Bracketology: Kentucky Making Push for Single-Digit Seed

The Wildcats are no longer on the bubble with two weeks left in the regular season.

In a miraculous turn of events, Kentucky basketball is trending upward.

The Cardiac Cats have knocked on death's door multiple times this season, yet they now find themselves running away from the dastardly NCAA Tournament bubble and labels of an NIT team.

Saturday's 66-54 win over 10th-ranked Tennessee all but removed Kentucky from the true bubble. One more collapse is certainly still a possibility, but things are looking up in Lexington. Four Quadrant 1 wins and an automatic spot in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament is the current outlook for coach John Calipari's chaotic team.

More on the NCAA Tournament résumé HERE.

Selection Sunday is now a mere 19 days away. The new set of Bracketology projections have been released, showcasing that the Wildcats are no longer in play for those wretched First Four showdowns in Dayton.

Taking a peak at CBS Sports' Jerry Palm's updated bracket, there's good news and bad news for Big Blue Nation.

The good news? Kentucky is actually a single-digit seed, checking in as one of the four nine-seeds. That's certainly not something anyone would've suggested even less than a week ago.

Other good news? Palm is sending the Wildcats close to Lexington. Placing UK in the East Region, he has it squaring off against eight-seed Iowa — Music City Bowl rematch, anyone? — in Columbus, Ohio.

BBN will travel far and wide, but Calipari would only be raving about the amount of fans that would make the few-hour trip up north, if that's where his team landed.

Now, here comes the bad news. If you're familiar with the way seeding works in March Madness, then you'll know that if UK were to defeat Iowa in the Round of 64, likely awaiting it would be a No. 1 seed.

In this scenario, Palm projects the Cats to fall in the region with the Purdue Boilermakers. I won't go too in-depth about matchups, but it may be fair to say that 7-foot-4 NPOY candidate Zach Edey would cause some problems for Oscar Tshiebwe and the UK frontcourt. 

Moving over to the reliable Joe Lunardi at ESPN, he currently projects a much similar setting for the Cats. This time as an eight-seed, Lunardi has Kentucky taking over Pittsburgh in the first round — also in Columbus — followed by a date with Purdue in the Round of 32, again, barring an unthinkable upset. 

In the interest of something different, Bracketville actually has Kentucky projecting as a seven-seed in the West Region. Think about the absurdity of that for a moment. The same team that lost to Georgia in Athens two weekends ago, earning that high of a seed? 

It's truly a possibility. Bracketville has the Cats taking on Oklahoma State in the Round of 64, with the matchup taking place in Denver. Jumping up above the eight-nine game is huge, meaning you would avoid the "top" team in the region until the Elite Eight. 

In this case, a Round of 32 bout would likely pit UK against Arizona. Out west, that's not nearly as cushy a spot as you'll find in Columbus.

Other publications have Kentucky trending in the same way. You'll find the most prominent landing spot being somewhere around the No. 9, paired with Purdue in Columbus. 

Plenty can change over the next two weeks, but for now, it's sayonara to the bubble for Calipari's Cats. 

More on Kentucky's win over Tennessee HERE.

COLUMN: Calipari's "refuse to lose" mantra becoming Kentucky's golden gimmick

Want the latest on national football and basketball recruiting, including Cats targets? Head over to SI All-American for the latest news, blogs, and updates about the nation's best prospects.

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