10 teams vulnerable to be upset in the first round of March Madness

There is an elite tier of college basketball this season, but it's an exclusive club. If your team is on the outside of that five or six-team group, then they could be vulnerable to a Round of 64 exit in the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari / Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY

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Kentucky. . 23-8 (13-5). Net: 18 Projected Seed: 3. . 2. 528. . .

The Kentucky Wildcats lost in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal on Friday night and after that performance might go 0-2 in the postseason. The narrative surrounding the Wildcats on their five-game win streak to end the regular season was that John Calipari had fixed their defense, but the numbers just didn’t bear that out.

Over the final three games of the regular season, Kentucky’s defensive efficiency dropped from 1.029 to 1.090 points per possession despite wins over Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and SEC regular season champ, Tennessee.

With Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard coming off the bench to play with Antonio Reeves, Kentucky has the most offensive talent of any team in the country. In a track meet, they can beat anyone, but when an opponent, like Texas A&M, who knocked off the Wildcats 97-87, can play physically and defend, Kentucky gets into trouble.

With the talent on the roster, Cal should be able to take this team to the Final Four, but he never addressed its fatal flaw.

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