Kentucky Basketball's 2023 NCAA Tournament Draw Revealed

Kentucky's quest for another NCAA Tournament title will begin in Greensboro, N.C.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky basketball's road to winning the 2023 NCAA Tournament has been revealed. 

The No. 6-seeded Wildcats will head to Greensboro, N.C. for the first weekend of the Big Dance and will take on the No. 11 seed Providence Friars in the Round of 64 on Friday, March 17. 

The entire bracket can be found below: 

THE BRACKET 🙌#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/HZYnwD3s3x

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 12, 2023

If UK were to beat the Friars, a Round of 32 matchup would feature either No. 3 Kansas State or No. 14 Montana State. The second weekend games in the East Region would take place inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

Kentucky (21-11) last won a game in the Big Dance on March 29, 2019, when it won a thriller over the Houston Cougars in the Sweet 16. That was 1,444 days ago. 

Since then, the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The year after saw the Wildcats go 9-16, the worst season in the modern history of the program. The 2022 team earned a No. 2 seed in last year's tourney, but was famously bounced in the Round of 64 by Saint Peter's in a truly historic moment. 

Big Blue Nation is pleading on its hands and knees for a March Madness victory, especially after a poor showing in the SEC Tournament, which saw Kentucky fall to Vanderbilt for the second time in nine days in the quarterfinals. 

Per UK Sports Network statistician Corey Price, this will be the seventh time since 1985 that Kentucky will enter the NCAA Tournament with a sub-.700 winning percentage. The previous six times have witnessed it get out of the Round of 64 on four occasions, with two of those leading to a run to the Sweet 16:

.@KentuckyMBB in the NCAA Tournament since 1985 when they have a winning percentage below .700 entering the tournament:

1985 - 12 seed, Sweet 16
1987 - 8 seed, Round of 64
2002 - 4 seed, Sweet 16
2006 - 8 seed, Round of 32
2007 - 8 seed, Round of 32
2008 - 11 seed, Round of 64

— Corey Price (@coreyp08) March 11, 2023

"I still believe in this team. I think this team can go on a deep run," coach John Calipari said following the loss to the Commodores on Friday night in Nashville. 

The run will attempt to begin on Friday inside the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, as the Cats attempt to rid themselves of their postseason woes and end the up-and-down 2022-23 season on a positive note. The game will tipoff at 7:10 p.m. EST and will air on CBS. 

Kentucky needs to get healthy, fast. More HERE.

More on the loss to the Commodores HERE.

Everything Calipari said after the loss HERE.

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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