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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