With a week until the 2025-26 season-opener, Kentucky men’s basketball is expected to be among the teams battling for a one-seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi updated his Men’s Bracketology on Tuesday morning for the final time of the preseason. In it, he tabbed the Wildcats as a two-seed in the West (San Jose) Region with a first-round matchup against 15-seed Little Rock. Houston is the projected number one overall seed in the tournament, while St. John’s checked in as a 2-seed and Louisville as a 3-seed.
Lunardi had Kentucky holding onto a three-seed throughout most of the offseason, but bumped the ‘Cats up to the two-line earlier this month.