Here's a breakdown of Kentucky's basketball analytics according to Bart Torvik's TourneyCast:
Average Seed: Kentucky is projected to have an average seed of 4.1. This indicates that statistically, Kentucky is expected to be one of the better teams in the country, but there are SEC teams ahed of him. but not among the very top seeds. That means to avoid a sweet 16 matchup with a number 1 seed, theyd need to drop down to a six or move up to three to ge tthe 2 seed.
Mode Seed: The most common seed projected for Kentucky is 4, which aligns closely with the average seed, suggesting a consistent expectation around this seeding.
Tournament Inclusion Percentage (In %):
Kentucky has a 97.5% chance of making the NCAA Tournament. This high percentage reflects a strong expectation that Kentucky will qualify for the tournament, though not with the certainty of teams like Auburn or Tennessee.
Automatic Bid Percentage (Auto %):
The likelihood of Kentucky winning the SEC tournament to secure an automatic bid is 5.6%. This is relatively low compared to top contenders within the SEC, indicating that Kentucky's path to the tournament is more likely through an at-large bid rather than winning the conference tournament.
At-Large Bid Percentage (At-L%):
Kentucky has a 97.4% chance of receiving an at-large bid, which is very high and consistent with their overall tournament inclusion rate.
The SEC teams ranked aead of Kentucky for making it into the tourney are as follows
Tennese- 100%
Auburn-100%
Alabama- 98.8
Florida-100
Miss State-98.8
All that is a fancy way to say a few different things. Kentucky is a pretty good basketball team, while they may not be the top 5 team liked they were ranked before the loss to. they still are a great team. And Bart believes them getting into the tournament is about a near statistical guarantee. BBN is not known for being patient, so unless they a few games in March the heat will be applied to Mark Pope early and often.
Overall the models are inagreement that Kentucky is a very food team capable of making a champions run. Of course there is a lot work to go, but for now BBN can take solice in these numbers as the Cats continue to gel together.