John Calipari is having more problems beating Tennessee than any long-running Kentucky men’s basketball coach since Joe B. Hall.
Going into Saturday’s 1 p.m. tip-off between UK and UT at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Wildcats have lost four out of their last five against the Volunteers.
Current Vols Coach Rick Barnes stands a robust 8-5 as Tennessee head man against Kentucky, including three victories over UK in Rupp Arena.
Not since Hall went 11-16 against the Rocky Toppers back in the days of Ray Mears and Ernie and Bernie, of Don DeVoe and Dale Ellis, has Kentucky faced such persistent struggles in beating Tennessee in men’s hoops.
UK’s current difficulties in crushing the Big Orange are part of a larger recent phenomenon of “rivalry blues” for the Wildcats.
Of Kentucky’s seven biggest men’s basketball rivals — Duke, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina and Tennessee — the Cats have lost their most recent contest against all but the Gators.
One of the top job requirements of any college coach is winning more than one’s share against the teams your fan base likes the least. UK’s current stretch of rivalry futility may help explain why segments of the Big Blue Nation have been so ornery this winter about Calipari and the state of Wildcats hoops.
Kentucky’s rivalry frustration is a recent phenomenon in the Calipari coaching era. Overall, Calipari as a “rivalry coach” has been within the historical parameters set by the other post-Rupp Kentucky head men who have won NCAA championships.
Consider:
— Calipari is 57-33 vs. UK’s big seven rivals, a winning percentage of 63.3.
— Tubby Smith went 48-30, a winning percentage of 61.5, against those same seven teams.
— For the purpose of an apples-to-apples comparison, Rick Pitino was 42-13 as Kentucky coach against Duke, Florida, Kansas, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina and Tennessee.
That was good for a muscular 76.4 winning percentage.
However, the list of a school’s most intense rivals is not static.
During the Pitino era, I would argue that UK’s seven main rivals were Arkansas, Indiana, LSU, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Tennessee.
Against that combination of teams, Pitino went 46-19, a 70.8 winning percentage.
— Hall went 56-40 vs. Duke, Florida, Kansas, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina and Tennessee, a 58.3 win percentage.
During the Hall era, I would argue that UK’s seven main rivals were Indiana, Kansas, LSU, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Tennessee.
Against that combination of teams, Joe B. went 61-44, a 58.1 winning percentage.
As a rivalry coach at Kentucky, Calipari’s two most consequential achievements have been his success levels against Louisville and North Carolina.
Even allowing for this season’s 62-59 UK defeat to U of L at the KFC Yum Center, Calipari stands 11-3 against the Cardinals as Kentucky coach. That includes victories over Louisville in the 2012 NCAA Tournament Final Four and the 2014 round of 16.
It’s hard to imagine that Kentucky backers will ever enjoy a more favorable period in the ongoing UK-U of L grudge-fest than what Calipari has provided.
Even allowing for this season’s 75-63 UK defeat to UNC in the CBS Sports Classic, Calipari is 6-4 as Kentucky head coach against the Tar Heels. That does not sound overwhelming until you weigh it against the historical track record.
North Carolina has long “had UK’s number.” Adolph Rupp lost five of the last six games he coached vs. UNC. Hall went 1-5 against Dean Smith. Pitino was 0-3 vs. the Tar Heels as Wildcats head man.
From the Kentucky bench, only Tubby Smith (4-3) and Calipari have winning marks vs. Carolina.
In the context of UK’s most intense current hoops rivalries, many of the trends are not Kentucky’s friends.
Along with Tennessee, the Cats have also lost four out of five to Kansas. UK has dropped two out of the past three to Duke, Indiana and North Carolina.
(On the plus side, Kentucky has beaten Florida five straight and Louisville three out of four).
The Wildcats’ problems beating UT coincide with the arrival of Barnes before the 2015-16 season. Calipari was 9-2 vs. the Volunteers as Kentucky coach in the pre-Barnes days.
For UK (7-13, 6-7 SEC), an upset victory Saturday over No. 19 Tennessee (15-5, 8-5 SEC) would be more than a third straight win on the back end of a challenging year.
It would validate that what appears to be late-season Kentucky improvement is legitimate in a way that UK’s close home victory over a mediocre Auburn (11-11, 3-6 in road games) and its narrow road win over a struggling Vanderbilt (5-42 in SEC games in the past three seasons) do not.
Silencing “Rocky Top” would suggest that Kentucky’s recent outbreak of “rivalry blues” is not becoming an enduring condition.
Mostly, UK beating UT would boost the mood of a frustrated UK fan base near the end of what has been Kentucky basketball’s winter of discontent.
