Kentucky Set To Begin SEC Play
Let the Conference season begin!
Tonight Kentucky (9-2) will host Missouri (6-6) in Rupp Arena to begin their SEC play. The Southeastern Conference and Kentucky being right at the top go hand-in-hand over the lifetime of the conference.
Per the history books of all conference basketball history books - and history books never lie - the Wildcats are the most dominating team in league history with an all-time record of 1,020-293 mark (77.7%) in regular-season conference play. Only Alabama has won more than 800 regular-season SEC games and no other team owns a better winning percentage.
UK has averaged 11.6 wins and only 3.3 losses per season in 88 seasons in the SEC, resulting in 31 SEC Championships, with no one else near reach of that bar set by the former Cats.
It seems thay the narrative doesn’t have much plans to change anytime soon, as this off-season the media voted Kentucky to win their seventh regular-season title under John Calipari. If that becomes true, it would mark the program's 50th overall regular-season title, putting quite the cushion of comfort over second place Louisiana State University at just 11 SEC regular-season championships.
Facts
Kentucky is
10-2 in the opening game of the SEC season under John Calipari
11-1 in the league opener when it’s at home
68-19 all-time in SEC openers
13-2 all-time against the Tigers, including 7-0 when the game is played in Lexington
ICYMI: Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin will miss the game vs. UK after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Assistant coach Cornell Mann will fill in as the temporary head coach of the game.
Although Missouri doesn’t come off as much of a threat, and should be chalked up as a ‘W’ right now, the majority of the conference just might pose one. This is a year that Kentucky could be threatened in regards of winning the crown of the conference, as five teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, six teams are rated among the top 50 of the NET rankings and eight are listed among the top 50 in KenPom.com's latest rankings. Right now Kentucky currently ranks fifth in overall team records compared to the rest of teams throughout the Southeastern Conference:
1. LSU: 12-0
2. Auburn: 11-1
3. Arkansas: 10-2
4. Texas A&M: 10-2
5. Kentucky: 9-2
The league is full of talent this year and will be quite the show to watch.