The year has come and gone. As we turn the calendar, now is the appropriate time for reflection. Typically, gratitude plays a big role in this exercise. Shock is how I’d describe my emotions about five different things that happened to the Kentucky football and basketball teams in 2024.

Kentucky Didn’t Win Another Game After Dominating Tennessee

How is that possible? Set aside all of John Calipari‘s “Built for March rhetoric.” The top-scoring team in the nation won seven of its final eight regular season games. The only loss was a flukey buzzer-beater at LSU and the final win was one of the most impressive regular season victories of my lifetime.

Tennessee was the best team in arguably the best league in the country. The fourth-ranked Vols had clinched an SEC Title with SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht shooting the absolute lights out. He played the best game of his life, scoring a career-high 40 points at home against Kentucky in a game where TENNESSEE NEVER LED.

The Cats dominated from start to finish, leading by double digits on numerous occasions. Despite a late run by the Vols, Tennessee had no answers for Antonio Reeves and Reed Sheppard, who each scored 27 points, while the latter netted seven three-point attempts in the 85-81 win that closed out the regular season.

That team looked like they were ready to go on a lengthy postseason run. Instead, they didn’t win one single postseason game. HOW?!?!?!?!

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John Calipari Actually Left Kentucky

You knew it, I knew it, everyone knew it was over when John Calipari walked off the court after Jack Gohlke terrorized his team for 40 minutes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. A school that had never been upset in the opening round just let it happen twice in three years with uber-talented teams. No matter what happened next, there was no recapturing the magic from the early years of the Calipari era.

Even though we knew it was over, an enormous contract wouldn’t allow for it to be over. Instead of firing John Calipari, Mitch Barnhart had to do an awkward interview with state media on BBN Tonight to reaffirm his commitment to the men’s basketball program. Big Blue Nation was stuck in a rut for as long as John Calipari wanted to be in Lexington.

Thankfully, the Chicken Man saved the day. Arkansas was the one place that could check all of the boxes for John Calipari: salary, NIL investment, fan support, and tradition. It’s one thing for a place to look good on paper. It’s another to actually go through with such a momentous move. Calipari actually did it, and he did it with grace. I’m grateful and still bewildered that it actually happened.

Unlike some of these instances, this win only gets more unusual as time passes. At the time, it wasn’t a ludicrous idea to pick a Kentucky victory at Ole Miss. After all, that’s exactly what I did in the preseason and the day before the noon kickoff in Oxford.

Mark Stoops‘ previous three matchups against Ole Miss were decided by a combined seven points. Ole Miss had not yet played an SEC foe, while Kentucky had two league games under its belt. The run defense could make Lane Kiffin one-dimensional and put the entire game into Jaxson Dart‘s hands. If Kentucky hit on a few big plays offensively, they could shock the world.

That’s exactly what happened. In dire straits on fourth and long, Brock Vandagriff connected with Barion Brown for a 63-yard gain to put Kentucky in the red zone. The Cats scored on a Josh Kattus fumble recovery to take the lead with just over two minutes to play. Then they Ole Missed a kick to send it into overtime. The highest-scoring team in college football was held to 17 points in a three-point loss.

We knew at the time that the loss might eliminate Ole Miss from the CFP in a year where they went all-in. What we couldn’t believe is that Kentucky wouldn’t win another SEC football game. The Ole Miss win was supposed to validate the idea that this team was more like the team that played within a point against Georgia. Instead, the collapse following the loss to Vanderbilt proved they were more like the team that got blown out by South Carolina.

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Two years ago, a segment of hyper-intense UK football fans were pulling for Brock Vandagriff to enter the transfer portal. The former five-star Georgia quarterback had all of the right tools to develop into a star at Kentucky. It didn’t happen ahead of the 2023 season, but he did enter the transfer portal for 2024, and Kentucky got him signed on the dotted line almost immediately.

Kentucky got its White Whale at quarterback and had two years to turn him into a star. The story was halfway written when he never got a chance to fully shine.

His first game was marred by lightning delays and ended prematurely. He got banged up in that game, then was crushed by five sacks against South Carolina. Vandagriff was hit so many times, Bush Hamdan had to stop calling pass plays. He gritted through a gutsy performance against Georgia and a win at Ole Miss. He appeared to be turning a corner with the best game of his career at Tennessee, until James Pearce sacked him by his helmet. That feels like the hit that ultimately made Vandagriff decide to retire from football.

Brock Vandagriff brought so much potential to Kentucky. Thanks to many circumstances that were out of his hands, he’s leaving early and will never put on pads again. It’s sad and disappointing.

Mark Pope Created the New Comeback Cats

Mark Pope won a lot of people over in a hurry. If there was a positive PR move, he made it, from speaking engagements to recruiting. He even brought Rick Pitino back to Rupp Arena. The new Kentucky head coach did everything right. There was one big, important question remaining, could he win?

Pope answered that affirmatively in game three, orchestrating a second-half comeback to take down Duke, just the program’s second win over the Blue Devils since 1998. Comeback aside, it had a symbolic ending. Pope dialed up a defensive pressure on the sideline to disrupt Cooper Flagg, the next great thing in the NBA. Kentucky forced two turnovers against the future NBA stars on back-to-back plays. The style that was the exact opposite of his predecessor won an incredibly meaningful game for Kentucky basketball fans.

Fast forward a few weeks and the Cats had an even more impressive comeback in Seattle against Gonzaga. Kentucky trailed by 18 points, tied it with a minute to go, then won it in overtime. I don’t care how many times I write about it, I still can’t believe they came back and won that basketball game.

This team still has plenty to prove, but one thing is true: They can punch above their weight in miraculous, unbelievable ways.

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