Where UK stacks up in SEC with regular season winding down

The Kentucky Wildcats picked up a second straight victory Wednesday as they took down the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville and improved to 7-13 on the season with a conference record of 6-7.

While UK is all but eliminated from an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with just four regular season games to go and a record six-games below the .500 mark, they do have time to improve their seed in the SEC Tournament to create an easier path to an SEC Tournament title and an automatic bid to the big dance.

Here’s how the SEC Standings shake out:

1. No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide 12-1, 17-5
2. No. 24 Arkansas Razorbacks 9-4, 17-5
3. LSU Tigers 8-4, 13-6
4. No. 19 Tennessee Volunteers 8-5, 15-5
5. Florida Gators 6-5, 10-6
6. Ole Miss Rebels 7-6, 12-8
7. No. 20 Missouri Tigers 6-6, 13-6
8. Kentucky Wildcats 6-7, 7-13
9. Georgia Bulldogs 6-8, 13-8
10. Auburn Tigers 5-8, 11-11
11. Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-8, 11-11
12. South Carolina Gamecocks 3-8, 5-10
13. Texas A&M Aggies 2-6, 8-7
14. Vanderbilt Commodores 2-9, 6-11

With Auburn not eligible for the tournament, here’s how the 1-13 seeded SEC Tournament would look if the season ended today:

1. Alabama

2. Arkansas

3. LSU

4. Tennessee

5. Florida

6. Ole Miss

7, Missouri

8. Kentucky

9. Georgia

10. Mississippi State

11. South Carolina

12. Texas A&M

13. Vanderbilt

This would pin 8-seeded UK up against the Georgia Bulldogs, who they lost to earlier this season in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals and with a win match them up with top-ranked Alabama, who swept a two-game series from the Cats this season.

Thus, winning as many games as possible before the end of the regular season to improve their seeding will be crucial as Alabama is by far the team to beat in the SEC.