If a cat really does have nine lives, the Wildcats are nearing the end of their Southeastern Conference life span.To this point, the Kentucky men’s basketball team has been able to stay in the SEC hunt despite road slipups to the likes of Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia, but a loss to Arkansas on Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark., would officially end all hopes of the school’s 45th SEC regular-season crown.Technically, to even tie for the SEC overall title would take a lot, specifically a pair of Florida and Alabama collapses, a 4-0 finish for UK, and a chaotic scenario a little too long for the significance of this post. Point being, Kentucky’s SEC regular-season championship hopes are positioned somewhere between slim and none.However, getting a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament remains a very realistic possibility, although a loss from here on out, especially to Arkansas, would likely put those hopes on life support as well.Entering Tuesday night’s Vanderbilt-Tennessee showdown, UK (7-5 in the SEC) trailed Vanderbilt (8-4) by a game for the SEC East’s second seed. The top two teams in the Eastern and Western divisions receive first-round byes in the SEC Tournament.Like the women’s bracket, getting that all-important first-round bye can be the difference between a championship run and an early exit. Since the league went to a 12-team tournament format in 1993, only three teams have won four games in four days. (It should be noted that Georgia and Mississippi State have pulled off the feat as recently as 2008 and 2009, respectively.) UK would like to do itself a favor and not have to try to become the third team in 11 years. The Cats would prefer a bye.”We feel like every game is important at this point,” junior guard/forward Darius Miller said. “We’re trying to battle back. We have a tough schedule, but we’re trying to win every single game.” While Miller said they really haven’t talked about seeding in the SEC Tournament, hopes of avoiding the Thursday game in Atlanta have been restored in two confidence-building wins over Mississippi State and South Carolina.”We feel confident,” freshman guard Doron Lamb said. “Everybody’s happy, smiling while we’re having great practices and doing what (John Calipari) tells us in practice.”Has all been solved? Maybe not.When asked what has enabled Kentucky to play better the last two games, Calipari offered a common denominator.”Playing at home,” Calipari said.However, there were some subtle differences between the MSU win and the South Carolina victory worth pointing out, namely the margin of victory.Unlike the wins against MSU, Georgia and the first South Carolina game, UK didn’t allow the Gamecocks to crawl back into Saturday’s game. When the lead reached double digits this time around, the Cats didn’t take their foot off the pedal and made sure to put the game well out of reach.”We played defense,” was what Lamb characterized as the difference. “We really stepped it up on defense and focused on rebounding. We had more rebounding as a team, and if we keep doing that we’re going to win a lot of games.”Of course, as Calipari pointed out, the killer instinct emerged at home in front of 24,000 forgiving Wildcat fans. As has been beaten to death in the local papers and blogosphere (including this site), that hasn’t happened on the road in front of “white outs,” “black outs,” and hostile crowds, as the Cats have fallen behind more often than not and been forced to play catch-up.That didn’t stop the worn-down road questions from being asked at Tuesday’s media opportunity with Kentucky carrying a 1-5 SEC road record to Fayetteville.Instead of rehashing the same road woes, Calipari chose to look at the current road situation in a more positive light.”You know what I’ll probably talk to them about is that we’ve got two more road games,” Calipari said. “After that, everything’s neutral and our fans are everywhere, so let’s use these to get better. Let’s look beyond just wins and losses. Let’s start playing better.”Calipari thought UK played pretty well in the four-point loss to Vanderbilt and is looking at the Arkansas game as an opportunity.In a way, it’s an opportunity for the four-game bridge to the final chapter of the season.  With the fickle nature of sports, win on the road – and maybe even do it in a close game – and a lot of still-lingering issues could be absolved.Sure, the four-game stretch can be viewed as a bit brutal. Road games at Arkansas and Tennessee are daunting, and home matchups with Vanderbilt and Florida will test UK’s home winning streak. But it’s the perfect opportunity to still make a mark in the conference.Win and the SEC bye is still in play. Lose on the road again, and well, it’s time to let SEC hopes die.