How Kentucky can earn the best possible seed in the SEC Tournament
There are a few ways the Cats end with the 5-seed in the SEC Tournament.
The Kentucky Wildcats have had what many would consider a solid season in the first year of the Mark Pope era. While they are not without a few unfortunate losses, the Cats have some terrific victories over teams like Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, Texas A&M, and Tennessee.
In SEC play, they currently sit 8th in the league standings with a 9-8 record. However, still having a game left on the horizon, there could be shacking up that happens. The Cats have a chance to get the 5-seed, but it might not be the most feasible route. The lowest they can go is the 9-seed.
So, what has to happen for Kentucky to get that 5-seed?
For starters, Kentucky must beat the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. That’s a given, but with it being a top-15 opponent in their building on Senior Day without Jaxson Robinson, it’ll be one of the biggest challenges Kentucky has faced this season.
On top of that, Missouri must lose to Oklahoma, LSU must beat Texas A&M, and the Ole Miss Rebels must finish 1-1. The Cats would also get the fifth seed if the Rebels finish 0-2 and all the above happens.
While Ole Miss finishing 1-1 or 0-2 might not seem likely, it saved the best for last, playing against Tennessee on Wednesday and then Florida on Saturday, so the Rebels will be an underdog in its last two games.
The real difficult part to overcome here is that the Tigers must beat the Aggies, and with Texas A&M coming off a victory against No. 1 Auburn, it will likely ride a hot hand against a Tigers team that Kentucky just throttled.
That’s going to be the main battle to watch for the Cats’ chances to climb as high as possible.
There are a slew of ways that the Cats get the 6th-9th seed as well, and you can see a full breakdown of those here via 247 Sports’ Aaron Gershon.
