LEXINGTON, Ky (ABC36 NEWS NOW)- Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball are both going dancing on Friday, March 21 in the NCAA Tournament. Head coaches Mark Pope and Kenny Brooks both earn top five seeds in their first years at UK and one of them will open the tournament at home. Meet Me in Milw aukee The number 3 seeded Kentucky men’s basketball team will begin the road to it’s potential ninth national title in Milwaukee, Wisconsin versus Troy at 7:10 ET. UK will look to make it past the competition’s first round for the first time since 2023 and capture Pope’s first ever win in The Big Dance as a head coach. For the second year in a row UK is the third seed. The Cats are 6-4 in the competition as that seed including 2-1 in the first round. Kentucky heads into March Madness coming off of a loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, but the Cats did win a game in the conference tourney for the first time since 2022. Pope’s squad is 22-11 overall and boasts an impressive resume for his first year in charge. Pope is heading into his third NCAA Tournament as a head coach. He twice led BYU to March Madness with the most recent appearance coming last year as the number 6 seed. This is the second meeting against the Trojans in UK program history with the only matchup coming in 2018 when the Wildcats beat the Sun Belt side. Troy captured the Sun Belt Tournament title by downing Arkansas State and earning a 23-10 overall record. If Pope and Company best the Trojans, they will face the winner of number 6 Illinois or the winner of the play-in game between Texas and Xavier. UK is 0-1 against the Longhorns this season and 2-1 all time. Versus Xavier, the Wildcats are 37-2. Finally, Kentucky has a 11-4 record versus the Illini overall and a 4-0 mark in March Madness. Home Court Advantage Kentucky women’s basketball has earned the right to host the first and second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history in Brooks’ first season at the helm. The Wildcats are the 4 seed for the fifth time ever. They will face 13 seeded Liberty in the first round with the chance to win Brooks’ first ever NCAA Tournament game as UK’s head coach. For the first time since 2022, the Cats are looking for a first March Madness win. Then, former head coach Kyra Elzy led the team to The Big Dance, but lost to Princeton 69-62 in the first round in Bloomington, Indiana. Brooks is looking to continue his streak of recent postseason success. In 2023, he led Virginia Tech to the Final Four as a 1 seed before losing to eventual champions LSU. With the automatic bid to March Madness, Brooks earns his fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in a row. Last season in Blacksburg, Brooks’ Hokies were also a 4 seed. Liberty brings a 26-6 overall record to the Commonwealth and claimed its first Conference USA title by besting Middle Tennessee on Saturday. UK has been out of action since dropping out of the SEC Tournament quarterfinals to Oklahoma on March 7, but has amassed a 22-7 overall record. The Bluegrass will host another first round matchup between 5 seeded Kansas State and 12 seeded Fairfield. If Kentucky wins, it’ll face the winner of that matchup. Categories: Featured, More Sports, Solid Blue, Sports Tags: BBN, Bracket, Kentucky, Lexington, march madness, Milwaukee, Wildcats ...read more read less