Kentucky punched their ticket to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament with a dramatic last-second game-winning floater from Otega Oweh.
Fans were obviously loving it and these kind of heroic finishes have a way of galvanizing a team and creating momentum. But if Kentucky fans are taking this win as a sign of things to come, they may find themselves disappointed in the end.
For starters, they just gave up 84 points to Oklahoma, a team that went 6-12 in the SEC this season and is not a lock to make the tournament. Defense is absolutely Kentucky's weakness this season — they allowed an average of 99.7 points per 100 possessions this year and have the 56th-ranked defense in the country per KenPom. Kicking off their postseason with a disastrous defensive performance against is not a great sign and things don't get any easier from here.
Kentucky absoutely needs to tighten up for the NCAA Tournament
Next up in the SEC Tournament is Alabama. They're the third-ranked offense in the country, per KenPom, and they've beaten Kentucky twice already this year by a combined 18 points. The Wildcats gave up 123.0 points per 100 possessions in those two matchups, a marker of just how little resistance they were able to put up.
Making a run to the SEC Tournament finals or winning it all could have huge seeding implications for the Wildcats. Before their win over Oklahoma, ESPN's Bracketology had them projected as a No. 3 seed, in the same bracket with Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona, UCLA and Texas Tech. With another win or two, there's a chance they could climb to a No. 2 seed. Bowing out now could see them drop to a No. 4, with teams like Wisconsin, Purdue or Maryland leapfrogging them.
That may not seem like a huge deal but it could be the difference between playing a "happy to be there" automatic qualifier like Montana (ranked as the 156th-best team in the country by KenPom) and a legitimately scary sleeper like Yale, Xavier or Texas.
Kentucky has talent and Mark Pope has done an excellent job in his first season replacing John Calipari. A deep tournament run could be in the future. But there's also a better than decent chance that Oweh's floater is the most exciting moment of March for Wildcat fans.