Kentucky won’t be back in action until Saturday at Vanderbilt. The pause in play gives the Cats time to heal up and us even more time to break down the rest of their schedule. It’s a doozy.

As expected, the loss to Alabama didn’t damage Kentucky’s NCAA resume much. The Cats were No. 10 in the NET Rankings heading into the game vs. the Crimson Tide. Today, they’re No. 11. Alabama, No. 8 in the NET on Saturday morning, is now No. 7, one of four SEC teams in the top ten. Alabama is No. 1, Tennessee No. 4, Florida No. 5, and Alabama No. 7.

Let’s talk team sheet, which the Selection Committee will use as it determines the Cats’ seed in the NCAA Tournament. The loss to the Tide brought Kentucky’s record in Quad 1 to 6-4. Nine of Kentucky’s 13 remaining games are in Quad 1, including Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt. That game (along with seven others) is technically in Quad 1A, considered the best of the best when it comes to NCAA Tournament resumes.

Let’s break it all down.

• Quad 1: 6-4 (Games Remaining: 9)
  • Quad 1A: 4-3
  • Quad 1B: 2-1
• Quad 2: 0-0 (Games Remaining: 3)
• Quad 3: 2-0 (Games Remaining: 1)
• Quad 4: 6-0 (Games Remaining: 0)

Quad 1: 6-4

• Quad 1: Home: 1-30 | Neutral: 1-50 | Away: 1-75
  • *Quad 1A: Home 1-15 | Neutral 1-25 | Away 1-40
  • Quad 1B: Home 16-30 | Neutral 26-50 | Away 41-75

Quad 2: 0-0

Home: 31-75 | Neutral: 51-100 | Away: 76-135

Quad 3: 2-0

Home: 76-160 | Neutral: 101-200 | Away: 136-240

Quad 4: 6-0

Home: 161-362 | Neutral: 201-362 | Away: 241-362

Team Sheet Notes

— The win over Louisville moved up to Quad 1 last week as the Cards climbed into the top 30 of the NET. Right now, all of Kentucky’s Quad 1 games are safely inside the margins. Vanderbilt is currently No. 37 in the NET. If they climb into the top 30, the game vs. the Commodores in Rupp on Feb. 19 will also move from Quad 2 to Quad 1.

— Kentucky only has four games left that are NOT in Quad 1: Vanderbilt at home (Quad 2), Arkansas at home (Quad 2), LSU at home (Quad 2), and South Carolina at home (Quad 3). LSU is No. 72 in the NET; if they fall below No. 75, that game will move to Quad 3. Although Arkansas is 0-5 in SEC play, they’re No. 57 in the NET, keeping that game well within Quad 2 margins — for now (ICYMI, Boogie Fland is likely out for the season with a hand injury).

— Kentucky’s six Quad 1 wins are tied with Tennessee for the third most in the country behind Auburn (10) and Oregon (7). Auburn has a stunning 10-1 record in Quad 1. The Tigers also have 11 more Quad 1 games remaining, the most of any team in the SEC. Assuming they don’t take any bad losses, their resume will be hard to top.

If you’re curious, here are the Quad 1 records and Quad 1 games remaining for the top eight teams in the league:

• Auburn: 10-1 (11 Q1 games remaining)
• Tennessee: 6-2 (10)
• Kentucky: 6-4 (9)
• Alabama: 5-3 (11)
• Ole Miss: 5-3 (10)
• Texas A&M: 5-3 (9)
• Florida: 4-2 (9)
• Mississippi State: 4-3 (9)

— If you seed the NCAA Tournament based solely on the NET rankings (there’s more to it than that), Kentucky would be a No. 3 seed, which is where most bracketologists have them right now. Yesterday, Lunardi had the Cats as the No. 3 seed in the South Region with No. 1 seed Auburn (the top overall seed) and No. 2 seed Purdue.

The Road Ahead

As mentioned, Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt is in Quad 1A, as is Tuesday night’s game in Knoxville. Getting even one of two would be huge. Hopefully, Big Blue Nation once again makes Memorial Gym their own to give the Cats a boost vs. the ‘Dores.