Kentucky earns No. 7 seed in NCAA Tournament, will play Santa Clara in St. Louis

Make that two for two on NCAA Tournament appearances for Mark Pope in Lexington, as the Kentucky Wildcats have earned a No. 7 seed in the Midwest Region.

Their path will start in St. Louis, taking on No. 10 seed Santa Clara (26-8) in the opening round on Friday. If the Cats win, they’ll face the winner of No. 2 seed Iowa State and No. 15 seed Tennessee State. To get to the Elite Eight, Kentucky would have to potentially defeat No. 3 seed Virginia or No. 6 seed Tennessee.

Michigan is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region with Alabama earning the No. 4 seed. Other notable names in the region include Texas Tech (No. 5 seed), Georgia (No. 8 seed), and Miami (OH) (No. 11 seed).

Take a look at Kentucky’s potential journey to the Final Four over the next several weeks:

Pope led the Wildcats to a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region a year ago, earning opening-weekend victories over No. 14 seed Troy and No. 6 seed Illinois before falling to No. 2 seed Tennessee in the Sweet 16.

Kentucky’s final tournament resume this season included five Quad 1 victories and zero Quad 3 or 4 losses, wrapping up the year ranked No. 23 in BPI, No. 26 in the WAB, No. 28 in the NET and KenPom, and No. 31 in T-Rank and No. 34 in the KPI with a NET strength of schedule of No. 6 nationally and an RPI strength of schedule of No. 11.

Want more coverage of the Cats? Join KSR+

KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. With March Madness officially here for Big Blue Nation, now is the perfect time to join our online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard, our message board featuring thousands of Kentucky fans around the globe. Come join the club.