Kentucky basketball NCAA Tournament projections: Here's where latest bracketology has Cats
LEXINGTON — What a difference a year makes for Kentucky.
At the end of January 2023, the Wildcats were 15-7 overall, 6-3 in the SEC and projected to barely claw into the NCAA Tournament as one of the final teams into the Big Dance.
Entering Wednesday's home game against Florida, coach John Calipari's club is sitting pretty in 2023-24. The Wildcats are 15-4 (5-2 in conference play) and fresh off a rugged, 63-57 win at Arkansas. Barring an epic collapse the rest of the regular season, Kentucky only needs to worry about playing for its NCAA seeding and location now.
The Wildcats' NET ranking is 23 (through Monday's games). More important, they are 2-3 in Quad 1 games, the contests which carry the most weight in the minds of selection committee members when they begin filling out the bracket in March.
After Monday's games, BracketWAG.com has Kentucky as a No. 3 seed in the East Region, where it would face No. 14 seed Vermont in the first round. Bracketville, which updated its bracket Monday morning, has UK as the No. 4 seed in the East Region, taking on No. 13 seed Charlotte in a first-round matchup in Brooklyn, New York. Bracketologists.com, which bases its bracket solely on NET rankings, listed the Wildcats as a 6-seed, where they would take on 11-seed Princeton in the first round.
Bracket Matrix, which released its newest projections Monday, slotted the Wildcats' average seed as 3.80, appearing in all 82 of its brackets.
Here's a look at Kentucky's NCAA Tournament résumé as of Tuesday afternoon, as well as projections from a variety of national outlets:
Kentucky basketball’s résumé, NET ranking
NET ranking: 23
KenPom ranking: 20
Quad 1 record: 2-3
Quad 2 record: 3-0
Quad 3 record: 5-1
Quad 4 record: 5-0
Where ESPN projects Kentucky basketball in NCAA Tournament
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi released his latest update Tuesday morning. He projected UK will be the No. 4 seed in the West Region, heading to Salt Lake City to battle No. 13 seed UC Irvine in the first round.
CBS Sports Kentucky basketball bracketology for NCAA Tournament
CBS Sports writer Jerry Palm released his new bracket Monday morning. He placed Kentucky as the 3-seed in the Midwest Region, heading to Charlotte, North Carolina, to lock horns with 14-seed Louisiana Tech in the first round.
UK basketball bracketology from USA TODAY Sports
USA TODAY's Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus combined for a bracket for the network, which was released Tuesday morning. The bracket features Kentucky as the No. 3 seed in the East Region, where it would square off with No. 14 seed High Point in the first round in Pittsburgh.
Where The Washington Post projects Kentucky in NCAA Tournament
In a bracketology story for The Washington Post that published Tuesday morning, Patrick Stevens predicted UK will be the 4-seed in the South Region. In Stevens' projection, UK would travel to Pittsburgh and take on 13-seed Cornell of the Ivy League.
What's next for Kentucky basketball
UK has a pair of home games this week. And not only are they longtime rivals (Florida and Tennessee), but both will be high-end tussles.
The Gators (14-6, 4-3) are 39th in the NET, making Wednesday's contest a Quad 2 game for the Wildcats. Tennessee is the No. 4 team in the NET rankings. A win over the Volunteers (15-4, 5-1) would be the Wildcats' most consequential triumph of the season — by a considerable margin — if they can walk off the floor with a win Saturday night at Rupp Arena.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball bracketology 2024: NCAA Tournament projections
