For the University of Kentucky Athletic program, the last five days may be five of the toughest in the history of the program. A program, that over the last few years, have developed into one to be talked about around the country.
The mens basketball program has consistently been at the top of the mountain in it’s respective area, but the football program and the ladies basketball program have been hits and misses.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The football turn around started when Rich Brooks revived a struggling football program, taking them to four bowls in a row, something no Kentucky Coach had ever done.
For the ladies program, they have had their moments, but it appears Coach Matthew Mitchell has been able to turn the corner, taking them to an Elite 8 last year, finishing ranked in the top 10 and then having another solid year in 2010-11 as the Cats are currently ranked 10th.
But the last five days have been tough for any Cat fan to swallow. It all started Tuesday evening and ended, or possibly ended, Saturday with the mens loss in their opening SEC road game to the University of Georgia.
[CENTER]*****
[/CENTER]
The Five Day Blues time line:
– [B]Tuesday:[/B] Matthew Mitchell’s Wildcats traveled to face off with No. 3 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, walking away with a 54-48 defeat.
– [B]Thursday:[/B] After only one day of rest, the Lady Cats arrived at Fayetteville for their SEC opener against No. 25 Arkansas. The one day of rest was apparent as the Cats were lifeless, losing their second in a row, 78-67.
– [B]Friday:[/B] The fate of Kentucky’s Enes Kanter was finalized by the NCAA in what may be a precedent setting decision, as they ruled Kanter permanently ineligible to play basketball at the University of Kentucky. For most Cat fans, this was a hard pill to swallow. Even President Todd had his to say about the NCAA’s ruling.
– [B]Saturday:[/B] The icing on the cake. It started with a strange DeAndre Daniels announcement that Kentucky had withdrawn it’s scholarship offer to Daniels, removing themselves from the final list of three schools. Most though he was Kansas bound anyway, but UK ensured he wouldn’t select Kentucky, unless he came as a walk on.
Several hours later, the Cats took the gridiron at the BBVA Compass Bowl, and truthfully, that’s about all they did as they gave up 27 points while being held to only 10 despite 315 yards in total offense.
Less then an hour later, the No 11 team in the country took the floor at Stegeman Coliseum, losing for the third time this year and the first time in the SEC, 77-70.
I must admit, it has been an emotionally draining five days window. The Cats can change the tide of the win-loss column on Sunday as the Lady Cats welcome the Lady Bulldogs of Georgia to Memorial Coliseum.
Game time is 2:00 PM and can be seen on ESPNU.
Go Cats!!!
