The Year of the Anti-Blue Blood Rolls On

While it’s unclear if we’ve seen their ceiling, I think it’s safe to say we have now seen this Kentucky team’s floor. We aren’t going to see 18 points scored in a half, the lowest in the Calipari era, again this season. Nonetheless, February should be a time when elite teams establish their dominance, not stumble and careen off the side of the road to March Madness.

Fortunately for us UK fans, our team isn’t the only storied program who has yet to put all the pieces together. Just yesterday, two upsets occurred that would be borderline unfathomable in any other season. But this year, clearly, the polls and the prestige are meaningless.

St. John’s def. Duke 81-77

And here are the highlights from today’s victory over No. 4 Duke at @TheGarden #SJUBB #WeAreNewYorksTeam pic.twitter.com/AvuaB89Ql1

— St. John’s BBall (@StJohnsBBall) February 3, 2018

It’s funny, but even with a win over Duke, St. John’s is still 0-11 in Big East play. They had lost all 11 of those games in a row coming into their Madison Square Garden clash with Coach K’s Blue Devils, and by hook or by crook, the Red Storm escaped with the win, stunning the fans back in Durham.

Duke also dropped a game to a subpar Boston College back in December. These two games make me really curious as to what team is gonna play the role of Lehigh/Mercer come tournament time.

Oklahoma St. def. Kansas 84-79

On paper, a single loss to a mediocre Oklahoma St. team shouldn’t mean much to Kansas. But this game is symptomatic of KU’s inability to overcome obstacles this season.

The Jayhawks have lost 3 games inside Phog Allen Fieldhouse so far this season, which is already more than in any season of Bill Self’s tenure. And sure, the Big 12 is impressively deep this season, but when it comes to home court advantages, The Phog is hallowed ground. I can’t imagine Kansas faring too well on neutral sites come March.

---

So while we continue to hope and pray the Cats can pull some kind of postseason run, we can take solace in knowing that the other blue blood fans might be shaking in their boots during the Big Dance too.

Misery loves company.

@JayWinkKSR