How will Kentucky fare in SEC play?

Will the Cats thrive in a struggling SEC?

By Aaron Gershon@agershon99 Jan 3, 2020, 9:00am EST

NCAA Basketball: SEC Conference Tournament-Kentucky vs Tennessee

Conference play is officially upon us, and for the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats, that means it’s time to take on their Southeastern Conference foes.

Eighteen of Kentucky’s final 19 regular-season games will come against SEC rivals as their lone day away from conference play will come Jan. 25th in the Big 12/SEC challenge against Texas Tech.

Kentucky will play each team in the SEC at least once but will battle Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt twice.

Last season, Kentucky went 15-3 during conference plays with their losses coming to Alabama, LSU, and Tennessee.

Counting the postseason, Kentucky lost five total games to SEC foes as they lost to Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinals and Auburn in the Elite Eight.

After sending seven teams to the NCAA tournament a year ago, the SEC figures only to get 3-5 bids this season based on how things currently stand.

Entering conference play, only Auburn and Kentucky are ranked in the AP Poll with Auburn at No. 8 and Kentucky at No. 17.

Outside of Auburn and Kentucky, Arkansas has impressed the most as they currently are 11-1 and won a road game over Indiana in their final game of the non-conference slate.

With the SEC down, can Kentucky dominate conference play? Or will the wild season of upsets continue with multiple SEC foes taking down the Cats?

Vote in the poll below what you believe Kentucky’s conference record will be.

Below the poll, you can find the SEC standings entering conference play to help guide your predictions.