At the start of the 2022-23 college basketball season, Kentucky aimed to secure a top seed in the South Regional of the NCAA Tournament, with hopes of playing in front of a home crowd in Louisville. Although Kentucky did not achieve a top seed, they are still set to play in Louisville as a No. 7 seed in the South Region, according to Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology on ESPN. Kentucky will face No. 10 West Virginia in Columbus, which is a three-hour drive from Lexington. If they win their first game, they will face the winner of (2) Purdue and (15) Vermont.
Kentucky is one of eight SEC schools in the NCAA Tournament, the second-most of any conference after the Big Ten with 10 schools. The Wildcats finished with a 21-10 overall record and went 12-6 in the conference. After starting with a 1-3 record in the SEC, their worst start since the 1986-87 season, Kentucky won 11 of its last 14 league games.
In the SEC Tournament, Kentucky will play the winner of (11) Georgia or (14) LSU vs. (6) Vanderbilt in the late game on Friday night. Kentucky has a 6-3 record against their half of the bracket, which also includes (2) Texas A&M, (7) Auburn, and (10) Arkansas. They are also 6-3 against the opposite half of the bracket, which features (1) Alabama, (4) Missouri, and (5) Tennessee.
Under head coach John Calipari, Kentucky has won six SEC Tournament championships since 2010, including four consecutive titles from 2015-2018. They have a 24-6 record in the tournament during the Calipari era and have won 31 SEC Tournament titles dating back to 1933, more than any other league school combined. Kentucky has won six SEC Tournament games played in Nashville, where the tournament will take place this year at the Bridgestone Arena from March 8-12.
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