Bracketology: Kentucky basketball’s easiest path to the Final Four
By Drew Koch
Can Kentucky afford a loss?
As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think it’s likely the Kentucky basketball team wins their remaining 9 games in the SEC. So, which game can the Cats afford to lose. In order to gain a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, play their opening round game in Nashville, follow that up with a trip to Atlanta and ride the wave of momentum all the way to San Antonio, there’s only one game the Wildcats can afford to lose before the SEC Tournament.
Tuesday night, February 20th the Wildcats travel to Fayetteville to face Arkansas. Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson, as always, will have his team ready go. The match up with the Razorbacks on the road is the only game the Wildcats can afford to drop if they want to make their path to the Final Four as easy as possible.
Arkansas ranks just outside the RPI 25 at No. 26 and the Razorbacks should be favored in the five games leading up to the game against Kentucky, meaning Arkansas could easily be in the RPI Top 25 by the time that game in late February rolls around. If Kentucky wins the game, that’s a bonus. But if the Cats are going to lose a game before the end of the regular season, a road loss at Arkansas wouldn’t be the worst.