Cats, Cats, Cats

This is the kind of thing you work on when you want to avoid showering or doing other work. The first is performance summaries of Tubby's teams. These stats were mostly gathered from bigbluehistory.net :

• 06-07..........21-11.......... (so far)
  

• 05-06..........22-13 ......... L 2nd round vs. Connecticut


• 04-05.......... 28-6........... L Elite Eight vs Michigan St.


• 03-04.......... 27-5........... L 2nd round vs. UAB


• 02-03.......... 32-4.......... L Elite 8 vs. Marquette E8
  


• 01-02.......... 22-10 ......... L Sweet Sixteen vs. Maryland


• 00-01 ..........24-10 ..........L Sweet Sixteen vs. USC


• 99-00.......... 23-10.......... L2nd round vs. Syracuse


• 98-99.......... 28-9 ............L Elite 8 vs. Michigan St.


• 97-98.......... 35-4 ..........National Championship

The second batch of useless information only runs up to 00-01. I think this is a pretty good indicator of the continuing excellence- and there lack- of the UK program. This has the year, the final ranking and the highest ranking in parenthesis. If also contains those years with lack of rankings. This info. comes entirely from sportsstats.com, but that runs out at the end of the 00-01 season. The audacity of such a person to not continue so I can complete this useless project!

Hall

• 76-77'...... -- (6)- 12 weeks unranked
• 77-78'...... 1 National Champs
• 78-79'...... -- (6) 9 weeks unranked
• 79-80'...... 4 (2)
• 80-81'...... 8 (1)
• 81-82' ......15 (2 for 4 weeks)
• 82-83'......12 (2)
• 83-84'...... 3 (1) Final Four vs. Georgetown. UK shoots 3/33 in 2nd half that game.
  

Sutton

• 84-85' ...... -- (18) 16 weeks unranked
• 85-86'...... 3 (3)
• 86-87' ...... --(9) 9 weeks unranked
• 87-88' ...... 6 (1 for 3 polls)
• 88-89' ...... -- "death sentence year"

The Eddy Sutton years were marked by his alcoholism, the FedEx payment scandal and the Eric Manual ACT scandal. And all-round mess

Pitino

• 90-91'...... 9 (8) 2 weeks unranked
• 91-92' ......6 (6 "Unforgettables" and GGoAT vs. Duke)
• 92-93'...... 2 (1)
• 93-94' ......7 (1)
• 94-95'......2 (2)
• 95-96' ......2 (1 for 5 polls) National Champs
  
• 96-97' ......5 (3) Final vs. Arizona

Smith

• 97-98' ......5 (4) National Champs
• 98-99' ......8 (3)
• 99-00' ......19 (11) 2 weeks unranked
• 00-01' ......9 (9) 11 weeks unranked
• 01-02' ...... 16 (6)
• 02-03' ...... 1 (1)
• 03-04' ...... 2 (2) Really, there were a high 10s, low-teens team all season and jumped late.
• 04-05' ...... 7 (3)
• 05-06' ...... -- (4!)
• 06-07' ...... -- (20) 11 or so weeks unranked- This season is unfinished, but the Big Blue faithful see little hope.

So far Tubby's reign certainly isn' the disaster that was Eddie Sutton. He is wearing a Championship ring, courtesy of Rick Pitino's stash of studs. His peformance has been more up-and-down. The 02-03' season was one that really hinged on Keith Bogan's ankle injury in the NCAA tournament. In this realm he's getting grief for multiple seasons of double-digit losses, this year (high likely) setting/tying a mark for most seasons between the Final Four, and for the last two years of not even ending with a ranking. He's the anti Joe B. Hall of the 70s and 80s. Joe B had LOADS of talent but couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag. Tubby can coach Xs and Os, but can't recruit or at least asses for shit. He has numerous players playing regularly in the NBA: Tayshaun Prince (Pistons), Rajon Rondo (Celtics), Chuck Hayes (Rockets), Keith Bogans (Magic), Nazr Mohammed (Pistons), Jamaal Magliore (Trailblazers) and Scott Padgett (Nets). Some of these guys are pretty serviceable players, but the Tubster didn't win at the highest level as other coaches.

Yes, we're living the dreams of Rupp, Hall, and Pitino (all with rings, Pitino with 1.5 from Tubby's assistance), but UK isn't Ole Miss. It isn't Iowa. It isn't Clemson. It's the winningest program ever in college basketball, and trails only UCLA in championships, but has done it over a much longer span than did UCLA and did it with 3 different coaches. It's the only positive tradition the state of Kentucky has. Bourbon, smoking and gambling aren't good for you. It's wake-up time Orlando.

God, what a waste of time. I would've been better off meditating all the time it took me to write this.