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Kentucky basketball: 5 bold predictions for the 2018 SEC tournament

By Drew Koch

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 09: The Kentucky Wildcats take the court against the Monmouth Hawks at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 2017 in New York City. This photo is part of a photo essay on three sporting events in a fifteen hour time span at Madison Square Garden. The three sports were an NCAA college basketball game between The University of Kentucky vs Monmouth College, followed by an NHL hockey game between the New York Rangers against the New Jersey Devils, followed by a boxing match for the WBO Lightweight Title between Vasiliy Lomachenko against Guillermo Rigondeaux. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 09: The Kentucky Wildcats take the court against the Monmouth Hawks at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 2017 in New York City. This photo is part of a photo essay on three sporting events in a fifteen hour time span at Madison Square Garden. The three sports were an NCAA college basketball game between The University of Kentucky vs Monmouth College, followed by an NHL hockey game between the New York Rangers against the New Jersey Devils, followed by a boxing match for the WBO Lightweight Title between Vasiliy Lomachenko against Guillermo Rigondeaux. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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LEXINGTON, KY – DECEMBER 31: A basketball is shot through into a basket as the Kentucky Wildcats warm up before the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Rupp Arena on December 31, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY – DECEMBER 31: A basketball is shot through into a basket as the Kentucky Wildcats warm up before the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Rupp Arena on December 31, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /

The SEC Tournament starts Wednesday night in St. Louis. Let’s dive in to five bold predictions centered around the Kentucky basketball team.

Well, the SEC regular season is in the books. This year’s co-champions are Auburn and Tennessee, even though the Tigers defeated the Vols earlier this season. By virtue of that win, Auburn secured the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, which is slated to begin on Wednesday night. The Kentucky basketball team drew the No. 4 seed in the tournament and won’t play until Friday afternoon.

The Wildcats head to St. Louis having been crushed by Florida last Saturday in Gainesville. Coach Cal’s Cats won last year’s SEC Tournament. Kentucky was the No. 1 seed and overwhelming favorite. The Cats cruised the final and destroyed Arkansas 82-65, winning their 30th SEC Tournament title.

This year’s Kentucky basketball team is a stark contrast to last season’s squad that lost only 2 conference games all year. Kentucky is 10-8 in the SEC this year and suffered a horrendous stretch in February where they lost 4 consecutive games.

Can John Calipari right the ship in time for March Madness? Big Blue Nation knows how Cal feels about conference tournaments. In case you don’t, check out the quote via UK Athletics from Calipari’s post-game presser after the Florida loss.

"“If we play on Thursday it’s fine. I don’t really care. You know I can’t stand tournaments anyway. I’m not a big proponent of playing three and four days in a row at the end of the year. We already have a league champ, or will have one. So, what are we doing this for? So that’s me. But our fans at Kentucky love this tournament. They love it. So, we go in and try to play as well as we can for our fans, but the only thing we’ll use this weekend for is to prepare us for the next weekend.”"

So, with the 2018 SEC Tournament upon us, let’s check out five bold predictions for the Kentucky basketball team heading into St. Louis.

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