College Basketball Bracketology: UK Basketball rising ahead of Selection Sunday

The Kentucky Wildcats are back on the rise in ESPN’s latest bracketology.

After spending a week on the 6-seed line, Joe Lunardi has moved UK back into a 5 seed ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Alabama. That came in part thanks to Florida losing to Arkansas on Friday, which allowed the Cats to pass the Gators for that final 5 seed that ends up in the West Region.

While that potential Round of 32 matchup with Arizona looks daunting, having Xavier as the 1 seed is a dream scenario for UK. They’re easily the weakest 1 seed in this projection, as they have just five Quadrant 1 wins this season (UK has 3 and could end up with 4 if they win the SEC Championship).

Purdue and Auburn as the 2 and 3 seeds respectively are also very beatable. Frankly, of all the team’s UK could end up facing in this region for a Final Four berth, Arizona and DeAndre Ayton looks like the scariest.

As for the rest of the SEC, eight teams make it into the field of 68 in this projection, which is almost certainly going to be the case come Selection Sunday.

Today’s SEC Tournament games feature four teams already in the field, including Alabama (9 seed), Tennessee (3) and Arkansas (6). The Hogs may be a threat to pass UK on the seed line with an SEC Tournament Championship.

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