What’s at stake for the Kentucky basketball team in the SEC Tournament
By Drew Koch
The Kentucky basketball team secured the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament and a double-bye. What’s on the line for the Cats in St. Louis?
The Kentucky basketball won’t play again until 3:30 PM on Friday. The Cats secured the No. 4 seed and a double-bye in the SEC Tournament thanks to Missouri’s win over Arkansas. So what’s at stake for Wildcats this week in St Louis?
Kentucky will play either Georgia (12 seed), Vanderbilt (13 seed) or Missouri (5 seed) on Friday in the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs and Commodores do battle on Wednesday and the winner plays Mizzou on Thursday. Whoever emerges from Thursday’s contest will play Kentucky Friday afternoon.
Mizzou is obviously the favorite to play the Cats on Friday. The Tigers have already defeated Kentucky once this season, and there are rumblings out of Columbia that Michael Porter Jr., a projected lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, will be returning for the Tigers this week. That match up, should it occur, could spell big trouble for the Kentucky basketball team.
Will the SEC Tournament affect UK’s seeding?
Most bracketologists have Kentucky projected as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has UK as a No. 5 seed in the South and Jerry Palm of CBS Sports have the Cats seeded the same in the East region.
So what does this week and the SEC Tournament really mean for Kentucky? Honestly, not much. A win on Friday, regardless of the opponent, would likely solidify Kentucky as a No. 5 seed. If the Cats are able to make it to Sunday’s championship game, depending on the opponent, UK may be able to move up a seed line. Big deal. Is there really a big difference between a No. 4 and No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament?
The only difference between a No. 4 and No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament would be knowing your opponent. Two No. 12 seeds will face off in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament in Dayton. If the Cats are placed in the one region where they’d play the winner of the play-in game, they wouldn’t know the identity of the their first-round opponent until Tuesday or Wednesday. Two less days to prepare for an opponent that you’re favored to defeat anyway isn’t the end of the world.
Will more games help?
John Calipari has long since been opposed to conference tournaments, and I see his point. The conference tournaments, in the power conferences, have little impact on who makes the NCAA Tournament. By now, most team’s fates have already been decided, and aside from the mid-major programs, we already know who’s going to the Big Dance.
Calipari’s Kentucky basketball teams, in the past, have already wrapped up the SEC regular-season title and are hungry to get to Selection Sunday. This year, however, it’s a little different. Kentucky has suffered some bad losses in conference play, and it would be nice to see if the Cats can avenge those losses.
This season, unlike years past, the SEC is a darn-good conference. Auburn and Tennessee are projected to be some of the top-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament. Lunardi has 8 SEC teams projected, and 2 more on the bubble. This is not the same ole SEC we’re used to seeing the Wildcats dominate.
In my opinion, this year’s Kentucky basketball needs as many games as possible under their belt before the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky has been wildly erratic this season, and if they’re able to at least get to the SEC Championship, that’d be a plus.
So, back to the original question. What’s at stake for this year’s Kentucky basketball team in the SEC Tournament? I think the answer is simple, confidence. If Kentucky is able to string together some wins and get rolling, they could ride that wave all the way to San Antonio. But, if they stumble out of the gates on Friday, we could see the Cats sitting at home before next weekend. I think this team NEEDS to win this year’s SEC Tournament.