Kentucky basketball will face LSU on Wednesday in the SEC Tournament

Kentucky draws the 9-seed and will take on the LSU Tigers in the SEC Tournament.

Mar 7, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during the second half against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

We now know when Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats will take the floor in Nashville. After a day full of results, Kentucky will officially be a 9-seed, starting things off against the 16-seed LSU Tigers on Wednesday night at 12:30 p.m. ET.

This one is an interesting matchup, but one Kentucky simply should just take care of business against. We've said that multiple times this season where it has backfired, but this time, it's really important for the Wildcats to do that. In their regular-season game against LSU, Kentucky needed to overcome an 18-point deficit to pull off the miracle win, thanks to a Malachi Moreno game-winner. They're hoping things go much better this time around because if it doesn't, it will be too late to avenge it. A good start will be important because Kentucky shot just 8-30 in the first half in Baton Rouge as they fell behind big.

Ahead of a big couple of weeks, Mark Pope shared on Saturday what he says is the beauty of the postseason and that is the fact that it's all about that one particular game, putting all your focus on that and never having the ability to look ahead.

"The great thing about a tournament is there's only one game," Pope said when asked about how his team needs to approach their mindset in the postseason. "We'll talk about one game, that's all it is. Postseason is one game, so we're gonna prepare for one game on Wednesday and we're gonna put our whole heart and soul to it. That's the only thing that matters to us and that's the beauty of the postseason."

Mar 3, 2026; College Station, Texas, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) looks on during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

What the mindset of the Wildcats heading into the SEC Tournament in particular? "We're going to win, like, that's why we're going," Pope said. "We're going to win, so that's what we're gonna do."

That's the right mindset to have as Kentucky gets set for an SEC Tournament where fans are really hoping to see a good showing from them after ending the regular season losing five of their last seven games. Fans need to see some kind of bounce back from their team. If they do pick up the victory over LSU, Kentucky would then face Missouri the following Thursday. Manage that and the Wildcats would get a rematch with Florida on Friday.

Kentucky needs to win on Wednesday against LSU, or things could get ugly around Big Blue Nation before the NCAA Tournment. Not only would a loss likely move you down a seed line on many projections, but the tone from fans on this season will get even worse and rightfully so. One game at a time.