Will Kentucky Baseball make the NCAA Tournament?

The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team lost in the first-round of the SEC Tournament on Tuesday.

The Cats finished 34-22 overall and had a 13-17 record in-conference, finishing 10th the SEC. Kentucky started the season strong, but played .500 baseball over the final 40 games of the season.

Will UK’s resume` be enough to get them into the field of 64?

Nick Mingione’s club started the season on fire. A 14-2 record out of the gates vaulted the Wildcats into the Top 10.

Unfortunately, injuries plagued the Wildcats down the stretch and Kentucky finished the season 20-20. During that stretch, however, the Cats did record wins against Georgia and Florida. Both of whom are ranked in the Top 10.

Digging a little deeper into the numbers, Kentucky played 12 games against the RPI Top 5. In those 12 games, Kentucky is a combined 5-7 against Florida, Georgia, Texas Tech and Arkansas.

The Cats lost 2 of 3 to the Gators and were swept by the Razorbacks but won both series against the Bulldogs and Red Raiders. The Cats just dropped out of the Top 25, but still hold the No. 25 spot in the RPI rankings.

According to D1Baseball.com, the Cats are part of the last five in. Kentucky is lumped with Illinois, Texas A&M, LSU and Washington. Unfortunately for UK, both the Tigers and the Aggies won their opening round game in the SEC Tournament.

Adding further speculation to the idea of the Cats being on the outs is the success that some of the “first five out” had during their conference tournaments. Both Arizona and Michigan, projected to be on the outside looking in, won the first game of their conference tournament.

It may come down to the wire for the Wildcats. The selection committee will make their choices known on Monday. The Cats and coach Mingione will be glued to their televisions, hoping to make the tournament for the second year in a row.