Way too early NCAA tournament bracket projects Kentucky as No. 1 seed in Louisville regional

Since everyone’s preseason poll has been released, the obvious next step is to project the NCAA tournament field, right? That is exactly what NBC Sports released on Monday, mapping out all 68 seeds and placing them in tournament locations.

Based on this projection, the Kentucky Wildcats will be the No. 2 seed overall. As a No. 1 seed, the NBC staff believes they will end up playing in the South Region, which will host its finals in Louisville, KY.

NBC Sports

Kentucky fans are never satisfied with the Wildcats’ path to the Final Four, but you would have to think the possibility of playing as close as Louisville would calm some frustrations.

Based mostly on name recognition at this point, Big Blue Nation would likely balk at having both North Carolina and Michigan State in the South Region. Other than those big names, however, this would be an encouraging draw.

NBC projects that six SEC teams will be selected to play in the NCAA Tournament in March. Joining Kentucky in the South Region are the LSU Tigers as a 6-seed. The Auburn Tigers represent the conference in the Midwest Region as a 3-seed. And the East Region is full of SEC teams with the Tennessee Volunteers (2-seed), the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-seed), and the Alabama Crimson Tide (9-seed). The Vanderbilt Commodores make the list as one of the first four teams that are left out of the tournament.

For what it’s worth, the Louisville Cardinals appear on the “Next Four Out” list.

What do you think of this draw? Would you lock it in today if this was a possibility?