After Kentucky lost to South Carolina two weeks ago, a college basketball writer sounded the alarm about the Cats’ possible NCAA tournament. Kentucky was always one of the “first” and “next” he’s four in the predictions. Now, with his four-game winning streak, including a victory over No. 5 Tennessee, the Cats are slowly slipping out of the bubble.
Kentucky has an average seed of 10.63 in the bracket matrix, with Cats appearing in 59 of the 80 predicted brackets. TeamRankings.com predicts Kentucky will be even higher, with a 77% chance of qualifying as the 7th seed. Even Bert Tobik, who has been underperforming with the Cats this year, has set Kentucky’s projected seed at 8.8, giving him a 61.4% chance of winning a bid.
Here’s a roundup of the latest NCAA tournament predictions.
In his latest Bracketology update this morning, Joe Lunaldi cites Kentucky as one of his “last four byes.” This means avoiding the ‘First 4’ play-in games at Dayton. The Cats are his 11th seed in the Southern Region and Des Moines, also known as the Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman Classic, the 6th seed he plays for Illinois. Clearly, the opportunity to advance and play in Louisville’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight is huge.
Jerry Palm hasn’t updated his bracket studies since Monday morning, but still, the Cats entered safely in the first round as the 10-seed vs. 7-seed Wisconsin. revenge!
Kevin Sweeney updated ‘Bracket Watch’ last night, listing Kentucky as the 10th seed in ‘Last For Buy’. In this hypothetical, they would face No. 7 seed Indiana in the first round in the Midwest region.
midwest region
- No. 1 Alabama* vs. No. 16 Southern University/Nichols State*
- No. 8 Clayton vs. No. 9 Clemson*
- No. 5 Virginia vs. No. 12 Kent*
- No. 4 TCU vs. No. 13 Oral Roberts*
- No. 6 Miami vs. No. 11 Memphis
- No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Samford*
- No. 7 Indiana vs. No. 10 Kentucky
- No. 2 Texas vs. No. 15 Siena*
Brian Bennett also gives Kentucky one of the “last for buys.” In his bracket, the Cats are his 10th seed, and in the first round in Sacramento he faces 7th seed Iowa.
Clearly, a win over No. 9 Kansas would give Kentucky’s resume an even bigger boost. Tomorrow night’s matchup is his one of seven Quad 1 games left on the schedule. Despite being on a three-game losing streak, the Jayhawks are still projected to be the second seed. The Palm still keep Kansas in the No. 1 seed, but haven’t released an update since their loss to Baylor on Monday night.
just keep winning.
