Wildcats ‘almost’ get a pair of Quad 1 wins and bolster their best win

UPDATE

As it turns out, the Texas A&M Aggies are now ranked No. 31 in the latest NET rankings. The Kentucky Wildcats are now up to No. 40.

Other teams on Kentucky’s remaining schedule include the Tennessee Volunteers (No. 3), Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 21), Auburn Tigers (No. 26), Florida Gators (No. 51), and Vanderbilt Commodores (No. 89).

Just win, baby.

Going into Wednesday night, the Kentucky Wildcats were very likely out of the NCAA Tournament field.

Now, it’s hard to imagine Kentucky isn’t back in the field of 68 if Selection Sunday were today.

The good night actually began with a Tennessee Vols win of all things. That January win in Knoxville is obviously the Cats’ win thus far, and it looks even better after the Vols upset the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide tonight, 68-59. It also adds a lot more hype to Saturday’s monster rematch at Rupp Arena.

Of course, the Cats have to win for these things to matter, and they did just that with their 71-68 victory at Mississippi State. That was just the second Quad 1 win for Kentucky, as the Bulldogs entered the day ranked No. 40 in NET.

For a refresher on Quad 1 wins, those are:

• Home wins vs. teams ranked 1-30
• Neutral wins vs. teams ranked 1-50
• Road wins vs. teams ranked 1-75

As it turns out, Kentucky almost certainly picked up two Quad 1 wins tonight. That’s because the Texas A&M Aggies pulled off a massive comeback win at home over the Arkansas Razorbacks tonight, 62-56.

Texas A&M entered the day ranked No. 35 in NET compared to Arkansas being No. 20. That level of win will almost certainly push the Aggies into being a Quad 1 range for Kentucky, who beat the Aggies at home three weeks ago, 76-67.

In other words, tonight went about as perfectly for Kentucky as anyone could have hoped for. And it very likely has the Wildcats on the right side of the bubble going into Saturday’s clash with the No. 10 Vols.

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