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I don't know how the selection committee will look at Kentucky, and honestly I don't think they will get in after the poor performance last night.

BUT, there is still room for optimism. Let's take a look at a few of the past teams...

2000 - The team finished with a 22-9 record going into the tournament, including an ugly 86-72 loss to Arkansas in the first round of the SEC tourney. UK made it in. They make the tournament as a 5 seed and defeat St. Bonaventure in OT before losing 52-50 to Syracuse in the second round.

2002 - Tayshaun Prince's senior year - the year UK began the season 4th in the nation before a 64-52 loss to Western Kentucky at Rupp Arena put a damper on those expectations. Team turmoil led to a 5-4 finish on the regular season for this Kentucky team that had a lot of injuries and distractions off the court. After losing 70-57 in the first round of the SEC tournament to South Carolina, this 20-9 Kentucky team still made the tournament before losing to Maryland in the sweet 16, 78-68.

2006 - This team finished up with a 22-13 record and a second round loss to UConn in the NCAA tournament. They had two stretches during the regular season where they lost three games in a row, including a couple of real ugly losses such as a 73-46 loss to Kansas, a 79-53 loss to an Indiana team that would later go on to a stretch where they lost 7 of 8 games, and two 15 point losses to Florda, who won the title that year. Despite their poor performances at stretches during the season, this team still made the tourney.

2007 - After Tubby Smith made a few roster changes and Rondo departed for the NBA, there was still optimism with the return of Randolph Morris, Joe Crawford, and Ramel Bradley. After a 15-3 start, this team limped its way to the SEC tournament, winning only 5 of their next 12 games. They lost in the second round to Mississippi State in OT. The Cats had a 3 point lead near the end of regulation, when Sheray Thomas had a lane violation on a Jodie Meeks made free throw. The game went to OT and Kentucky lost. However, despite the 21-11 record, the team still made the tournament before losing 88-76 to Kansas in the second round.

2008 - Billy Gillispie's first year at Kentucky featured a team that finished 18-13 with a first round loss to Marquette. This team made the tournament despite an 84-68 loss at Rupp to Gardner-Webb, an 81-72 loss to San Diego at Rupp, a 79-76 loss to UAB in Freedom Hall, and an ugly 83-69 away loss at Houston. They also had blowout losses to UNC (it was only by 9, but game was much worse), to UL, and Indiana. The team had a strong performance in the SEC finishing 12-4, but lost Patrick Patterson (who was averaging 17 points and 9 boards a game) late in the year due to injury. Remember that there was no Cauley-Stein to back up Patterson - their backups were Perry Stevenson, walk-on Mark Coury who transferred to Cornell and played limited minutes, and 7'2 Jared Carter. Other than Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford, the starters were Michael Porter and Ramon Harris. Porter decided not to play his last year of basketball after the season, and Harris and Stevenson played very few minutes when Calipari came to coach. The only notable loss in SEC play was a 93*52 loss to Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt and finished with a 12-4 SEC record, but a 60-56 OT loss in the first round of the SEC tournament did not help Kentucky's cause.

2009 - After a 111-103 loss to VMI at home and a blowout loss at UNC, Kentucky surged its way to a 16-4 record that included a 7-0 start in the SEC, lifted by the strong play of Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson. However, chemistry issues and Billy Gillispie's questionable habits eventually got the best of this team, as they limped their way to a 3-8 finish, which included losses at home to South Carolina, Mississippi State, and a Georgia team that was much worse than the one UK recently lost to. It didn't help that the SEC was way, way down that year. The best team that year was LSU, and they weren't even top 15 material. After losing to LSU in the second round of the SEC tourney, Kentucky went on to the NIT and lost to Notre Dame in the semis, ending a big winning streak against Notre dame. Kentucky finished the year 22-14.


Whether or not the selection committee will pick Kentucky, I'm not sure...but, here are some facts from the recent-past to ponder.