Monday Headlines: Push for a 1 Seed

What will it take for Kentucky to earn a 1 seed?

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Feb 7, 2022, 6:40am EST

Auburn, Gonzaga, Purdue and Arizona — your four current No. 1 seeds if the NCAA Tournament began today.

The good news for the Kentucky Wildcats is they are currently projected as a No. 2 seed, and the NCAA Tournament is more than a month away.

With Duke currently the only No. 2 seed projected ahead of the Wildcats, how can Kentucky move up the chain and secure one of the four No. 1 seeds?

.@UNC_Basketball among the Last 4 In after yesterday per @ESPNLunardi

Blue Bloods Kentucky, Kansas & Duke plus defending champ Baylor the 2 seeds pic.twitter.com/mUDoGKea26
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 6, 2022

With head-to-head losses against both Auburn and Duke, Kentucky will have their work cut out for them to jump either of the programs. However, with teams like Baylor continuing to fall in back to back weeks, the five teams ahead of Kentucky could do their part in moving Kentucky up the ranks. All Kentucky has to do is make sure they keep winning.

The only two currently ranked teams that remain on Kentucky’s schedule are LSU and Tennessee. While Kentucky could very well run the table, we saw unranked Alabama give Kentucky their all on Saturday. Every team the Wildcats face to end the regular season will of course do the same.

While Kentucky does appear to have all of the “right pieces” this season, they can’t let off the gas, regardless of their opponent. We’re to the point in the regular season where the strength of every win matters and every loss suffered is a significant setback.

What are the chances of Kentucky sneaking in to earn a No. 1 seed? Will they receive some help from the teams currently ranked above them? Can the Wildcats run the table?

Tweet of the Day:

Michael Jordan got hurt and missed 64 games his second year in the league. He came back from his foray into baseball in 1994-95 to play 17 games. In his other 11 years with the Bulls he missed a total of 7 games and averaged over 38 minutes a game. Still seemed OK in the playoffs
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) February 6, 2022