real fun begins again.”

With all of that in mind, as the top overall seed, Kentucky is positioned atop the South Region, playing its opening-round games in Columbus, Ohio, and the regional in Louisville. In Lunardi’s hypothetical, the Cats could face defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks to make the Final Four in Houston.

In case you’re curious, the other regional sites are Kansas City (Midwest), New York (East), and Las Vegas (West). Louisville is obviously the preference but really, I’d be fine with any of those. The first and second-round sites are Albany, Birmingham, Columbus, Denver, Des Moines, Greensboro, Orlando, and Sacramento.

How about it, BBN? Obviously, it’s too soon for Bracketology but is it too soon to start even thinking about the 2023 NCAA Tournament in theory?