Missouri is surging, Kentucky takes step back in SEC Tournament seeding race

Kentucky’s win on Tuesday against Tennessee on the road was a big one. The Wildcats were putting themselves in position to make a run at a double-bye for the SEC Tournament in the final 11 games of the conference race but a home loss and a road win from another SEC team changes things as we reach the halfway point in league play.
Missouri blew the doors off of Mississippi State on Saturday for a big road win and Kentucky dropped a home game as a double-digit favorite to Arkansas. That has put the Wildcats behind the eight-ball in the SEC race. Both Missouri and Texas A&M are projected to finish multiple games ahead of the Wildcats.
Kentucky needs to stack some wins together fast.
Current standings
Auburn (8-0)
Alabama (8-1)
Missouri (6-2)
Texas A&M (6-3)
Florida (5-3)
Ole Miss (5-4)
Tennessee (5-4)
Vanderbilt (4-4)
Kentucky (4-4)
Texas (4-5)
Mississippi State (4-5)
Oklahoma (3-5)
Georgia (3-6)
Arkansas (2-6)
LSU (1-7)
South Carolina (0-9)
Kentucky would be forced to play on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament against South Carolina in a play-in game. The winner would face Vanderbilt on Thursday afternoon in Nashville. Auburn, Alabama, Missouri, and Texas A&M hold the double-bye spots. The contest between A&M and Mizzou on Saturday in Columbia looms large.
The Wildcats are four games out of first place and one loss back for the final double-bye spot.
Projected SEC standings
Using KenPom‘s projections, this is what the SEC Tournament field would look like. I used some projected results to find tiebreaker winners. There are seven projected to reach double-digit wins but getting to 11 wins feels like the magic number to secure a double-bye spot.
That means Kentucky would need to go 7-3 over the final 10 games of conference play. The Wildcats have some work to do as the floor is now playing on Wednesday in Nashville.
Auburn (16-2)
Alabama (13-5)
Missouri (12-6)
Florida (12-6)
Tennessee (11-7)
Texas A&M (11-7)
Ole Miss (10-8)
Texas (9-9)
Kentucky (9-9)
Mississippi State (8-10)
Georgia (7-11)
Oklahoma (7-11)
Vanderbilt (7-11)
Arkansas (6-12)
LSU (4-14)
South Carolina (2-16)
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