Kentucky Fans Are Down Bad After Disappointing Regular Season Comes To An End

Growing up in the 90s and 2000s, it was almost understood a priori that the Kentucky Wildcats were the standard to which all other programs in the SEC and throughout most of the country were compared to.

National championships, conference championships, and Final Fours were the only things that could satiate the rabid masses of Big Blue Nation.

After their loss to Florida on Saturday evening to wrap up a disappointing regular season, however, a lot of those fans are wondering if college basketball is starting to pass their once proud program by.

Learn More About The Ultimate College Hoops Experience

Where did it all go wrong for Kentucky?

It isn't a lack of resources, that's for sure, though it sounds like there are others who disagree with that assessment.

READ: Colleges Are Crying Poor, But Kentucky Paying Outgoing AD Mitch Barnhart $950K A Year To Consult Is Laughable

I've heard so many fans, both from Kentucky and otherwise, say things like, "They're living in the past. It's not 1998 anymore."

While that is true on its face (it certainly isn't 1998), the sentiment that Kentucky isn't a basketball powerhouse anymore is moot.

The Wildcats spent a reported $22 million on their roster this season, and even stole the Gators' presumptive starting guard, Denzel Aberdeen, out from under them for a rumored $2 million fee.

Non-traditional powers don't have $22 million to throw around – in addition to a bunch of banners in the rafters – so this idea that the game has passed Kentucky by is foolish.

What they do with that $22 million, though, is a different story, and the Wildcats were taken to task by multiple people for their roster construction, including ESPN's Dick Vitale in the middle of Saturday's broadcast at Rupp Arena.

I don't care who you are a fan of, that is a brutal assessment right there.

Dickie V is spot on though. $22 million should, in theory, get you a hell of a lot more than a ninth-place finish in the SEC and a 19-12 regular season record, especially after starting the season ranked in the AP top ten.

Depending on which version of the Wildcats show up in Nashville on Wednesday, there's a good chance Kentucky limps into March Madness without reaching the 20-win mark.

The last time that happened – outside a wacky 2021, post-COVID season – was 2008, in coach Billy Gillespie's first year in Lexington.

Gillespie only lasted one more year after that, so these kinds of seasons don't fly very often in the Bluegrass State.

The fan support is there, the resources are there, and the ability to put together an elite roster is there. That leaves one smoking gun: the coach.

We will see just how much longer Mark Pope lasts at Kentucky.

The fact he is an alum and former player might buy him an extra season more than he deserves, but in the end, if the Wildcats want to get back to their spot among college basketball royalty, they will have to make some hard but necessary changes.

Who knows, maybe Pope goes on a deep tournament run this year and never looks back.

They don't call it March Madness for nothing.

But, if I were a Kentucky fan, I wouldn't be holding my breath.