ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi held a conference call yesterday talking about what teams need heading into selection Sunday.
Here is what he had to say about Kentucky.
Q. I was just wondering, can Kentucky do anything to help itself in the SEC tournament or not, seeding, short of winning a championship?
Kentucky could best help itself by starting its season over. And I don’t mean to be snarky. Last time I looked they were 1‑7 against the top 50. And they can only really play one team that can help them and that’s Florida. And they haven’t really shown the ability to compete with Florida.
So they’re in like the 6, 7 range at the moment. Short of beating Florida in the final that’s where they’re going to stay. And the real risk for UK in this tournament is having a loss to somebody below them and actually falling into the 7, 8 range, which is actually more what their profile would suggest.
So, no, I don’t think they’re likely to help themselves. And they’re more likely in fact to go the other way.Q. A couple weeks ago you were on a conference call and you said the Kentucky résumé wasn’t very good. Since then they’ve lost two or three games, so I’m assuming their struggles likely have not surprised you?
I’m used to taking heat from fans, particularly in places where this sport is taken very seriously.
But you take the name off the jersey and this team has been really ordinary, at least by Kentucky standards. And they’re allowed to be just regular good, instead of a borderline NBA team.And my lesson with Kentucky this year is what happened two years ago with all the great freshmen coming together was the exception. And that the last two years are maybe more likely when you try and make a high level Division I team out of some incredibly talented but non‑fit together pieces, they’re highly rated, but have never been attained. I have all the respect in the world for Cal trying to do that and doing it so unbelievably well two years ago, but he did have a lot of ‑‑ the No. 1 pick in an Olympian.
So maybe this whole idea of building a new team every year with All Stars and win the National Championship is a little harder than they thought.
I think Kentucky can move up to a 5 seed if they can find a way to win the SEC Tournament.
Transcript: ESPN Conference Call with Bracketologist Joe Lunardi
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