Where Kentucky stands in latest ESPN Bracketology

There could be a massive meteor hurling directly toward Earth with only minutes until impact, and it still wouldn’t stop Joe Lunardi from releasing an updated Bracketology.

The last time we mentioned Lunardi’s 2025 NCAA Tournament projections, Kentucky couldn’t even play a game of 5-on-5. That was in early May when new head coach Mark Pope was up to just nine players on the 2024-25 roster. Fast forward to late June and Pope now has 12 pieces with one remaining open scholarship spot. But summer practice started on Monday and, for now, this current iteration of the ‘Cats is what we’ll expect to see this fall.

With a nearly complete roster, Lunardi is growing on Kentucky’s potential. The ESPN Bracketologist now has UK as a 6-seed in his latest projections, up from the 9-seed he had them at roughly six weeks ago. He slots Kentucky in the West Region with a first-round matchup against 11-seeded Southern California in Denver, CO.

Kentucky is one of 10 teams (more than any other conference) from the new-look Southeastern Conference to crack Lunardi’s latest Bracketology. No conference has ever received double-digit bids in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats join Alabama (1-seed), Auburn (2-seed), Tennessee (4-seed), Texas (4-seed), Arkansas (5-seed), Texas A&M (6-seed), Mississippi State (6-seed), Ole Miss (7-seed), and Florida (8-seed). Missouri is listed as one of the “First Four Out” while in-state rival Louisville, led by first-year head coach Pat Kelsey, checks in as an 11-seed as one of the “Last Four In”.

With the removal of the Pac-12, Lunardi has the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC accounting for 35 of the 68 teams in next year’s field.