As demanding as they usually are, Kentucky basketball fans were none too pleased with their beloved Wildcats' early expulsion from the Big Dance last year. Kentucky's second-round defeat at the hands of UAB, ended up being one of the tourney's more memorable upsets and sent a team some thought couldn’t be stopped home, gaining the disdain of many an office pool player throughout the country. Kentucky coach Tubby Smith received his normal round of toasting on Internet bulletin boards and radio talk shows, but perhaps not as much as he might have gotten a few years before. That's because even the most irrational Kentucky fan can see what Tubby has accomplished in Lexington. Account for the fact that last year's team was only the second in Smith’s tenure that didn't at least reach the Sweet 16. Kentucky's record under Smith has been marvelous and includes a national championship in ’98 and two Elite Eight berths. If the way a program measures up is judged by how it performs in March, Smith has maintained the high level of Kentucky basketball, a perpetual national championship favorite he inherited when Rick Pitino took his unfortunate fling with the Boston Celtics in 1997, and has taken it to a whole other level. However, what is more impressive to basketball insiders are the feats that the Wildcats have accomplished in the regular season the last couple of years. Flexing their muscles for the long haul, the Wildcats' play in the Southeastern Conference has been more than dominant. In ’02-‘03, Kentucky won the conference's regular-season championship, clawing and skirmishing its way to an unblemished record. That's 16-0 if you're scoring at home. The Wildcats then won the SEC Tournament, giving them a 19-0 record against their league brethren for the season.
A year ago, Kentucky won the SEC Eastern Division with a 13-3 record, and then won the league tournament title for the fifth time under Smith. Add up the two-year numbers and they end up like this: 35-3 against teams in the SEC, a conference that has been consistently ranked the last few years among the top three conferences in conference RPI.
To break that down that record a little bit further, Kentucky's league record away from its cozy Rupp Arena has been just plain ridiculous. The Wildcats were 8-0 in SEC road games in '02-03 and 6-2 last season. That’s right they have pulled a 14-2 road record in the SEC, and yes that's stupid. Tubby has somehow found a way to keep this program stocked with intelligent, hard-working guys who buy into this system that stresses tough half-court defense. Smith's teams don't play the exciting run and gun type of ball that Pitino's teams did, but Kentucky fans have noticed a common item in the two systems. Both are victorious.
Once again in 2004-05, Tubby finds himself with the intimidating prospect of replacing vets who won a lot of games in their careers. But, with proficient help provided by, among others, associate head coach David Hobbs-one of the nation's two or three most valuable assistant coaches-Smith will find a way to manufacture his team out of the returning guys and the newcomers that are jumping into the mix. Where is the help coming from this year? Smith, the one who “can’t recruit” picked up three Parade All-Americans in the spring signing period last year. That’s tough luck for the rest of the SEC.
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