So You’re Saying There’s a Chance
By Will
Kentucky fans being Kentucky fans, we’ve been discussing the odds of the Wildcats making the NCAA tournament since the upset of Vanderbilt (home losses to Gardner-Webb and San Diego and zero road wins be damned). And now that the Cats have strung back-to-back wins together for the first time since November, non-Blue-Goggle-wearing observers are joining in.
In his chat on ESPN.com earlier today, certified Bracketologist Joe Lunardi had this to say about the Cats’ NCAA chances:
Kurt (Wilmington, NC): Joe, please tell me there is some hope for my Kentucky Wildcats. At 9-9, with 11 games to go before the SEC tourney, could the Wildcats sneak into the dance with a strong finish? They are finally getting healthy and are playing well right now. How would they have to finish to receive consideration? Hopefully their strong history plays a role in voters minds.
Joe Lunardi: (2:15 PM ET ) I suspect this will be an ongoing question as January churns toward March. My best guess is that Kentucky needs to post more than just a winning SEC record, but something in the 11- or 12-win range. The ‘Cats then need to avoid any kind of potential “bubble loss” in the conference tournament.
[Link]
I think 10-6 and a couple of wins in the SEC Tournament would be enough to get us in, but then again, I’m not an objective observer or a Bracketologist. And I do think 10-6 (and even 11-5) is doable. No tempering expectations for me, thank you. Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!
January 29th, 2008 at 10:32 am
[…] 4. Here is a blog post with a quote from Joe Lunardi about what the Cats need to do to get into the dance. […]
January 29th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I actually had ran through a scenario of this after the Tennessee win and we were staring at the “winnable” four game stretch of South Carolina, at Georgia, at Auburn, then home against Bama. If we win all 4 of those (good start so far) that puts us at 6-2 in SEC play at the midway point. From there, the schedule includes away games at Vandy and Tenn with tough home games against Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Florida. If we drop the two road games south of the border, and win 2 of the 3 tough home games… that puts us at 11-5 in league play with an overall record of 17-12 going into the SEC tourney. Win two games there without winning the tournament and we are 19-13, I gotta think a 19-13 UK team with some quality wins gets a bid to the big dance.
Its a long shot, but definitely doable.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
[…] That said, I have a hard time believing an at-large bid is definitely out of our reach. And writing that doesn’t make me a total homer. Joe Lunardi seemingly agrees, as does Andy Glockner, who writes ESPN.com’s weekly College Basketball Bubble Watch (”Kentucky is starting to make some noise. We’ll check back on the Cats next week.” [Link]). And then there’s SI.com’s Luke Wynn, who — bizarrely — has Kentucky listed under “On the Cusp, Tier II” in his weekly power rankings. [Link] If you add up the teams in front of us, he’s got us at No. 33. […]