Where Kentucky stands in Joe Lunardi’s first Bracketology of new season

The 2021-22 college basketball season is officially here. After the most unusual NCAA Tournament in history last season, the fans can expect to see the normal Big Dance next March.

As teams begin to tip off their season, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is back projecting who will be in this year’s NCAA Tournament. On Tuesday, Lunardi released his updated 2022 NCAA Tournament projections.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the projected top overall seed with the Michigan Wolverines, Kansas Jayhawks, and UCLA Bruins finishing out the No. 1 seeds.

The Kentucky Wildcats missed out on the NCAA Tournament last season, but John Calipari has revamped his staff and reloaded his roster as they look to get back on track this season.

The Wildcats are starting the season as the No. 10 ranked team in the country and Lunardi projects them to be a No. 3 seed in the Midwest region.

Here is the path the Cats would have to the Final Four if this was the tournament field, which includes two other blue bloods in North Carolina and Kansas, the latter of which Kentucky faces on the road in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

• 1^st Round: Georgia State Panthers
• 2^nd Round: North Carolina Tar Heels
• Sweet 16: Purdue Boilermakers
• Elite 8: Kansas Jayhawks

Lunardi is projecting the ACC to get the most teams in with eight, and the SEC is tied for second with the Big Ten with seven teams from each conference making the field.

You can check out Lunardi’s entire updated Bracketology here.