Can This Kentucky Team String Together 4-6 Straight Wins?

On January 9, Kentucky beat Missouri in Rupp Arena by 13 points, its sixth straight win. Since that time, Kentucky has not won more than two games in a row. It will probably be hard to see the Cats going on that kind of streak in the final five games of this season. Games at home against Alabama and on the road against Tennessee are daunting. At Mississippi State will be no cupcake either.

So the thing that seems hard to imagine is how this team is going to piece together four straight wins to make the Final Four, or God forbid, six straight wins to win a national title. Because of this poor regular season, Kentucky is going to likely get a seed that will make every game they play in the NCAA Tournament a tough one.

So, I looked back at Calipari’s four Final Four teams to see whether or not they had similar struggles piecing together winning streaks. I think you likely know the answer.

*NOTE: Winning streaks are not “separate” streaks. For instance, if a team wins 10 games in a row, I count that as six different 4-game winning streaks.

2011

4-Game Winning Streaks: 8
6-Game Winning Streaks: 3

The Brandon Knight team basically had three good runs during the season, each occurring at different points. They began the year winning their first 4 games, including 2 wins in the Maui Invitational over Oklahoma and Washington. Then in December, they went on a 7-game winning streak, including wins over Indiana and Louisville. And then they completed the regular season and SEC Tournament with 6 in a row, including 3 wins in Atlanta.

2012

4-Game Winning Streaks: 25
6-Game Winning Streaks: 21

Obviously, the national championship team went 38-2, so most of their season was a winning streak. But they won their first eight games of the year before losing to Indiana and then won another 24 straight games before losing to Vandy in the SEC title game.

2014

4-Game Winning Streaks: 4
6-Game Winning Streaks: 0

If this year’s team is to look at any comparable Calipari team it would have to be this one. The 2014 squad had a 5-game run early in that season, although all 5 wins were against poor opponents. They then had two different 4-game runs, including one in SEC play. But they never won 6 games in a row that season.

2015

4-Game Winning Streaks: 34
6-Game Winning Streaks: 32

Obviously, a 38-1 season, with the only loss in the Final Four, means that whole season was consecutive wins. Unmatched.

2024

4-Game Winning Streaks: 3
6-Game Winning Streaks: 1

This team has shown the ability to piece together wins, having a 6-game run in December/January that included wins over North Carolina and Florida. I think the bigger issue is that since that 6-game winning streak, UK hasn’t won more than TWO games in a row since. If the NCAA Tournament was a Best-of-5 series, I would love UK’s chances. But this team has shown the ability to play with the best in the country and lose to some of the most average. That is a very risky proposition for this team’s Final Four chances.