UK received the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, as expected.

The Cats will play the winner of the play-in game between Mississippi Valley State (21-12) and Western Kentucky (15-18).

A potential Round of 32 game would have UK play either No. 8 Iowa State (22-10) or No. 9 Connecticut (20-13).

The other top teams in Kentucky’s region:

No. 2 Duke (27-6)

No. 3 Baylor (27-7)

No. 4 Indiana (25-8)

No. 5 Wichita State

No. 6 UNLV (26-8)

No. 7 Notre Dame (22-11)

No. 8 Iowa State (22-10)

No. 9 Connecticut (20-13)

No. 10 Xavier (21-12).

A quick assessment: UK got a fair bracket. One of the main concerns was UK having to play in St. Louis against, potentially, Kansas or Missouri. In terms of location and high-seed opponents, the Cats came out winners. They get to play potential Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Atlanta, and Duke is the weakest of the two seeds. And the two teams I think could give UK the most trouble, Syracuse and North Carolina, are on the other half of the bracket and wouldn’t play until the national championship game.

As for all other teams, you can talk yourself into them if you try. Baylor can certainly be a tough matchup. Indiana has beaten UK already this year and could (obviously) do so again. The 8/9 teams are pretty solid.

But you could do that for any region. If UK is truly the best team in the nation, it should be able to beat anybody. And the Cats get to start that process on Thursday in Louisville.

Follow @KernelASmith

or email him at [email protected].