CBS Sports has named some winners and losers from the weekend.
Kentucky’s John Calipari was named as a winner:
Winner: John Calipari
Kentucky’s coach stayed winning on Saturday. Let’s check in on his accomplishments.
Coach UK to a 80-53 victory win vs. Auburn ✅
Move into a 3-way tie for the top spot in SEC ✅
Become the second-winningest coach at Kentucky ✅✅✅
Calipari improved to 298-68 in his 10 seasons at UK with its dominant win over Auburn, surpassing the great Joe B. Hall, who was 297-100 at Kentucky. The only coach ahead of him on the all-time Kentucky wins list is Adolph Rupp, the man who bears the name of the palace Kentucky plays its games in. Coach Cal still has some ground to cover, though, if he want’s to catch up to Rupp’s 876 wins at UK.
Louisville’s psyche was named a loser:
Loser: Louisville’s psyche
This feels like a third-rail topic among Louisville fans in the same way as Fight Club — the first rule about Louisville’s psyche is not to talk about Louisville’s psyche — but it’s time to address the big, sulking Cardinal in the room. Louisville might just be broken.
The No. 18 Cardinals once again blew another double-digit lead on Saturday, this time squandering a 12-point lead in the second half in a 64-52 loss to No. 3 Virginia. The Cavaliers are a very, very good team, so credit to the ‘Hoos, but at this point, no lead feels safe for Louisville, and I can feel the unease of fans watching the game as I’m watching the game. It’s really uncomfortable.
This all started earlier this month when the Cardinals held a lead against FSU on the road, but blew it in an 80-75 overtime loss. Three days later, their meltdown against Duke in which they gave up a 23-point lead officially rattled their psyche. Since then, they haven’t been the same.
Louisville is still an NCAA Tournament team in my estimation, but at some point you have to pick yourself up off the mat. Its loss to UVA on Saturday is its fourth in five games — a slump of epic proportions that’s going to leave a sour taste in the mouths of Louisville fans in Chris Mack’s first year if they don’t turn it around fast.
