Has Kentucky's Season Been A Success?

After a carnage-filled first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats found themselves in a unique position. All of a sudden a favorite to reach the Final Four, the tone of the season completely switched.

Having underachieved throughout the season, the Wildcats were right where they wanted to be. But does the team's performance in the NCAA Tournament make their season a success?

It would be hard to argue given Kentucky's growing pains this season that having a chance to get to the Final Four alone would be a victory. The team finished in fourth place in the decent but never great SEC basketball standings, behind several teams that saw early exits in the tournament themselves. For Kentucky to outlast those teams that were thought to be superior in the tournament says a lot about the leadership of John Calipari and should inspire confidence going forward.

Furthermore, given the turbulent season that Kentucky had it would have to be considered a win that Calipari had to remind his players that there is no easy road to the Final Four. That statement implies that the team had a chance to get there, which is more than they looked capable of for parts of the campaign. Again, to interpret that as anything but a success story is difficult to do.

Making what Kentucky has done this season even more impressive is the fact that they were without one of their top players for the most important stretch of the season. Finding out they could get Jarred Vanderbilt back for the second week of the NCAA Tournament was great but beating multiple upset-hungry teams with him out of the lineup was incredible.

Of course, next season, the Wildcats will reload their team with another of John Calipari's incredible recruiting classes. As is usually the case, the team will have some growing pains and bettors may be hesitant to use a free bet at Champion Bets (or any other bookmaker) on their inexperienced squad. But, as long as coach Calipari is in charge, there is no reason to believe that the team will not get hot at the right time, just like they have in the 2017-2018 season.

So, to answer the question about whether or not this season was a success for Kentucky, the answer should be a resounding yes given that they exceeded expectations in the NCAA Tournament. Given how high the expectations always are for Kentucky, that is no easy feat.

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to College Sports Discussion.

Top of this Page