Has Kentucky’s Tourney Bubble Burst?

The Kentucky Wildcats are certainly not used to being a bubble team this time of year and it showed last night.

The Wildcats, who have endured a notably poor season (by their standards), dropped another game to a sub-par team as they fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 72-62, which also dropped their overall record to 20-10 on the year.

With such a mediocre record and considering the fact that the Wildcats are currently unranked, there’s no question that they are on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Many experts and analysts have had them on the bubble for the past few weeks, so was this latest loss the bubble burster?

Their resume is less than impressive. Their most notable win came against Ole Miss on Jan.29 when the Rebels were ranked 16th in the country. They had chances to notch significant wins against Duke, Louisville and Florida this season, but fell short on each occasion.

Their preseason expectations will also likely hurt their postseason chances. They came into the 2012-2013 with one of the most highly touted, albeit young (what’s new?), teams in the country and have severely underachieved. Usually the Wildcats, who are also the NCAA defending champions mind you, can expect a No. 1 seed come tourney time; not to be left out in the cold entirely.

But then again, the season isn’t quite over yet.

Kentucky will still have a couple more chances to earn its spot in the tournament and although they’ve lost their last two games to inferior teams (Arkansas, Georgia) finishing strong in the SEC Tournament will likely leave a more lasting impression on the tournament selection committee, especially if they win in style.

And even before the SEC tournament, they have another big game coming up this weekend – the regular season finale against No. 11 Florida. They’ll have a chance to not only avenge their loss to the Gators from earlier this year, but they’ve also have a chance to improve their seeding for the SEC tourney.

Still, the Wildcats are in a far from advantageous position at the moment. Their backs are against the wall and their only way into the tournament will likely be finishing first or second in the SEC championship. So has the bubble burst on the Wildcats? Maybe not just yet, but it’s swelling and about to pop and the slightest extra amount of pressure that’s to be applied.