LEXINGTON — Kentucky basketball‘s NCAA Tournament seeding is moving upward after its dominant win over SEC leader Alabama last week.
Bracket Matrix has the Wildcats solidly in 5-seed territory, with their average predicted seed 5.27 (out of 107 brackets) as of Monday. That’s continuing UK’s recent upward trend, as Bracket Matrix once projected coach John Calipari‘s team to be flirting with 6-seed territory.
As of Tuesday morning, the Wildcats’ NET ranking is 19, a five-spot improvement since last week. Kentucky is 5-6 this season in the all-important Quad 1 games — one of the most crucial tools used by the tournament selection committee when it starts the task of creating the 68-team bracket.
BracketWAG.com, which updated its bracket after Monday’s games concluded, slotted Kentucky as the No. 5 seed in the West Region, where it would face 12-seed McNeese State in the first round in Spokane, Washington. Bracketville, which unveiled its new projections Monday morning, also predicted UK would head to Spokane and be part of the West Region, but had the Wildcats as the 4-seed, where they would take on No. 13 seed UC Irvine in the first round. Bracketologists.com, which only uses the NET rankings to fill out its bracket, projected the Wildcats as a No. 5 seed as of Monday.
Here’s a look at Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament résumé as of Tuesday morning, as well as projections from a variety of national outlets:
Kentucky basketball tournament resume and NET ranking
NET ranking: 19
KenPom ranking: 17
Quad 1 record: 5-6
Quad 2 record: 2-1
Quad 3 record: 6-1
Quad 4 record: 6-0
ESPN NCAA Tournament projections for Kentucky basketball
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi released his new projections Tuesday morning. He slotted UK as the No. 5 seed in the West Region. Lunardi has Kentucky headed to Salt Lake City for a first-round tussle with 12th-seeded Richmond.
Kentucky basketball in CBS Sports bracketology
CBS Sports writer Jerry Palm released his latest update Tuesday morning. He placed Kentucky as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, traveling to Pittsburgh to square off with 12-seed Samford in the first round.
UK basketball bracketology from USA TODAY Sports
USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus combined for a bracket for the network, which was released Tuesday morning. USA TODAY has the exact same projection as CBS: Kentucky as a 5-seed, facing 12-seed Samford, in Pittsburgh. The only difference is USA TODAY placing UK in the East Region.
What’s next for Kentucky basketball
Kentucky already has beaten Mississippi State once this season (a 90-77 home triumph last month, which gave Calipari his 400th win as UK’s coach). The Wildcats go for a regular-season sweep of the Bulldogs Tuesday night in Starkville, Mississippi. With the Bulldogs sitting at No. 28 in the newest NET rankings, Tuesday’s game represents another chance for a Quad 1 result for the Wildcats.
UK then returns home at 1:30 p.m. Saturday to try for another season sweep, this one against one of the nation’s most disappointing teams in 2023-24, Arkansas.
While the Wildcats struggled offensively, they had one of their best defensive performances in their first meeting with the Razorbacks this season, earning a 63-57 victory in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last month.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball bracketology: 2024 NCAA Tournament projections, UK
