Kentucky's run at the SEC Tournament came to a resounding end on Friday night, as the Wildcats were run off the court in the second half in an ugly 99-70 loss to Alabama. It's UK's third loss to the Tide this season, as Nate Oats' run-and-gun style is a particularly bad matchup for a team that wants to try and win track meets. It also has some in Big Blue Nation worried about their team's seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
We have some good news and some bad news on that front. The good news is that it doesn't seem as though the Bama loss will be enough to drop Kentucky from the three line, at least according to ESPN's latest bracket projection courtesy of Joe Lunardi. The Cats still have those 11 Quad 1 wins to fall back on, including resume boosters against Tennessee (twice), Florida, Texas A&M and Louisville.
Unfortunately, we do also have some bad news. While Kentucky is still in line to be a three seed on Selection Sunday, their projected opponent will give Wildcats fans the worst kind of deja vu.
Joe Lunardi bracket projection pits Kentucky against all-too-familiar foe
Lunardi has Kentucky as the No. 3 seed in the West region, where their opponent as the No. 14 seed will be none other than ... Robert Morris, the same program that handed the Cats arguably the ugliest loss of the John Calipari era in the 2013 NIT. UK entered that 2012-13 season as the defending national champions, but a disappointing season reached an embarrassing conclusion after two last-second free throws gave the Colonials a 59-57 upset in front of a raucous home crowd.
Of course, a lot has changed since then. Kentucky has beaten the Colonials twice since, including in the 2013-14 season opener. And Lunardi's bracket is hardly set in stone. But we know Robert Morris will go dancing after winning the Horizon League tournament as the top seed earlier this week, and most projections have them on the 14 line — the Horizon is hardly a powerhouse, but it's also a league that doesn't traditionally fall to the 15 or 16 line, especially when it sends its best team.
That means that a rematch could well happen, a prospect that will bring back some very bad memories Kentucky fans ... especially considering how ripe for an early upset this team has looked at times this season.