The Kentucky Wildcats entered SEC play with momentum, and looked like a team destined for a deep NCAA Tournament run. They were scoring points at will, and the defense was solid enough to get wins. They beat multiple ranked teams, and they were just starting to get healthy, which means they would, theoretically, only get better.
In January, conference play started, and it’s been inconsistent at best, and downright awful at worst. The weaknesses began to stand out much more, and every SEC opponent seemed to take advantage.
Kentucky dropped a close game to Texas A&M. Then South Carolina knocked them off. After that, the unthinkable happened, and the Cats dropped three straight home games, to Florida, Tennessee and Gonzaga.
As the losses have piled up, their spot in the rankings have steadily dropped. Their predicted seeding in the various Bracketology reports have fallen as well. Fans have now begun to wonder if there’s a chance that Kentucky could miss the tourney altogether.
Kentucky has only missed the NCAA Tournament twice under John Calipari. One was the infamous 9 – 16 season in 2020-21. The other was the 2012-13 season when they went 21 – 12 and went to the NIT instead.
The Wildcats are currently 16 – 7 overall, and are still projected as a six-seed in the latest Bracketology, but their schedule is not kind the rest of the way. They have Auburn, Alabama, and another match-up with Tennessee on the way, as well as games against solid Ole Miss and Mississippi State teams.
Kentucky should still feel solid right now about their post-season position. However, if they drop four or five of their remaining games, and bow out of the SEC Tournament early, it could get dicey. They’re currently just 2 – 5 in quad one games, and there’s at least a chance for it to get worse. If it does, and if Kentucky misses the tournament, the cries for Calipari’s job will only get louder.