[Cactus Jack]

The NCAA title is obviously the ultimate goal. Past that, I'd put Final Fours ahead of getting both the regular season and conference tournament titles, but think that all of those matter.

Winning a national championship every year is unrealistic. Winning three in a decade is probably about as close to perfection as we'll see, and you want something to hang your hat on in the years that you fall short.

If it's 1996 or 2012 and we lose the conference final but win the national championship, no one should be complaining. If we're not winning SEC championships and bowing out in the Sweet 16 or earlier across a number of consecutive years, then that's a problem.

For me, there are only four true blue bloods: Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, and Duke. UConn just seems too recent but will be undisputed if they keep Hurley and don't slip off the path that they're on; UCLA's success is too dated, but they jump back into the conversation quickly with another national title and some strong seasons. Others like Villanova, Michigan State, Louisville, etc., may be in some discussions, but I think that there's distinct breaks between the four and six that I just mentioned and everyone else.

As far as tradition goes, Kentucky has more conference titles than all other members combined. Keeping it that way, which we haven't been trending toward doing (and will only get tougher as more teams are added), is important in maintaining our status among the blue blood programs.

Status is vital for a school like Kentucky that doesn't have tons of in-state talent and needs to recruit nationally. Things like conference titles or the 2003 and 2015 teams going undefeated in league play matter in that context. Success in the SEC also helps future teams by keeping an aura around Kentucky and Rupp.

These types of things may seem trivial to some, but I think that they're very important in a changing landscape (NCAA/NIL nationally & SEC/expansion and new emphasis on improving basketball).

I think we're far from this, but it would literally hurt to see the program fall the way others who couldn't keep up with the times have (ex. Indiana).