By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today sports editor
Kentucky has never been a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will open the prestigious event in St. Louis, where the program began a Final Four run in 2014 as a No. 8 seed.
The Wildcats (21-13), the seventh seed in the Midwest Region, will take on No. 10 seed Santa Clara in the opening round on Friday at 12:15 p.m. (CBS). The Broncos (26-8) will be making their first appearance since 1996.
“We’ve just got to stack those games (and) whatever we did (in the SEC Tournament), we’ve got to rely on that,” Kentucky senior guard Otega Oweh said. “It’s really crunch time.”
Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek coached under Rick Pitino at Kentucky from 1989-93 before taking over at Miami of Ohio.
The Redhawks (31-1) were a big story, too. Miami finished the regular season at 31-0 before losing to UMass in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. They earned a bid to the tournament as a First Four participant.
Kentucky will be making an NCAA record 63rd appearance in the tournament and reached the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 3 seed under first-year coach Mark Pope. The Wildcats defeated Ttoy and Illinois in Milwaukee before losing to Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee In Indianapolis.
The Wildcats are 50-12 in NCAA openers and have won 27 of their last 30 first-round games in the prestigious event.
The Wildcats went 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament before losing to Florida in the quarterfinals.
St. John’s, led by former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, is a No. 5 seed in the East Region and is in the same bracket as UConn, the second seed in the East. The Red Storm defeated the Huskies to win a second straight Big East Conference Tournament title and also captured the regular-season crown for a second consecutive season.
Ten teams from the Southeastern Conference made the field, more than any other league in the nation.
WOMEN
Kentucky (23-10) earned a No. 5 seed in the Fort Worth Region and will take on No. 12 seed James Madison in Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday.
Wildcats coach Kenny Brooks coached at James Madison from 2002-16 and led them to five NCAA Tournament appearances and won 337 games. Brooks also played at James Madison.