Mark Pope may not be our forever coach but he will bring this culture back and make UK games fun to watch again. I think he and his teams will be fun to watch. And he may yet turn out to be as special as any HC we’ve had. Go Big Blue!
Louisville fan here, was in the Rupp student section during this game in 96' getting popcorn thrown at me. Louisville were good, good! ranked number 3, Kentucky won by 30.....
The 1978 team was the first team I remember winning as well. But it seemed so long between that win and this win that everyone was just finally ready to celebrate! This team was awesome! ALL players were great! On another level!
I really think this Kentucky team was the best basketball college team ever assembled. They use to literally smash teams. Sometimes the game was over in the first half.
@@jdavenport1805 well let’s be real the mid 2000s is more than just arguably the greatest era of college ball… Kentuckys 11’ and 14’ rosters were some of the scariest to ever face… I get the late 90s we’re considered just as good if not better than the mid 2000s and especially since those Ky teams had the accolades and made 3 straight natties! But like I said those 11’ and 14’ squads were theyre own kind of dominant.
@@isaiahevans4930 Dominant teams win titles. That's how you measure a team. In order to dominate you have to win more than one. 96 team had way more talent than any team we have had since 1977(when I was born).
Realizing that this team's underclassmen went to the next 2 National Championships winning again in 98 and losing one in OT 97 makes a good argument for THE BEST EVER. Plus, they only lost 2 games that season ,UMASS and MS ST , both being Final 4 teams that year. . Uk got revenge on Umass in the Final 4 and they had beat Ms st by 30 on their home floor during the season .
It's crazy to think that UK really has like 5 teams in history that could be top 5 in history of the NCAA. The 1996,1998, 2003, 2009, 2012, and 2015 UK teams are all some of the best teams to ever be assembled. The 96 squad, the 2012, and 2015 teams are the 3 best teams I've ever seen in college. I've never seen another team that could touch the 96 team. The 2007-08 Florida gators squad is up there, the 2009 tarheel squad was up there, the 2018 villanova team could shoot the lights out, but none like the 96 Kentucky wildcats.They still hold the record for highest points differential in NCAA tournament history. They just blew through the competition and never was even tested. Put up over 100 pts multiple times in their run and played smothering defense and the chemistry in the way they moved the ball was elite. Truly the best NCAA basketball team to ever step on the court.
@@hansgordy well everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You can look up best teams in college basketball history and get numerous different results, and alot of them have 96 UK, some have the UNLV squad in the early 90s. But 96 UK still holds the record for most dominant tournament run, point differential ect, they lost two games, and avenged them, and when they were playing their best basketball no other team stood a chance. 2015 UK was one of the most dominant defensive teams of the past 30-40 years and is in the Ken pom era. 96 KY bench went on to two more consecutive championship games and won 1 more in 98. In 97 they lost their best guard to injuries in Derek Anderson and they lost to Arizona in OT, hadnt Anderson been hurt UK 3 peats. And is the first team to go to 3 consecutive championship games since those UCLA teams coached by John Wooden, and no other team has done it since.
Ucla had an 88 game winning streak and a 77 game winning streak. Seven national championships in a row. Ten championships out of 12 years and one 3rd place finish in that stretch. They were so dominant during those years that a typical score would be like 110 to 40. The 1972 Ucla team with Bill Walton is usually recognized as the best team ever on most websites... with 4 or 5 of the top 20. They were perfection. Did you ever watch a Wooden team play live? lol. The 96 Kentucky team is 11th in most rankings. They were very good.
What most people don’t know is that Larry Bird wanted to play for Kentucky. Can you imagine how much more dominant the 1978 UK team would have been if Joe B. Hall gave him a scholarship. They likely would have won at least 2 championships possibly 3 or 4 in a row.
@@maverick2730 this UK team would smoke this years UConn team by 20. You smoking that good sh, and to keep it 💯, UK has numerous teams that would roll the best team UCONN has ever put on the court.
In 97 Pitino tried to full court press South Carolina who had 3 future nba guards and got our asses handed to us. He tried to do the same in the 97 finals against 3 future nba guards from Arizona and got a second ass for the other hand. A tight 2-3 zone would have won another title but Pitino wouldn’t adjust and lost.
Epps and Mercer saved me a dui one night! They were playing with water guns with 2 females! I was driving up a one way street on campus! And they came running and yelling and laughing telling me to turn around!
Nothing fake about Mchigan's Fab Five. They were 5 starting freshman. All top 25 3 of which top 10 players. & that 48 BS never had to endure half of what the Michigan team did. Racism coming at them from every angle. & they still manage to make the championship twice. Nor did that 48 team impact basketball as a whole. From baggy shorts & black socks which every league adopted. Also made history in Jersey sales for a season. Did 48 do any of that? Didn't think so.
@@C.P.Brown_ 1948 won our first championship (Fab Four next year won second title) and the Olympic Gold Medal! Plus your 1992 and 1993 second places finishes were stripped! So they were cheaters AND plagiarists! The '48 Cats will always be the REAL Fab Five.
UNLV might not agree with this BS. Especially playing against the talent they played against back then. Made Duke look like Dookey in the championship game.
In my opinion the 81/82 N Carolina Tar Heels are the best team ever. I can’t recall the exact year but one or 2 seasons of Patrick Ewings Georgetown Hoyas were right up there with Carolina
Indiana Kentucky was an all time AWESOME rivalry! I’m Big Blue all day and night, and I can still say Indiana was pretty dang good too! Boy I miss them days!
Coach Wooden and his UCLA teams were a different type of dominant. Kentucky, Duke, Carolina, Houston, Georgetown, Florida, UConn, Arizona...the list goes on. The Bruins would have defended the 3 point line and out smarted any of these great teams and several other ones I didn't mention. Walton and his gang were a clinic in motion..bow down to the Bruins of Westwood.
There is no argument to be made because Walton WOULD have WOULD have defended the three point line. You can’t prove a point on a stupid argument. Don’t talk because you can’t. Your dumb Bruins bow down to Patino and the Untouchables.
