Greetings, BBN!

The Kentucky Wildcats couldn’t get it done inside the Moody Center on Saturday, letting the Longhorns get the best of them in the final three minutes in the 82-78 loss. They now sit at 6-6 in the league standings, tied with Mississippi State for 8th and the last SEC Tournament first round bye.

If the tournament started today, the Cats would be awarded that bye because of their head-to-head victory over the Bulldogs in Starkville, but Wednesday night, they have a different team to worry about — Vanderbilt.

The Commodores are right behind them at 5-7 and won the first meeting in Nashville. If they complete a season sweep inside Rupp this week, they’ll drop the Cats down to 9th or 10th. With the top seven all 2+ games ahead of Kentucky right now, they need to hold on tight to their #8 spot and avoid slipping any further.

Here are your SEC standings as of February 17th:

SEC Basketball Standings

Notes:

• Oklahoma took a very ugly loss on Saturday, falling at home to then 1-10 and 12-12 LSU. That was the absolute last thing they needed for their then 3-8, now 3-9 league record that is only hovering around the NCAA Tournament bracket due to their 13-0 nonconference record.
• #1 Auburn just continues to smash records with their dominance. Their only two losses have come to the teams currently ranked #2 and #3. How do you get ranked #2 or #3? Be the only teams in the country that played Auburn and actually won the ballgame. But don’t think that’ll make you #1—they’re miles ahead of the entire sport.
• Kentucky better win these upcoming weeknight games (home Vanderbilt, away Oklahoma), because their next two weekend games are going to be merciless (away #4 Alabama, home #1 Auburn)