LEXINGTON — Give Kentucky basketball this much: It’s consistent.
UK has posted a 1-1 record each of the last five weeks. Because of that uniformity, the Wildcats‘ projected NCAA Tournament seed has remained the same the past month plus.
After splitting yet another week — Kentucky escaped with a one-point win over Oklahoma on the road but couldn’t slow down top-ranked Auburn at home three days later — the projected seed line for coach Mark Pope‘s team is 3.40, per Bracket Matrix. The Wildcats appeared in all 104 of the brackets collected by the site, as of Tuesday afternoon.
UK began Tuesday 15th in the NET rankings, down one spot from last week. Kentucky is 9-9 in Quad 1 games — the key evaluation tool used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee when it begins creating the 68-team bracket — during the 2024-25 campaign. Through Monday’s games, UK’s nine Quad 1 triumphs are fifth most nationally, trailing Auburn (16), Alabama (10), Oregon (10) and Tennessee (10).
BracketWAG.com, which updated its bracket Monday night, projected Kentucky as the No. 4 seed in the South Region, facing 13-seed Arkansas State in the first round in Seattle. Bracketville, which also updated its projections Monday, slotted UK as the 3-seed in the West Region, clashing with 14-seed Northern Colorado in a first-round matchup in Providence, Rhode Island. Bracketologists.com, which bases its bracket solely upon NET rankings, has the Wildcats as a 4-seed, squaring off with 13th-seeded High Point.
Here’s a look at Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament résumé as of Tuesday afternoon, as well as projections from a variety of national outlets:
NET ranking: 15
KenPom ranking: 18
Quad 1 record: 9-9
Quad 2 record: 1-1
Quad 3 record: 3-0
Quad 4 record: 6-0
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi posted his latest bracket update Tuesday morning. He put UK as the 3-seed in the South Region, traveling to Denver to take on Utah Valley. It would be a notable pairing in at least one respect: Utah Valley gave Pope his first head-coaching job. Pope posted a 77-56 (.579) record with the Wolverines in four seasons (2015-16 through 2018-19).
CBS Sports writer Jerry Palm unveiled his newest projections Tuesday morning. He placed Kentucky in the East Region as the No. 5 seed, making the lengthy westward trek to Seattle for a meeting with 12-seed McNeese State.
Joe Rexrode, a senior writer for The Athletic, published a bracketology analysis for the site Tuesday. Rexrode has the Wildcats packing their bags for Providence, earning the 4-seed in the Midwest Region. In this projection, UK squares off with 13-seed Jacksonville State in the first round.
In a bracketology story for The Washington Post published Tuesday morning, Patrick Stevens placed UK in the West Region as a 4-seed. In Stevens’ projection, Kentucky will take on 13-seed Akron in Denver.
James Fletcher III, an editor for On3, penned a bracketology piece for the network that went live Sunday. He has Kentucky the 3-seed in the West Region, colliding with 14-seed Chattanooga in the first round in Wichita, Kansas. Storylines abound for the Wildcats in Fletcher’s scenario; if UK won, it potentially could face sixth-seeded Louisville or 11th-seeded Arkansas in the second round.
After Tuesday’s one-sided home victory over LSU on senior night, which was a Quad 3 result for Kentucky, Pope’s group has just one more regular-season game remaining.
UK hits the road Saturday to take on Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. The Tigers are 21-8 overall and 10-6 in SEC play. They are a highly regarded bunch, ranked No. 19 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25, No. 12 in the NET and No. 12 on KenPom.com.
Because of the high NET ratings for the Wildcats and Tigers, Saturday’s contest represents a Quad 1 opportunity for both squads.
The contest between the Wildcats and Tigers will air on ESPN. Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Dane Bradshaw (analyst) will have the call beginning at noon.
You also can stream ESPN on Fubo, which offers a free trial.
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Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
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