John Calipari's team cannot get to No. 1 in the SEC but it can earn a double-bye in the SEC Tournament.
Beating Auburn Saturday would put Kentucky in great position not only to help its NCAA Tournament seeding but also be assured of a double bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament that goes to the top four seeds.
Alabama leads the SEC at 14-1 while Texas A&M is next at 13-2. Kentucky is third at 10-5 followed by Tennessee and Auburn both at 9-6. Missouri, Arkansas and Vanderbilt follow at 8-7.
A win Saturday would mean UK could finish no worse than 11-7 in SEC play and that’s the best Auburn could do. With a win over Auburn, UK would own the tiebreaker over the Tigers.
Kentucky also owns the tiebreaker over Tennessee, which finishes the season at Auburn March 4. Auburn also still has to play at Alabama and Alabama closes the season at Texas A&M. Arkansas plays at Alabama today and then Tennessee before hosting UK to end the regular season.
“Here we are kind of in the thick of it,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “At the same time, we look at our schedule, and we’ve got to go to Kentucky and go to Alabama and finish up with Tennessee at home. So, we’ve got a tough row to hoe.”
If Kentucky loses to Auburn, it will drop into a tie with Auburn and have its own “tough row to hoe” with its final game at Arkansas because if UK and Auburn would end up tied the tiebreaker would be with the Tigers.
Kentucky’s best scenario is just win out and be assured of the No. 3 seed.
