One of the greatest days on the college basketball calendar has arrived.
It’s Selection Sunday, and the Kentucky Wildcats will know exactly where, when and who they’ll be playing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by the end of the night.
The annual selection show is scheduled to air on CBS at 6 p.m. EDT Sunday, and Mark Pope’s UK basketball team is planning to be together in Rupp Arena for a private watch party. The gathering in their home base will happen less than 48 hours after a humiliating exit from the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, where Alabama defeated the Wildcats 99-70, handing the program its most lopsided defeat ever in the league tourney
Pope’s team will surely be eager to hit the court again and get back to winning basketball. The Cats are still viewed highly in the bracketology projections, of course — their overall body of work, which includes a record-tying eight victories over AP top 15 teams, is still among the best in the country — and they should also be closer to full strength by the time the NCAA Tournament tips off.
Kentucky played Friday night without Lamont Butler, who suffered another injury to his left shoulder in the previous night’s game — an 85-84 victory over Oklahoma — and was ruled out of the loss to Alabama.
Pope offered up a positive update on Butler’s status, however, saying before the Alabama game that UK received the “best possible news” regarding his shoulder earlier in the day and implying that he would be good to go for the NCAA Tournament.
The Kentucky coach confirmed to the Herald-Leader after the loss that the injury to Butler’s left shoulder was “totally different” than the one that sidelined him for six games — and left him playing hurt for others — over the past two months.
