What a difference 24 hours makes. Going into the team’s trip to Starkville, Kentucky was firmly outside the NCAA Tournament field, a resume that lacked quality wins and suffered a few black eyes. John Calipari stressed patience, pointing to the Quad 1 opportunities the Wildcats had down the stretch, but nothing about the team’s recent play indicated a turnaround was inevitable.
The possibility of extending the program’s streak of zero March Madness wins since 2019 felt very real, a loss in Athens against a mediocre Georgia team being the potential dagger.