On Wednesday during his pre-Ohio State press conference, Mark Pope provided a brief update on the injury status of Kerr Kriisa. Kriisa went down with a jones fracture against Gonzaga and underwent surgery.

Discussing injury updates, moving onto Kerr Kriisa. Kriisa had surgery almost immediately after the Cats returned home from their loss at Clemson. In an interview last week, Pope predicted Kriisa would miss the next 6 weeks of basketball, even though he didn’t seem confident in that prediction.

In yesterday’s press conference, Pope informed BBN that Kerr recently started getting back in the weight room, “doing strength and conditioning”. Pope went on to joke that the UK coaching staff’s “goal is to make the weight room so unpleasant that he’s wanting to get back on the court” as soon as he can.

Whether intentionally or not, it does seem like Pope is giving BBN reason to believe Kerr will return before the 6-week initial prediction is over. But in the end, Pope could only say that they hope Kerr “returns sooner rather than later” but at the end of the day, “there are some things that are out of our control.”

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Kentucky is every team’s Super Bowl. When the Wildcats come to town, you can bet it’s going to be a themed night. And looking at Kentucky’s remaining schedule, that statement rings true once again. It feels like every game will be a championship-level showdown.

ESPN has labeled Kentucky with the honor of having the “toughest remaining schedule” in college basketball. Having already faced tough teams like Duke, Gonzaga, Clemson, and bitter rival Louisville, the Wildcats are already battle-tested—and it’s only December.

Kentucky’s non-conference slate wraps up this month with games against Ohio State and Brown. After that, they enter the heart of their schedule: a revamped SEC. The Southeastern Conference is now the top dog in college basketball. They are expected to send a record number of teams to the NCAA tournament this year. Early predictions even suggest the SEC could claim all four No. 1 seeds in March, with Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, and Kentucky each in the mix. However, that outcome is unlikely, as these teams will spend the next three months battling it out, night after night.

Kentucky has 20 games left on its schedule, and 15 of them are currently considered Quad 1 matchups—games against top-tier opponents. With nine teams ranked in the top 25, including two games against No. 1 Tennessee, and matchups against Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida, and a scorned John Calipari returning to Rupp Arena, it’s no surprise Kentucky’s schedule is considered the toughest in the country.

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope recently commented on the strength of the SEC, calling it “a bloodbath.” But despite the brutal competition, he understands the value of these challenges. “It’s so awesome; this league is just insanity right now,” he said. “As an athlete and as a coach, you’d be sad if you were playing in another league. This is what you dream of.”

Joe Lunardi’s mind is already racing with potential NCAA tournament matchups, and some of them are sure to spark controversy.

In his latest projections, Lunardi has the Auburn Tigers as the overall No. 1 seed, and he notes, “Everyone is talking about the SEC—and for good reason.” Alongside Auburn at the top of the bracket are the Kentucky Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers.

Given the SEC’s dominance this season, it’s hard to imagine a part of the bracket without multiple SEC teams. But, of course, excitement is part of the equation when shaping these potential matchups on the road to a National Championship.

One possibility would be a showdown between the 1-seed Kentucky Wildcats and the 9-seed Arkansas Razorbacks in the second weekend of the tournament.

For Kentucky fans, the excitement of earning a 1-seed is something they desperately want to get back to. It’s been nearly a decade since the Wildcats last achieved this feat, back in 2015. And with coach Mark Pope at the helm, it feels like Kentucky is poised to break through and overcome the hurdles that have held them back for the past few seasons.

However, on the other side of that projection is an interesting potential matchup with an “underdog” Arkansas team coached by John Calipari. Despite Calipari’s struggles recently in the tournament, a second-round game against a better seeded team is just the type of matchup Calipari’s squads often thrive in. After all, Kentucky made deep tournament runs in the past after being seeded right in that range. Let’s not forget the Wichita State shocking upset, along with other runs in the tournament by Cal teams that probably shouldn’t have been there. 

We’ll have to wait until March to see how the bracket shakes out, but one thing is for sure: Kentucky will likely land on the toughest side of the bracket with some of the more interesting matchups there can be.