Kentucky's fate is sealed, and we now know the path that the Cats will be taking to try and get to the 2nd weekend. On Sunday night, the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed on CBS, sending Kentucky into the field and setting the stage for the next chapter of a season that has been anything but predictable.
Kentucky is a 7 seed heading out slightly west to take on the Santa Clara Broncos in the Midwest region in St. Louis. This is the lowest the Cats have been since their magical run in 2013-14, when the 8-seeded Cats got all the way to the title game.
Kentucky basektball's roller coaster ride continues
After starting off 5-4 with big losses to Michigan State and Gonzaga, Kentucky was looking lost. Then the ride really got started. 4 straight wins, 2 straight losses, winning 7 of 8, 3 straight losses, 2 more wins, and then losing 3 of the last 5 to close the season.
At no point this season did Kentucky show you who they would be in March. You got glimpses of a really good team, and some flashes of a team that can get blown off the court. You just never know what you are going to get from the Cats, and that is really dangerous when one loss ends your season.
Mark Pope continues to try and work through focus issues
As we mentioned earlier today, the Cats have had several focus lapses throughout the season that have led to losses. 11 minutes of focus would have put the Cats with 3 more wins and a completely different outlook.
But that is the cards the Cats dealt themselves. Now the biggest thing is taking it one game at a time, one shot at a time, and it is going to take 40 minutes of focus.
Kentucky has proven they have the talent to beat some of the best teams in this tournament. Kentucky's win at Arkansas is one of the best wins of any team this year. But they have also proven they can lose to anyone, and worse, they can get blown out.
When you don't have an identity this late in the season, it is very dangerous. That is the bad news.
The bad news is Kentucky is incredibly inconsistent.
The good news is that they are in the tournament, and once in, anything can happen.