The Last Time Kentucky Was Counted Out, They Played for a National Championship

The 2013-14 Wildcats finished 29-11 under John Calipari. They lost to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament, stumbled into Selection Sunday as an 8-seed, and were given almost no chance to survive the first weekend. The roster was young and inconsistent — sound familiar?

Then the tournament started. Kansas State fell 56-49 in the first round. Wichita State went down 78-76 in the second round. Louisville, Kentucky’s most bitter rival, lost 74-69 in the Sweet Sixteen. Michigan fell 75-72 in the Elite Eight. And in the Final Four, Aaron Harrison hit one of the most famous shots in program history to beat Wisconsin 74-73.

Connecticut ended the run in the championship game, 54-60. But that 8-seed team played six games and every single one was decided by 7 points or fewer. They won five of those six — the only loss coming in the title game itself.

The 2014 team did not have the best record. It did not have the highest seed. What it had was a roster that peaked at exactly the right moment and a program that has never, in 84 years of tournament basketball, accepted that a number on a bracket defines its ceiling.

Place the 2014 and 2026 teams side by side and the similarities are striking.

Both entered the tournament with double-digit losses — 11 in 2014, 13 in 2026. Both were seeded lower than any Kentucky team in recent memory. Both had their seasons shaped by injuries and inconsistency that masked genuine talent. Both had a conference record that belied how hard the schedule was.

The 2026 team went 10-7 in the SEC and scores 80.8 points per game. The 2014 team lost to unranked South Carolina on the road and fell to LSU at home. The 2026 team lost to Georgia at home and Auburn by a single point on the road.

And both teams showed signs of life in the final weeks. The 2014 Wildcats closed the regular season by beating LSU and Arkansas before their SEC Tournament stumble. The 2026 Wildcats won two SEC Tournament games in Nashville — beating LSU 87-82 and Missouri 78-72 — before falling to Florida 71-63.

Mark Pope was on the 1996 championship team. He knows what March means at Kentucky better than almost anyone alive. His 2025 team, in his first season, earned a 3-seed and reached the Sweet Sixteen, beating Troy 72-51 and Oregon 75-62 before falling to Tennessee 66-78. This is not a coach who is new to the tournament stage.

Kentucky has been to the NCAA Tournament 64 times — more than any program in history. The all-time tournament record is 139-56, a winning percentage of 71.3%. Eight national championships. Seventeen Final Fours. Forty-eight Sweet Sixteens.

Those numbers were not built by 1-seeds alone. They were built by teams like the 1985 squad that went to the tournament as a 12-seed and won a game. By the 2007 Tubby Smith team that was an 8-seed and beat Villanova 63-61 before bowing out to Kansas. By the 2014 team that turned an 8-seed into the most improbable championship game appearance in a decade.

The 2026 Wildcats are the 64th Kentucky team to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. They carry a 7-seed, 13 losses, and a roster led by Otega Oweh at 18.2 points per game, Denzel Aberdeen at 13.2, and Collin Chandler at 9.9. They have a freshman center in Malachi Moreno averaging 8.0 points and 6.4 rebounds who has started every game this season. They have Brandon Garrison, a junior who averages 4.6 points per game but erupted for 17 against LSU in Nashville when the season was on the line.

The seed says 7. The record says 21-13. The ledger says Kentucky has been here before — lower-seeded, more doubted, with less reason for hope — and has produced some of the most unforgettable runs in the history of the sport.

Santa Clara has waited 30 years to get back to this stage. Friday will be the biggest game their program has played since 1996. For Kentucky, it is Thursday. It is what they do. It is who they are.