Updated Bracketology projects a challenging schedule for Kentucky in 2024-25

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Photo of Kentucky's Mark Fox (left) and Jaxson Robinson by Chet White | UK Athletics

College basketball season is still roughly two months away from the start of the regular season, but there’s always space for some preseason thoughts.

On Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi dropped a fresh update to his preseason 2025 Bracketology. In it, he once again slotted Kentucky as a six-seed, which is where the Wildcats have been since June. Lunardi pits Kentucky against the winner of the 11-seed play-in matchup between Villanova and Pittsburgh in the first round of the East Region, which would take place in Milwaukee.

A win in the opening round would move Kentucky into a potential Round of 32 matchup against Baylor and Scott Drew, who was once considered a top candidate to replace John Calipari before Mark Pope was ultimately hired. Lunardi has Baylor taking on 14-seed Louisiana Tech in the first round. Duke is the projected top seed in the region.

Looking at the rest of Lunardi’s projections, the seeding of Kentucky’s 2024-25 opponents stands out. Notably, he has 10 SEC teams making the 68-team field, tied for the most with the Big Ten. Along with Kentucky (6), Lunardi believes Alabama (1), Auburn (2), Tennessee (4), Texas (4), Arkansas (5), Texas A&M (5), Mississippi State (6), Ole Miss (9), and Florida (9) will all make the bracket. Georgia is listed among the “Next Four Out”.

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Of those eight SEC teams in the projected field (we’ll throw in Georgia too), Kentucky has to play all of them, plus Tennessee twice. It’s going to be a tough conference slate for the Wildcats.

The non-conference won’t be much easier either. Before the calendar switches over to 2025, UK will take on Duke (1), Gonzaga (3), Ohio State (8), and Clemson (8). In-state rival Louisville is also on the non-conference schedule, although Lunardi projects the Cardinals to be among the “First Four Out” group of the NCAA Tournament.

In total, that means ESPN believes Kentucky’s 2024-25 schedule includes 16 games (out of 32) against teams either projected to make the tournament or finish just outside of it.