For obvious reasons, there is more buzz than normal surrounding the Kentucky men’s basketball program. Tonight, in the preseason opener against Kentucky Wesleyan, Mark Pope will begin his first season as the Wildcats’ head coach with a Top 25 national ranking headlined by seasoned veterans.

But ESPN’s Joe Lunardi wants to see this group in action before anointing them as Final Four contenders. On Tuesday, Lunardi dropped his final Bracketology update of the preseason. In it, he slid Kentucky down a spot from a six-seed to a seven-seed in his projected 2025 NCAA Tournament field. He previously had UK in the six-seed spot for the last several months.

Lunardi has the Wildcats taking on 10-seed Memphis in Providence during the opening round with a potential second-round matchup with two-seed UConn, the two-time defending national champs. He plans to release another Bracketology update on Nov. 5, the day after opening night of the 2024-25 season takes place across the country.

Kentucky is one of 10 Southeastern Conference schools that Lunardi projects to make the NCAA Tournament. That’s tied for most among any conference with the Big Ten while the Big 12 isn’t far behind with nine teams making the field. Joining UK as SEC schools in Lunardi’s Bracketology are Alabama (1), Auburn (2), Tennessee (3), Texas A&M (4), Texas (5), Arkansas (6), Florida (7), Mississippi State (8), and Ole Miss (10).

In-state rival Louisville, led by new head coach Pat Kelsey, is among the Next Four Out group. St. John’s, coached by former UK head coach Rick Pitino, is projected as a five-seed. BYU, Pope’s former team, is a projected nine-seed.

Kentucky’s first of two preseason games is tonight against Kentucky Wesleyan at 7:00 p.m. EST inside Rupp Arena on the SEC Network+.