With the SEC regular season coming to a close on Saturday, March 8, all eyes turn to Nashville for the 2025 Men’s SEC Tournament.

Kentucky earned a No. 6 seed in the tournament, granting the Cats a first-round bye but dropping them short of the highly sought-after double-bye.

With all 16 teams now knowing their matchups or matchup potentials, Kentucky will face the winner of No. 11 Georgia and No. 14 Oklahoma inside Bridgestone Arena in the eighth game of the tournament.

If the Cats are victorious, they will book a date for a rematch against No. 3 Alabama, a team that swept UK in the regular season.

Looking closer into the bracket, the men’s basketball crew for the Kentucky Kernel sought to break down all the biggest questions for UK in the country music capital of the world:

Who do you see coming out of the first-round matchup between UGA and OU?

Russell: I see Georgia coming out on top in the first round. The Bulldogs started the season 12-1 in non-conference play before falling to just 8-10 in SEC play.

However, the good news for Georgia is that it closed out the regular season winning four of its last five games and in the postseason, momentum is everything.

The Bulldogs lost to No. 1 Auburn on Feb. 22 before beating No. 3 Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Now, the Bulldogs are putting up 75.5 points per night, slightly less than the Sooners’ 78.7, however, Georgia allows less points per night than Oklahoma does. 

Georgia beat Oklahoma 72-62 when they last played on Jan. 11 in Athens, courtesy of a team-high 15-point performance from freshman Asa Newell, who is averaging 15.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Another key contributor for Georgia has been Silas Demary Jr., a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard who is putting up an average of 13 points and four rebounds per game.

If these two can find their rhythm, it will surely be a fun night in Nashville for all Georgia fans who are excited to see one of the program’s more well-rounded squads compete in the postseason.

I think Georgia will continue to ride its wave of momentum and derail the Sooners 84-79 and face UK in the second round. 

Pinto: Georgia has really found its groove in the final games of the season, winning four straight games with a massive win over No. 3 Florida.

Prior to SEC play, the Bulldogs had a strong start to their season by going 12-1 with a loss to No. 15 Marquette that was responded to with a victory over No. 22 St. John’s.

To begin in-conference play Georgia lost to No. 24 Ole Miss, but had huge back-to-back ranked wins over Kentucky and Oklahoma before going on a 1-5 skid. That six-game stretch included four losses to top-six SEC teams.

Although the Bulldogs have a 4-10 record against ranked opponents, they have won games they should have over opponents like South Carolina and LSU. Additionally, they’ve played competitively against No. 22 Mississippi State and No. 1 Auburn.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma has struggled in the SEC, going 4-8 to close its season. Oklahoma was able to pull off three ranked wins in that stint, but the Sooners had also lost by 20 points or more and lost to a lowly LSU team.

For that reason, I believe Georgia should handle Oklahoma just fine, especially considering the Bulldogs handed Oklahoma a double digit loss in January. Georgia appears to be more battle tested while turning it on at the right time to close the season. 

What are Kentucky’s odds against either first-round opponent?

Russell: I believe Kentucky will have a strong showing against either team. Although new, this Kentucky squad understands the significance of the SEC Tournament and has the tools to beat either side that it faces.

With that being said, in the regular season, UK lost to Georgia in Athens, and I believe that Kentucky will come out seeking revenge when it matters the most. UK lost that game 82-69 when Newell caught fire with a team-high 17 points on 5-9 shooting from the field and 2-5 shooting from deep.

Kentucky barely knocked off the Sooners back on Feb. 26, winning by just one point as Otega Oweh scored 21 of UK’s final 23 points. There was some trash-talking and boiled blood on the court after that game, including between UK’s Brandon Garrison and Oklahoma’s freshman guard Jeremiah Fears.

Now, I believe that if Kentucky plays Oklahoma in the second round, the roles will be reversed and Oklahoma will come out hungrier. Kentucky has to get past its first game in both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments no matter what, and the players know that they have to do so as well.  

Whichever side the Wildcats see in the second round, they definitely have what it takes to execute, but the question, like in all previous SEC Tournaments and NCAA Tournaments still remains: Will they?

Pinto: Regardless of who the Wildcats play, it will be their game to lose.

Kentucky narrowly beat Oklahoma in Norman 83-82 thanks to Oweh’s late game heroics against his former squad.

While Kentucky is looking to get its revenge over Georgia after losing 82-69 in Athens, which could be viewed as the Wildcats’ worst SEC loss of the season, the Wildcats have unequivocally struggled on the road this season, going 4-10 in the regular season.

However, Kentucky has played strongly in neutral sites, upsetting No. 6 Duke and No. 7 Gonzaga, two massive wins. In my eyes, those wins makeup for a horrible 85-65 loss to Ohio State in New York City.

Mark Pope and company should have plenty of confidence against either Georgia or Oklahoma, they should have plenty of pride in their neutral site victories and beating eight top-15 opponents.

How do you feel about Kentucky’s chances in a rematch against Alabama?

Russell: Against Alabama, at a neutral site where Kentucky has played some of its best basketball, I believe the Cats will shape up fairly well.

UK kicked off its most recent contest with Alabama on a 20-9 run before falling 96-83 in Tuscaloosa, playing Bama fairly well up until around the midway point of the second half.

Now, on a neutral court in Nashville, I believe the Cats would be able to hang in there again if the opportunity presented itself.

I’m not saying the Cats will come out and blister the Tide with made shots, however, if Kentucky’s defense, which has played better since the return of point guard Lamont Butler, continues to close out shots, I believe it’s offense will be able to stay efficient enough and give Bama a run for its money.

Andrew Carr would have to lock up Alabama’s Grant Nelson, who helped lift the Tide to the Final Four last season. Nelson is currently putting 11.7 points per game but recently put up a team-high 23 points en route to helping Alabama pick up a 93-91 overtime win over No. 1 Auburn on March 9.

Again, it all comes down to which Kentucky Wildcat team decides to show up as the Cats have also been very inconsistent throughout the regular season.

Pinto: The Wildcats will be packing their bags after playing Alabama.

Losing Jaxson Robinson is major and Mark Pope will have to turn to someone in the backcourt to save the day for Kentucky.

The Crimson Tide’s Nelson and Mark Sears gave Kentucky 49 points in their first matchup in Lexington. In the second, Sears went off for 30 points with three other Alabama players scoring in the double digits, none of which were Nelson.

The Wildcats have not been a good defensive team all season. Losing Robinson in the backcourt hurts badly because it places a lot of pressure on Butler to step up defensively.

Meanwhile, I don’t believe Koby Brea, Trent Noah, Collin Chandler or Travis Perry are going to be able to play catch-up with Sears scoring in Robinson’s absence.

Furthermore, Sears has nine games with 24 points or more. Two of them have come against Kentucky. Nate Oats has done a spectacular job with Alabama and this team will make it far in March because of its versatile ability score.

All in all, how deep does Kentucky go in the 2025 SEC Tournament and what does it need to do to get there?

Russell: I believe that Kentucky can make it as far as the championship game before likely running into Auburn.

If Kentucky takes care of business against Oklahoma/Georgia and Alabama, it will then most likely run into the Florida Gators, who it already beat 106-100 in Rupp Arena back on Jan. 4.

That game would be a real barn burner as both sides are top-ten in the nation for points scored per game with UK (third) averaging 85.6 points per game compared to Florida’s (ninth) 84.3.

The Gators’ Walter Clayton Jr. is a serious threat as he is currently averaging a team-high 17 points a night while also coming off of a regular-season closing 23-point outing in Florida’s 90-71 win over the Ole Miss Rebels.

All in all, Kentucky cannot skip a beat and come out lackadaisical because any SEC team can beat anyone on any given night.

UK’s offense will need to be strong, but its defense will need to be stronger. Koby Brea, Butler, Oweh and Amari Williams will all do their things and, if the defense can stay knotted as a whole, UK may be able to dance on a little further in what should be one of the best SEC Tournaments in recent memory.

Pinto: Kentucky will lose to Alabama in the quarterfinals.

However, if it wins, it will likely face Florida.

In the pair’s lone matchup this season, Kentucky narrowly beat the Gators 106-100 in the SEC opener, which featured Brea playing his best game of the season.

A lot has changed since that game. Florida has emerged as a powerhouse in the SEC with notable wins over No. 1 Tennessee, No. 1 Auburn, No. 7 Alabama and No. 12 Texas A&M. I don’t see Kentucky beating Florida twice this season.

It would require monster games from Oweh, Williams and either Butler or Brea to outscore the Gators. That will have to carry over for the championship game, too.

The bench will have to play strong and outscore its opponents’ reserves to take some pressure off the primary scorers.