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

Posted by author February 3, 2025 Basketball

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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 if the regular season ended today. The winner would face Vanderbilt on Thursday afternoon in Nashville in the 8-9 game. 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.