(photo courtesy of nationofblue.com)

It’s finals week at the University of Kentucky, which means that not only are the students suffering through exams, but us fans are suffering through one of the slower weeks of the basketball season, as well.  Unfortunately, while the Cats will return to the hardwood on Saturday, the opponent – the Mississippi Valley State Fighting Jerry Rices – doesn’t exactly offer the stiffest of tests for Kentucky.

Saturday will mark the 3rd all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Cats having coasted to victories in both previous outings in 2006 and 2008.  So, rather than bore you with lots of details about the history of the Delta Devils, we’ll instead take a trip down memory lane to one of the more memorable games in recent Kentucky basketball history.

Six years ago on Saturday – 12/18/2004 – the Cats pulled off one of the more remarkable comebacks in storied program history, rallying from a miserable first half that saw them head to the locker room trailing their most hated rivals 32-16.  Yet, Kentucky bounced back in the second half behind the unbelievably stellar play of Patrick Sparks, who tallied 25 second half points – three of which will haunt the then-record setting Freedom Hall crowd for a long, long time.

So sit back and enjoy.  And if Saturday’s game against the Delta Devils gets a little bit boring, feel free to replay this clip from six years ago to keep your juices flowing.

It a great week for a little Wildcat History as Kentucky gets set to battle a couple of old rivals from the Hoosier state, beginning with tonight’s tiff with the lovable Catholics from South Bend, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Believe it or not, the Cats and the Irish actually have more history between them than do Kentucky and Saturday’s opponent, meeting tonight for the 60^th time in series history.  The Cats, not surprisingly, hold an all-time record of 41-18 against Notre Dame.  The two programs, of course, last met in the final game of the downtrodden Billy Gillispie Era, a quarterfinal NIT matchup that hosted by the Irish that saw them defeat the Cats and advance to Madison Square Garden to play for a postseason championship that really doesn’t matter this day in age.

Prior to that meeting on March 25, 2009, however, the Cats had defeated the Irish ten consecutive times – and 19 of the previous 22.

Tonight’s matchup, as you may have heard, will be played within the friendly confines of Freedom Hall, which recently got a Big Blue facelift.  Considering that the Cats hold an all-time record of 122-33 in the city of Louisville, and a 58-18 all-time record at Freedom Hall, it seems only fair that there’s a Blue court now featured somewhere within the Derby City.

In addition, Louisville has also played host to 32 previous Kentucky-Notre Dame matchups, with the Cats holding a mark of 23-9 in those contests.

In a bit of sad news (at least to me), I recently discovered that the annual Kentucky-Notre Dame game featured the Shivley Memorial Plaque during the years of 1967-81, an award that was named in honor of former UK Athletic Director Bernie Shivley, and given to the MVP of the annual contest between the two friendly rivals.  With names like Macy, Givens, Pratt, Casey, and the late Mel Turpin etched into the Plaque, I, for one, would have loved to have seen this tradition carried on as yet another way to continue to bridge the gap between UK greats, both old and new.

Turning our attention to Saturday for a few moments, the Cats will welcome the cream and crimson candy striped pant wearers from Indiana University onto the hallowed floor of Rupp Arena for the second straight Saturday contest between two of the bluebloods in college basketball lore.  The Cats hold an all time record of 30-23 against their neighbors to the north, and have won 13 of the previous 16 contests with the Hoosiers.

This game, of course, was for many years played on a rotating basis between Indianapolis and Louisville, with the arena split down the middle, one side wearing crimson and the other wearing blue.  In a recurring theme with this week’s TWIWH, I would have loved to have seen this neutral site setup continue, as the pageantry and tournament-like atmosphere provided was second to none.  But, no one asked me, so they’ll once again be playing this one on campus (or close enough to it), where the Cats hold an all-time mark of 7-1 against the Hoosiers, spotting them their lone victory in the final year of the Eddie Sutton regime, a 13-18 campaign that we’d all like to forget ever happened.

So get your Ale-8’s ready for tonight’s late tip-off and sleep through the rest of the week until it’s time to enjoy Saturday’s game.  Next week is finals week, and it’s going to be a slow one for those of us who’d rather be watching some hoops.

Until then…

(photo courtesy of scout.com)

This Week in Wildcat History is back in action once again, but as the calendar has turned to December and the football Cats have tallied another mark under the L column against the Vols, we’ve traded in the oblong pigskin for the Bluegrass State’s favorite sphere.

While most of the nation won’t start focusing on college hoops until the Super Bowl fades into the early February sunset, we here around the tailgate know that you’ve been on the edge of your seats since the season officially started on October 15. So, it’s without further ado that we jump right into the mix and start to boast about the most illustrious history in all of college basketball. You may or may not be excited about this post, but I can tell you that after a fall season filled with sub-.500 statistics and losing streaks, I’m flat-out tickled pink about it.

Tuesday night’s beatdown of unranked Boston University marked the 10th time in UK’s history that the Cats have taken to the hardwood on November 30. Not surprisingly, Kentucky now holds an all-time mark of 10-0 in those contests. Last year, the Cats produced a similar beat-down of UNC-Asheville in the former home of the Louisville Cardinals, winning by a margin of 94-57. Looking back on that one, it appeared that some guy named John Wall played a pretty good game.

But as nice as it is to beat Boston, this week isn’t about the Terriers. Or the Red Sox, Bruins, or Celtics, for that matter. This week is about Carolina. And, unfortunately, Kentucky’s head-to-head record against the Heels isn’t quite as sparkling as you might expect.

The Cats have taken to the court 19 times throughout their history on December 4, where they hold an all-time record of 13-6. They last played on 12/4 back during the 2004-05 campaign against…the North Carolina Tar Heels. Carolina won that game 81-78 in route to a National Championship.

In fact, Kentucky enters Saturday’s matchup with UNC having won just 11 of the 32 matchups between the two programs. And, while the Cats and Heels have met every year since the 2000-01 season, they have only played six times in the Dean Dome to date, with the home team sending the Cats back to Lexington with losses in four of those games.

In terms of rivalries go, though, this series holds plenty of intensity. Never mind the fact that between the two, you’ve college hoops’ two most-winningest programs; never mind that the two programs are ranked 1 and 2 in terms of NCAA Tournament appearances, games played, and wins; never mind that, between the two, you have college basketball’s two highest all-time winning percentages; or that the two programs have spit out so many professionals that not even the Turkish Fenerbache club can keep up.

The East Regional Finals in 1977 produced the infamous Rick Robey – Dean Smith verbal altercation (or, lack thereof, if you believe the man who patented the most boring offense in the history of the game). And who could ever forget the Regional Final in 1995, when Andre Riddick and Rasheed Wallace tried to turn the basketball court into a squared circle?

For all of those reasons, Kentucky-Carolina is a December treat for any sports enthusiast. Thus, there’s no question as to why CBS chooses it to open up their college basketball season every year.

Last year’s game produced the most mind-boggling and exciting 29-2 run that I think I’ve ever seen at Rupp Arena. After several years, the sleeping giant was awakened, and it was made known loud and clear on national television. Let’s hope these new Cats make a similar statement on Saturday afternoon.

Until next week.

It’s Thursday, so for those of you keeping score at home, it’s time for another rendition of This Week in Wildcat History.

We’re back after a much needed bye week and we’re happ…what’s that?  Oh, we played last week?  My bad.  I thought that Charleston Southern thing on the schedule was just a prank that one of my co-workers played on me.  In any case, we’ll begin this week’s TWIWH with a quick look back at the art of schedule-making.

As you may know, prior to the 2006 season, Division I football teams were only allowed to play a maximum of 11 regular-season contests in a given year.  So, that meant that the Cats could only schedule 3 non-SEC opponents to go along with their large helping of conference beef.  It also meant that the Tennessee game, which can now be found as the 12^th and final game of the UK season on an annual basis, used to be the caboose of the Cats’ 11 game schedule each year.

We here at TWIWH are going to talk in more detail about our dreadful history with Tennessee in a couple of weeks, so for the purposes of today’s rambling, we’re just going to say the following: Since the NCAA allowed Division I football schedules to expand to a 12 game regular-season in 2006, Kentucky holds a 2-2 record during the 11^th game of the season.  During the years 1984 to 2006, I’m pretty sure we’re all well aware of the Cats’ record during the season’s 11^th game.

This week’s opponent, however, comes a little further west from our violent neighbors from Knoxville.  They reside in a fantastic city, have a world-renowned academic regimen, and walk around one of the more beautiful campuses in the South.  Why do I speak so highly of Vanderbilt, you ask?  Well, it’s a little easier to do so when the record books show that Kentucky has won 5 of the last 6 against the Commodores, 11 of the last 14, and hold a 27-13 record against the Black and Gold over the course of the last 40 years.  Quite frankly, our Cats haven’t had a whole lot of weeks where their history has been this bright.  So, I’ll continue to speak highly of Vanderbilt if for no other reason that I enjoy having them in the SEC for selfish, record-padding reasons.

This Saturday will mark the 16^th time in program history that Kentucky has taken the field on November 13, with the Cats holding an all-time record of 9-6 on the birthday of Whoopi Goldberg (who, ironically enough, has inspired the hairdo of a certain current Wildcat defender).  In fact, the only two times that Kentucky has played Vandy on November 13, the Cats have emerged victorious, having defeated the Commodores during the 2004 season by a score of 14-13, and during the 1999 season by a final of 19-17.  Here’s to hoping that the third time isn’t a charm for our friends from Nashville.

And with that, you now have a little extra useless knowledge that you will no doubt forget by the time the sun sets this evening.

Enjoy the final Red Lot extravaganza of the 2010 campaign, folks.  And be sure to give those Seniors a rousing ovation – they deserve it.

Until next week.

Last week here at TWIWH we decided to take a cold, hard look at a few somewhat disheartening records as they related to Kentucky football.  Recent history against the Old Ball Coach, against the Gamecocks, and against, well, anyone during the 7^th game of the season didn’t offer up a whole lot of goodness as we prepared ourselves for another beautiful Saturday in the Red Lot, where we were hoping to get back to the winning ways not seen since September.

Well, guess what?  It worked.

So, friends of the tailgate, be not dismayed at the statistics that follow, for it appears that standing tall and facing your history head on may just be the best way to reverse it.

The Cats enter Saturday’s showdown with the Bulldogs from the University of Georgia having won just four of the previous 20 meetings between the two teams.  More recently, however, Kentucky has gone 2-2 against Mark Richt’s boys in the Silver Britches, with each team winning once in Lexington and once in Athens since 2006.  In fact, ask almost any UK fan and they’ll likely tell you that it was probably the victory over Georgia in November of the 2006 that propelled Kentucky into the next echelon of SEC football – a place where bowl appearances are expected, 9-3 seasons are attainable, and the team (and fanbase) know that any game on the schedule is now winnable.

While it certainly isn’t a place to be content, it sure beats the heck out of where this program stood just a mere 5 seasons ago.

Need further proof of that?  Look no further than the Cats’ record during the eighth game of the season over the course of the past 20 years.  During that span, Kentucky has just six wins against 14 losses.  Kentucky has lost the eighth game of their season during each of the past 3 seasons, last winning the eighth game during the aforementioned 2006 season, when they preceded that program-changing victory over Georgia with a gutsy 34-31 road win at Mississippi State that would help to lay the foundation for the program’s current successes.

Saturday’s game will also mark just the 9^th time that the Cats will have played on October 23^rd since 1950.  During that time, the Cats hold a 2-6 overall record, and a lackluster 1-5 against Georgia on birthday of both Pele and Johnny Carson.  In fact, the most recent victory for a Kentucky football team on October 23 was a 28-10 victory over these same Georgia Bulldogs in Lexington way back in 1965.

And if you’re thinking that it’s a little early in the season to find Georiga on the schedule, well, there’s a good reason for that, too.  Saturday will mark the first time since 2002 that the Kentucky-Georgia tilt will take place in October, when Bulldog fans were fortunate enough to hit the Lexington exacta, taking in both the beautiful sights of Keeneland and a 52-24 Georgia win during their weekend in the Bluegrass State.

While I enjoy the great people from Athens and hope that they can cash a few tickets at the track this weekend, here’s to hoping that their good fortune runs out before they leave Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday night.

With AJ Green back on the field, the Dawgs look to finally be shaping into the force that many thought they would be when the season began two months ago.

Nevertheless, I said it last week, and I’ll say it again this week.  I still believe.  You should, too.

I’m not gonna lie to you friends; This Week in Wildcat History doesn’t have a whole lot of positive news to bring to the table here in week 7 of the 2010 campaign.  Our opponent, their head coach, recent close defeats, injured key players…it all adds up to the first real “Debbie Downer” edition of TWIWH.

Fortunately, the last three weeks have tried to do just the opposite, but have still been followed by Kentucky losses on the gridiron.  So, maybe a change in the approach to TWIWH won’t be such a bad thing after all.

As we all know far too well, the Cats enter Saturday’s contest against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks riding a ten game losing streak to their Eastern Division rivals from Columbia, despite having fielded a better team in many of those contests.  On top of that, it’s no secret that The Old Ball Coach has, throughout the years, treated the Cats as if they were the Washington Generals to his Harlem Globetrotters.  The OBC sports an all-time 17-0 record against the boys in blue.

The last time that Cats beat the Cocks, they were partying like it was 1999…because it was, in fact, 1999.  That October, Kentucky left Columbia with a 30-10 victory over the home team in front of their undeniably loyal fan base.

The Cats currently sit at .500 with a 3-3 record and, fortunately, have seen the 7th game of their season fall in their favor during each of the past three seasons.  Last year, they took a break from the grind of the SEC to play host to Louisiana-Monroe, and sent the Warhawks home on the wrong end of a 36-13 contest.  The previous year, the Legend of Cobb officially started to take shape, as the Wildcat freshman with the ice blue eyes and the ice in his veins led an unbelievable comeback against Arkansas, scoring 2 touchdowns in the game’s final few minutes to bring the Cats back from the verge of defeat and secure an unimaginable 21-20 victory.

And, who could ever forget the epic 3 overtime contest during the seventh game of the 2007 season, when Stevie Got Looseeeee (again) and the Cats took down the nation’s #1 team and eventual National Champions, the Tigers from Louisiana State University.

Much like the 7th game of the past few seasons, the task this year is quite tall, with this week’s opponent coming off the biggest win in their program’s history.  With our heroes in blue having lost 8 SEC contests in a row at home, and with some new found swagger in the step of the Gamecocks and their “Aww Shucks” coach, this one, on paper, looks to have all the makings of another Wildcat loss.

However, since we’re now fully aware of our history, I think that means we are no longer doomed to repeat it.  Good thing, because it’s about time one of these streaks comes to an end.  And with a win on Saturday, Kentucky can put an end to more than just one of them.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I still believe.

Until next week.

Welcome back friends to the inaugural Fall Meet Edition of This Week in Wildcat History! 

As you well know by now, our heroes in blue are coming off a rather tough loss at the hands of those Rebels from Oxford.  The good news, though, as that we here at TWIWH don’t really care to reminisce about last week, but rather we look to the previous 100 years to find our ghosts of Wildcat football past. 

This week’s opponent, the Tigers from Auburn University, roll into Lexington as one of those ghosts.  As Fertig eluded to yesterday, the folks from down on the Plains sport an all-time record of 24-6-1 against the Cats, and though they may have lost last year’s meeting between the two clubs on their home turf, Auburn has won their past 7 games against Kentucky that have been played within the confines of the Bluegrass State. 

For the 2nd year in a row, Kentucky and Auburn meet during the 6th game of the season for the Wildcats.  In 2009, UK entered the match up with a 2-3 record, and left town standing 3-3 on the year after a sleeveof quarterbacks found paydirt in a 21-14 Wildcat victory.  That win marked the first time since the 1999 season that Kentucky was victorious in the 6th game of their season. 

Oddly enough, the 6th game of the 1999 campaign marked the last time that Kentucky played on October 9, as well.  It was on that day that the Cats traveled to Columbia, SC and defeated the Gamecocks by a final tally of 30-10.  It was the last time that Kentucky defeated South Carolina, but we’ll discuss that in greater detail next week.  For now, we’ve gotta focus on the task at hand.

October 9 has been relatively pedestrian to Kentucky football over the past 60 years, as the Wildcats have posted a 4-4 record on the 282nd day of the year since 1950, including a victory in 1954 over the same Auburn ball club that they will face this weekend on the lush turf at C.M. Newton Field.  Actually, it won’t be the same Auburn ball club, but you know what I mean.   

October 9 also brought us one of the more unique and surreal victories in Kentucky football history.  On 10/9/1976, the Cats traveled to Jackson, Mississippi and left town having been defeated by the Bulldogs by a count of 14-7.  However, the game was later forfeited by MSU and the record books indicate that the game was won by the Cats by a final score of 1-0.  The Bulldog forfeit allowed Kentucky to retroactively claim a share of the SEC Championship and the Cats would add that title to their Peach Bowl victory from that same season.

As is the case every year on October 9, natives in both Norway and the wonderful Republic of Iceland will celebrate the American observance of the holiday known as Leif Erikson Day.  Erikson, of course, was the son of a famous Icelandic viking and is credited as the first Eurpoean to ever step foot on American soil, having done so in the year 1001 A.D. in what is now Newfoundland. 

On Saturday night here in Kentucky, the natives will hopefully be doing quite a bit of celebrating of their own after a famous son of the Commonwealth leads his men into a different type of uncharted waters: a victory over a top-1o opponent.

Until next week.