Kentucky Basketball's SEC Tournament Hopes

0:00On March 9, Kentucky's men's basketball team has become a target for jokes this season after building one of the priciest rosters in college hoops. History. With spending reported at around $22 million, fans expected a top seed in the NCAA tournament. Instead, bracket expert Joe Lunardi projects them as a seven-seat heading into Selection Sunday. Lunardi even poked fun with a fake NCAA rule about teen spending over $20 million missing out on at-large bids if they do not win there. Conference tournament. He pointed out their lack of a true point guard leading to inconsistent play that makes them tough to trust in brackets. Big blue nation is far from thrilled as injuries have hurt but do not fully explain dropping to a seven-seat. Preseason hype set the bar much higher and this projection feels like a letdown despite the talent on paper. Kentucky gets a shot to boost their resume as the nine-seat in the SEC tournament. They open Wednesday against 16-seat LSU, then could face eight-seat Missouri on Thursday and top-seat Florida after that.

1:04Lunardi says two or three wins against tournament bound teams might bump them up to a five or six-seat. A strong run in Nashville could change the narrative, giving the Wildcats momentum no matter how the Selection Committee weighs those late games.