Tuesday night time served as a terrific alternative for the Kentucky Wildcats to place a robust win on their weak NCAA Event resume. As an alternative, the Wildcats fell aside within the second half vs. Arkansas, and now issues look so much shakier down the house stretch for Kentucky.
Kentucky sits at 16-8 on the season, tied for 4th within the convention with Auburn, which on the floor doesn’t sound too unhealthy, however the Cats solely have one vital win on the season (on the street at Tennessee) and maintain a 1-7 file in Quad 1 video games.
Oh, and Tennessee simply misplaced at Vanderbilt, who entered the day ranked 106th in NET. In order that nice win is all of the sudden not trying so nice.
That, together with Kentucky’s horrific loss at house to South Carolina (the Gamecocks’ lone convention win), has the Cats sitting firmly on the bubble.
Kentucky may have an opportunity to select up some resume-building wins on this ultimate month of the season, however there’s a key phrase there: Win.
There are not any ensures on this ultimate stretch of seven video games. Throughout that stretch, the Cats will face a number of formidable foes.
- They may go on the street to Athens for a matchup towards a Bulldogs squad that scored 42 factors within the first half and led by eight within the first matchup at Rupp Enviornment.
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They may go to Starkville to tackle a Mississippi State squad presently on a three-game profitable streak and permitting the sixth-fewest factors of any workforce in school basketball.
- They may host a Tennessee workforce that may have revenge on their thoughts after being upset in Knoxville.
- They may go to Gainesville to tackle a Florida workforce that performed Kentucky robust in Lexington.
- They may host an Auburn workforce that Kentucky is 5-5 towards within the final 10 matchups.
- They may host a Vanderbilt workforce that ought to be more healthy than they have been within the first matchup, as evidenced by their current win over Tennessee.
- Lastly, they go on the street to Fayetteville, one of many hardest arenas within the convention, to tackle an Arkansas squad that simply gained by 15 in Rupp and can seemingly have star freshman Nick Smith again from damage.
This schedule offers loads of probabilities for high quality wins for Kentucky.
The Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida, and Arkansas video games all ought to be Quad 1, and Auburn will likely be a borderline Quad 1/Quad 2 recreation.
Nevertheless, Kentucky’s observe file in these sorts of video games this season doesn’t present numerous room for optimism.
If the Cats can by some means go 5-2 in that stretch and keep away from unhealthy losses at Georgia or towards Vanderbilt, the Cats will in all probability be protected.
However, I feel the extra seemingly state of affairs is Kentucky goes 4-3 or 3-4 in that stretch of video games, after which it’s rather more up within the air. An absence of high quality wins to go together with a foul loss to South Carolina seemingly leaves Kentucky on the surface trying in barring an enormous run within the SEC Event, particularly when you think about there are usually two or extra bid stealers throughout all of the convention tournaments.
The Cats are working out of time to make their case to the Choice Committee, they usually missed an enormous alternative Tuesday night time.
Now, Kentucky has a rocky path to being within the Huge Dance, and the Huge Blue Nation is confronted with a potential third yr of not making the NCAA Event beneath John Calipari, one thing that may have been thought-about unthinkable only a few years in the past.
