On 2/15/2023 at 10:01 AM, 9068 said:

UK will get in for sure. The tournament is about $$$$s. A Thursday game at an out of the way destination with 1000 people in the stands will now become a site with 6000 fans, most of them in blue.

I just checked a couple of the first round sites for ticket availability. There are only a handful of tickets for sale in Birmingham (at the top of the arena) and none in Albany. There are tickets on the secondary market available at both. The NCAA has already sold their tickets, they don't need UK, Duke, UNC or anyone else in the tournament to sell more tickets. The only people making money from teams like those mentioned getting in are the people reselling the tickets they already bought from the NCAA. 

On 2/15/2023 at 11:55 AM, bugatti said:

Pretty sure this has been dispelled may times.

Spoiler alert for those that do not know: NCAA tournament games are nearly as well attended or watched as many believe. There is a reason it has been relegated mostly to cable.

CBS and TBS share the rights and alternate the final four. The biggest reason so many games are on cable is so that every game is broadcast live. CBS can only show one at a time, so the Turner Channels or someone else has to be involved for all games to be broadcast. Regardless of the perceived attendance, tournament games sell out at nearly every venue. The arenas do empty out as fans leave after their team is eliminated. Empty seats (especially in the second game of the day) are no indication of dwindling support. 

The ratings are lower than past years, but they are also lower for all sports. If support for basketball is waning, it is systemic of societal shifts as a whole against sports for a variety of reasons.

UK is now up to 5 Quad one wins on the season. Hopefully Florida wins a game or two before the regular season ends, this way they stay in the top 70 and it remains a Quad one win. 

UK is now 20th in the NET rankings. If UK wins both games this year, they probably will be in the top 15 in the NET heading to the conference tournament. 
 

Need Florida to win their games against Georgia and LSU this week. This way the Florida game stays a quad one win. The Michigan win is also close now to being a quad one win. Michigan is 55th heading into their game today against Wisconsin. If Michigan gets in the top 50, that becomes a quad one win for UK. 
 

UK has a chance to have a very impressive resume going into selection Sunday depending how next week and Conference tournament shakes out. 

UK is now 19th in the NET rankings. 
 

Joe Lunardi now has UK as the top 6 seed in his latest release. So UK has a very real shot at getting up to a 5 seed, and still an outside chance at a 4 seed. 

53 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

UK is now 19th in the NET rankings. 
 

Joe Lunardi now has UK as the top 6 seed in his latest release. So UK has a very real shot at getting up to a 5 seed, and still an outside chance at a 4 seed. 

Where does Lunardi have Arkansas seeded?

4 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Where does Lunardi have Arkansas seeded?

An 8 seed.

10 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

An 8 seed.

Interesting. Arkansas is ahead of UK in net rankings but two seeds lower?

33 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Interesting. Arkansas is ahead of UK in net rankings but two seeds lower?

It seems like the NET gets talked about more for selection than for seeding, but I'll readily admit I don't pay much attention to the NET ratings. They adjust constantly as teams you've played against improve or decline. It's not unlike the college football playoff rankings in that it seems to generate more conversation than results until you get to the last one.

7 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Interesting. Arkansas is ahead of UK in net rankings but two seeds lower?

UK is 11 and 7 in quad one and two games.  Arkansas is 7 and 10. So I guess he gives more credit  for UKs better wins more than UKs worse loss they have than Arkansas. While the NET hurts UK more for their loss to a quad four. 

UK is back to 20th in the NET rankings after beating Arkansas. UK now has 6 quad one wins and is 6 and 7 overall in Quad ones. Michigan plays at Indiana today, if Michigan wins that would most likely move them into top 50 and give UK a 7th quad one win. 
 

I believe the NET rankings get updated through the conference tournament. Which Auburn is current 32nd, so that could possibly end up as another quad one victory if they end up in top 30. 

UK is now 19th in the NET. Some places also moved up UK to a 6 seed in their projections. 

44 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

UK is now 19th in the NET. Some places also moved up UK to a 6 seed in their projections. 

That feels about right to me. I think there is an argument for a 5-seed, especially if they have success this week in Nashville. But those losses to South Carolina, Georgia, and Vandy at home still look bad. The good thing is I'm not sure anyone in college basketball is head-and-shoulders above anyone else, so seeding might not matter too much.

Only thing I have learned about conference tournaments is they (generally) mean next-to-nothing when it comes to seeding. Do not get lulled into the "if UK wins the SEC they can move up a ___ seed." Win Friday and they might move up a line. After that nothing really matters.

1 hour ago, bugatti said:

Only thing I have learned about conference tournaments is they (generally) mean next-to-nothing when it comes to seeding. Do not get lulled into the "if UK wins the SEC they can move up a ___ seed." Win Friday and they might move up a line. After that nothing really matters.

Agree. Just don't lose Friday!