Just two weeks ago, this conversation felt unnecessary. Kentucky women's basketball was cruising, sitting near the top of the SEC, and hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament felt like a lock.
But after a slide that has seen the Cats fall to 17-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference, the math has changed. And for Kenny Brooks, the margin for error is officially gone.
Why hosting matters
In women’s college basketball, the Top 16 overall seeds in the NCAA Tournament host the first and second rounds on their home campus.
- Seeds 1-16: Play at home (Memorial Coliseum).
- Seeds 17+: Go on the road.
There is no neutral site. If you drop to a 5-seed (roughly the 17th-20th best team), you are packing your bags to play in someone else's gym. Not a good time.
The current resume
Kentucky sits at 17-5 (4-4 SEC).
In most years, 17-5 is a solid record at this point in the season. But in the SEC, 4-4 puts you in the middle of the pack. Right now, Kentucky is teetering on that 4-seed/5-seed line nationally; they were 13th in the NET rankings before today's loss. The committee loves wins over Top-25 teams (which UK has over Oklahoma and LSU), but they hate bad trends. Losing home games, like the recent one to Georgia, is a resume killer when it's part of a 3-game slide.
To feel safe on Selection Sunday, Kentucky likely needs to finish the regular season with at least 10 conference wins.
- Current SEC Record: 4-4
- Games Remaining: 8
- Target Finish: 6-2 down the stretch.
If Kentucky finishes 10-6 in the league, they will be 27-7, and they likely lock up a hosting bid.
If they stumble to 9-7 or 8-8, they will be at the mercy of the selection committee and likely need a run to the SEC Tournament semifinals to steal a spot, depending on the results around the country.
There is another layer to this. In the 16-team SEC, the bottom eight teams (Seeds 9-16) play on Wednesday, the opening day of the SEC Tournament. Right now, Kentucky is dangerously close to that 9-line. Playing on Wednesday means you have to win five games in five days to win the title. And with limited depth? That is not what you want to do.
The goal is simple: Stop the slide, get to 10 wins, and ensure the road to the Final Four starts in Lexington.