Joe Lunardi lays out major stakes for Kentucky-Kansas matchup in SEC/Big 12 challenge
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Joe Lunardi laid out the stakes for Kentucky’s marquee matchup with Kansas in the SEC/Big 12 challenge on Friday evening.
According to Lunardi, Kentucky has to beat the Jayhawks at home on Saturday in order to avoid the NCAA Tournament bubble in the near future. For Kansas, Lunardi added that Bill Self’s team needs a win to regain a No. 1 seed in his bracket projection.
Here’s Lunardi’s full notes for major bracket games this weekend:
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) January 27, 2023
Kentucky has struggled throughout the year, but the Wildcats do enter this game on a 4-game winning streak. UK has picked up wins over Tennessee, Georgia, Texas A&M and Mississippi State over that span.
Overall, Kentucky is 14-6 on the season and remains on track to contend for an NCAA Tournament berth. However, a win over Kansas would easily be Kentucky’s top nonconference win of the season so far. Kentucky currently doesn’t have any nonconference victories over top-50 KenPom opponents.
Kentucky and Kansas have met 34 times previously. The Wildcats have a 24-10 record in those contests.
Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday night.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
