After Thursday’s loss to Georgia, Kentucky no longer controls its own fate in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. However, the Wildcats put themselves in good position for the second seed with a win vs. Florida on Saturday. In fact, there are only two ways in which UK would not be the No. 2 seed if the Cats win Saturday of the eight possible outcomes. The two seed, however, is out of the question with a loss to Florida. Here are all the scenarios heading into the final weekend of the regular season.1. UK defeats Florida.
- If
Missouri beats Tennessee, Ole Miss beats LSU and Alabama defeats
Georgia, UK wins the four-way tiebreaker and receives the No. 2 seed
based on its 2-1 record against Missouri, Ole Miss and Alabama. Missouri
and Ole Miss are both 2-2 against tied teams in that case, Alabama 1-2. - If Missouri and Ole Miss win, UK wins the three-way tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed with a 2-0 record against tied teams.
- If
only Missouri and Alabama win, all three teams would have identical 1-1
records against tied teams. Missouri and Kentucky would both have 1-1
records against No. 1 seed Florida, while Alabama is 0-1. Missouri would
then win the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed with a 1-0 record against
No. 4 seed Alabama. UK would be the No. 3 seed. - If only Ole Miss
and Alabama win, all three teams would have identical 1-1 records
against tied teams. UK would be the only team of the three with a win
over Florida, so UK would win the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed. - If only Missouri wins, UK wins the two-way tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed with a 1-0 head-to-head record against Missouri.
- If only Ole Miss wins, UK wins the two-way tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed with a 1-0 head-to-head record against Ole Miss.
- If
only Alabama wins, Alabama wins the two-way tiebreaker for the No. 2
seed with a 1-0 head-to-head record against UK. UK would receive the No.
3 seed. - If Missouri, Ole Miss and Alabama all lose, UK finishes second outright and receives the No. 2 seed.
2. UK loses to Florida.
- Florida wins SEC title.
- If Missouri beats Tennessee, Ole Miss beats LSU and Alabama defeats Georgia, UK receives the No. 5 seed.
- If
only Missouri and Ole Miss win, Alabama wins the two-team tiebreaker
for the No. 4 seed based on a 1-0 record against UK. UK would receive
the No. 5 seed. - If only Missouri and Alabama win, UK wins the two-team tiebreaker for the No. 4 seed based on a 1-0 record against Ole Miss.
- If
only Ole Miss and Alabama win, a three-team tiebreaker between UK, Tennessee and Missouri
would be decided based on combined records against tied teams. UK and
Tennessee would both be 2-1 and Missouri 0-2, so it would return to a
head-to-head tiebreaker between UK and Tennessee. The two teams split
the season series, so Tennessee would receive the No. 4 seed based on a
1-1 record against Florida. UK would be the No. 5 seed. - If
only Missouri wins, UK, Ole Miss and Alabama would be tied at No. 3.
Each team in the tiebreaker has a 1-1 record against other teams in the
tiebreaker and all three teams are winless against Florida, so seeding
would be determined based on records against No. 2 seed Missouri. UK
would win the tiebreaker for the No. 3 seed based on its 1-0 record
against the Tigers. - If only Ole Miss wins, Tennessee wins the four-team tiebreaker for the No. 3 seed based
on a 3-2 record against UK, Missouri and Alabama. Alabama and UK would
both be 2-2 against tied teams and Alabama would then win a head-to-head
tiebreaker with UK for the No. 4 seed. UK would receive the No. 5 seed. - If
only Alabama wins, UK, Tennessee, Missouri
and Ole Miss would be tied for the No. 3 seed. UK would win the
tiebreaker based on a 3-1 record against tied teams. - If Missouri, Ole Miss and
Alabama all lose, there would be a five-way
tie for the No. 2 seed. Ole Miss would win the tiebreaker with a 4-2
record against tied teams. UK would receive the No. 3 seed based on a
3-2 record against tied teams.