Kentucky was designated the No. 2 seed in the East Region and will begin its NCAA Tournament march against No. 15 seed Saint Peter's on Thursday in Indianapolis.

Saint Peter's (19-11) finished second to Rick Pitino's Iona squad in the MAAC but went on a run to win the league tournament.

The Peacocks are known for their defense, ranking No. 34 nationally in KenPom's defensive efficiency rankings, but they are 322nd nationally in scoring at only 66.9 points per game.

Tipoff is slated for 7:10 p.m. ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Indiana Pacers in downtown Indianapolis. The game will be broadcast by CBS.

If the Wildcats (26-7) win their opener, they would face the winner of the 7/10 game between Murray State and San Francisco in a Saturday matchup at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

"These guys haven't played in an NCAA Tournament, so I'm trying to keep them focused on the little pod," UK coach John Calipari said. "And, really, basically just saying you don't need to worry about San Francisco or Murray because we don't know who's winning that game. We need to worry about Saint Peter's, and that's how this goes. You're playing in a pod for a weekend. That's all you worry about, nothing else."

Kentucky will be making its record 59th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Cats are 48-10 in opening games.

It will mark the first-ever matchup between the Cats and the Peacocks.

If Kentucky advances beyond the first weekend, it would play East Regional games in Philadelphia. Texas (6), Virginia Tech (11), Purdue (3), or Yale (14) would be waiting in the Round of 16.

The upper half of the bracket features No. 1 seed and defending national champion Baylor, Norfolk State (16), North Carolina (8), Marquette (9), St. Mary's (5), the play-in winner of Wyoming/Indiana (12), UCLA (4), and Akron (13).

Gonzaga (West), Arizona (South), and Kansas (Midwest) drew the other three No. 1 seeds.

Five other SEC teams earned a bid, although none of those landed in the East. The other league teams were Auburn (2 in Midwest), Tennessee (3 in South), Arkansas (4 in West), Alabama (6 in West), and LSU (6 in Midwest).

Despite making a run to the SEC Tournament championship game in Tampa, Texas A&M was snubbed by the NCAA Tournament committee, which issued nine bids to the Big Ten and only six to the SEC.