This Isn’t Kentucky basketball, Or Is It?

It was a long drive home from Nashville early Saturday morning. It was a drive I’ve gotten used to making. However the drive used to happen on Sunday afternoons at the SEC Tournament. That seems like a decade ago … actually, it almost was.

As I was waiting for the shuttle outside Bridgestone Arena Friday after the ass whooping UK took from Texas A&M, I noticed something different. Kentucky fans were heading to the bars, perhaps to drown their sorrows but not one fan was openly upset. There was no sparring with other fan bases like in the past. It was as if losing was okay and years ago it wasn’t.

Every team has a down year. Coaching changes, injuries and unexpected happenings can cause a team to not meet expectations. When this happens in consecutive years there are no excuses that should be acceptable.

Four years ago the expectation for Kentucky fans was always a national championship. We have now reached the point we are hoping to get through the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament that starts Thursday for UK in Pittsburgh when UK plays No. 14 seed Oakland. Times have certainly changed.

Let me state, I am not a Cal hater. I am not putting a for sale sign in his yard but there are issues that need to be addressed.

We have two projected first-round draft picks (Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham) that do not start. They come in after the first two or three minutes. There is no reason for this. What this does is start the game off with Kentucky in the hole way too often. Numbers do not lie and the numbers will read that Cal’s starting lineup is not an offensive machine.

My advice to the fans: If you partake in sports betting, always bet the first team to 10 will be Kentucky’s opponent. You can thank me later.

I used to sit on my coffee table when the game was close. I haven’t done that in years. My daughter used to text me after every Kentucky loss. She doesn’t do that anymore. The morning following a loss I would be in a funk. Some mornings I wake up and a loss is not the first thing to come to my mind. It used to not be like this.

I left my suitcase open with the essentials inside with hopes of traveling to watch the Cats this weekend. In years past I knew I would be able to go because Kentucky was going to be a high enough seed (in the NCAA) that it would be feasible. It felt good going into the SEC Tournament. However when a coach doesn’t think it is important that reflects on his team and here we are.

My love for Kentucky basketball has not faded in the least. I haven’t changed, Kentucky basketball has.

The next few weeks are important to the program. The players deserve a run. The fans deserve a run. Above all, Kentucky basketball needs to return to the top.

See you in Pittsburgh.