NASHVILLE – The good, the bad and the ugly from Kentucky’s brutally quick exit from the Southeastern Conference Tournament following a 97-87 loss to No. 7 seed Texas A&M on Friday.
The good, in what is admittedly a stretch, comes in the form of a question. Did you really believe this Kentucky team was capable of winning 14 straight games? That is what would have been required for a national title with five wins to end season, three at the SEC and six in the NCAA Tournament.
Losing now resets the clock, meaning six wins over three weeks is the new goal.
“We’re a great team every time someone counts us out,” said freshman guard Rob Dillingham, who scored 27 points. “I think everything happens for a reason. So our team will come back after a loss and we just take it as our wake up call.”
The bad. Only Kentucky has the ability to throw a wet blanket over an entire party town like Music City USA, but the Cats did just that with yet another one-and-done stay at the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
2024: A 97-87 loss to No. 7 seed Texas A&M.
2023: An 80-73 loss to No. 6 seed Vanderbilt.
2022: A 77-71 win over No. 11 seed Vanderbilt followed by a 69-62 loss to No. 2 Tennessee.
2021: A 74-73 loss to No. 9 seed Mississippi State.
2020: Tournament cancelled.
For those scoring at home, Kentucky has a 1-4 record in the SEC Tournament since 2019 and has now lost three consecutive tourney games for the first time ever in a conference that was formed in 1933.
The ugly. The way America’s most passionate fan base has been treated by its team since the pandemic. Thousands upon thousands of Kentucky fans scrape and save just to spend part of their vacation time in Nashville to cheer on the Cats. But since 2019, that has been fool’s gold. The old adage, ‘Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me,’ needs to be amended. Fool me four times in a row and fans may look at each other and ask, “What the hell are we doing?”
Calipari has made no secret of his dislike for the SEC Tournament, but he tried to couch that attitude moments after Friday’s loss.
