"10-loss Tubby"

I see that the national media are jumping in the fray, especially after this week's fold against Georgia. (BTW, the columnist giving me today's title) He didn't say anything (well, sort of) that I haven't. The Cats are mediocre and are not a top-tier program. If you look at the traditional powers, how does UK stack up as far as ranking, results, tournament results etc? How does UK compare against UK, KU, Duke, UCLA? This year significantly lower. How have we compared in the last 5 years? That is the question clave. One year does not a reputation make. We should not all pile on Tubby for one mediocre or even poor year. Here have been the recent teams:

• 2005-6: 22-13- lost twice to Florida and Vandy, lost to KU by 27 and UNC by 4, lost to IU but beat UL.
• 2004-5: 28-6- lost to MSU in Elite Eight, lost twice to #24 Florida, lost to UNC and to KU, beat both IU and UL.
  
• 2003-4: 27-5- lost to UAB 2nd round of NCAA, defeated UCLA, MSU, UNC, IU and #9 Miss St. Nice start, Poor Finish.
• 2002-3: 32-4- lost to Marquette Elite Eight (that was a Marquette team with now-superstar Dwayne Wade. who knew?), defeated #14 UNC, #6 IU, #9 Notre Dame, #21 Gonzaga, lost to UL. Good team all for naught.
  
• 2001-2: 20-10- lost in NCAA Sweet 16 to Maryland (eventual champion?), defeated UNC, IU, UL, lost to Duke. Had two future NBA regulars in Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans, but still lost 10 games.

Tubby admittedly has had some nice teams; you don't lose 6, 5 and 4 games unless in modern college bball unless you're pretty good. None-the-less, UK didn't have one 10-loss season throughout the 90s, but I predict they will have their third of this decade this year. They haven't been to the Final Four since the championship of '98 (w/Pitino recruits). Tubby will now set the single mark of number of teams between Final Four appearances. Good one Tubby. If we compare our teams to the best programs- and we should- then they've gotten the job done here-n-there and the Cats haven't. They've been to the Final Four recently enough and UK hasn't. They are top-tier programs and UK isn't. We're 2nd-tier, competing with Tennessee and Alabama. Those teams are football schools with good basketball teams. We are not a good football school, and have dominated bball in the area from the 1940s-1990s. That time is over. "10-Loss Tubby Time" is now.