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Maybe I’m coping. Maybe I’m too young to treat every early-season loss like a crisis. Or maybe it’s a mix of both. But here’s my honest reaction to Kentucky’s 96–88 loss to Louisville on Tuesday night: I’m not bothered at all.
Take the emotion out of it for a second. If someone told you that Kentucky went on the road to face a top-12 team with one of the nation’s best offenses and lost by only eight points, you’d call it respectable.
If they told you Kentucky trailed by 20 in the second half — and still cut it to four with under four minutes left? You’d call that toughness. Progress. Heart.
But because the name on the other jersey was Louisville, Big Blue Nation exploded.
Here’s the truth: Louisville was due.
Kentucky has dominated this rivalry for more than a decade. Under John Calipari, Louisville has only managed one regular-season win every four years:
2012–13: Louisville 80–77
2016–17: Louisville 73–70
2020–21: Louisville 62–59
2025–26: Louisville 96–88
(No matchup was played in 2021–22.)
One every four years. That’s it. Meanwhile, Kentucky owns two NCAA Tournament wins in that stretch, including a Final Four victory.
Kentucky is 14–4 in the last 18 meetings. You can’t call that anything but dominance.
One more fact: This game should NOT have been played in November.
Everyone knows it.
Kentucky fans know it.
Louisville fans know it.
College basketball fans across the country know it.
This rivalry belongs in December — not two weeks into the season.
The real concern isn’t Louisville… it’s the SEC.
Kentucky hasn’t won the regular-season SEC crown since 2019–20.
Its last SEC Tournament title came in 2017–18.
Meanwhile:
Five SEC programs have reached the Elite Eight more recently.
Four have reached the Final Four since Kentucky’s last appearance.
And Tennessee — yes, Tennessee — has finished with an equal or better SEC record in four of the last five seasons.
That’s what should frustrate Kentucky fans. Not a rivalry game in mid-November.
Because here’s the surprise twist: the Louisville loss was actually encouraging.
Kentucky played nowhere near its best basketball:
The offense sputtered.
The defense was shaky.
The chemistry was inconsistent.
Yet the Wildcats still had a chance to win on the road against a top-12 team.
And that’s without:
Jaland Lowe being fully settled
Jayden Quaintance boosting the defense
Malachi Moreno and Kam Williams developing into the players they will become
This team is going to look drastically different by March.
We’re just two weeks into a five-month journey.
Little brother stole one — it happens.
But the sky isn’t falling.
It’s not even shaking.
Kentucky will be fine.
And when the Wildcats find their rhythm, no one will care about a mid-November loss to Louisville.
