It’s crazy, but there are only nine games left in this 2019-2020 campaign for the basketball Cats. I got to be honest, it feels like football season ended yesterday and Big Blue Madness is this weekend. This season still feels young, yet we’re nine games into the SEC slate and the SEC Tournament is just over a month away.

This is John Calipari’s tenth season at Kentucky and the funny thing is, it feels like last season John Wall, Boogie Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe were on Campus. How time flies when you’re having a good time.

With that said, with only nine games left in the season, let’s look back at where other Cal teams were at this point in the season.

2009-2010: 21-1

Full of studs, this team was only two games removed from their upset loss at South Carolina that ruined the chances at a perfect season.

They’d go on to lose only one more game, win the SEC Tournament, and let’s not talk about the rest.

2010-2011: 16-6

This was the first of many teams that didn’t fully click until March. Complete opposite of the first season. They were constantly in the top ten, but fell as low as No. 22 late in the year.

At this point, they had just lost back-to-back road games to Ole Miss and Florida. We’d be losing our minds now and most likely were then.

They’d go on to finished 22-8, win the SEC Tournament, and lose to a UCONN team led by Kemba Walker in the Final Four.

2011-2012: 21-1

Let’s take a minute to realize how good Cal’s first three seasons were. 2/3 years the Cats had one loss in 22 games and were in the Final Four in 2/3 years. That’s pretty damn good if you ask me.

If it wasn’t for Indiana, this team would’ve been undefeated. Oh well.

The Cats lost only two games all year and went on to dominate in March and bring home title No. 8.

2012-2013: 16-6

Not all hope had been lost with this team. At least not yet. They had just won four straight, soon to be five. But, they were only two games away from losing Nerlens Noel for the season. Then things went straight downhill.

They went on to lose six of their last ten, including an NIT loss to Robert Morris for an awful end to a horrible season.

2013-2014: 17-5

Maybe Cal’s most frustrating team. Loaded with talent, but never figured it out until late. Kind of the story as of late, right?

They had just come off a blowout win at Rupp against Ole Miss with two more wins to come. A ten point home loss to No. 3 Florida was a bump in the road for this team as they would go on to lose four of their last seven.

But, the season ended well. James Young slipped to give Florida a one point win in the SEC Championship game, Aaron Harrison hit some shots in March, and they’d…well….you know.

2014-2015: 22-0

Yeah, didn’t have to look this one up.

A historic season, maybe the best college basketball team ever, but unfortunately, Wisconsin got us back for the previous season.

I apologize if you still aren’t over that loss.

2015-2016: 16-6

Probably Cal’s second worst team. They never really figured it out.

They were coming off two straight road losses to Kansas and Tennessee. They’d go on to win four in a row, lose two of their last five, win the SEC Championship, then got bounced in the second round by the Hoosiers.

Let’s be honest with ourselves though, it was impossible to follow up the previous season.

2016-2017: 18-4

This team was right in the middle of a really bad stretch.

They had just lost back-to-back games to Tennessee and Kansas and almost lost at home to Georgia. The rough stretch ended with a 22 point loss on the road to Florida.

They’d go on to win 14 in a row, before falling to North Carolina at the buzzer in the Elite Eight.

2017-2018: 17-5

This is probably Cal’s second worst team. Same record, but everyone else was good that year. They were ranked No. 21 and were getting ready to go through hell.

They’d go on to lose five of their next nine, win the SEC Championship, and then got bounced by Kansas State in the Sweet 16.

2018-2019: 19-3

I’ll be honest, I thought we were going to get a rematch with Duke in the title game. Not quite.

This team was really consistent, only losing five games in a good year for college basketball.

The year didn’t end well though. They’d go on to get beat by Tennessee in the SEC Tournament and lost to Auburn in the Elite Eight.

2019-2020: 17-5

This team is good. The even better thing is this year is a terrible year for college basketball, meaning you could beat anybody and lose to anybody. Fun, right?

I think this team will go a long way in March. It’s going to be tough to win the SEC Tournament, but this team has the pieces to make a title run.

Rankings:

1. 2014-15: 22-0
2. 2011-12: 21-1
3. 2009-10: 21-1
4. 2018-19: 19-3
5. 2016-17: 18-4
6. 2013-14: 17-5
7. 2019-20: 17-5
8. 2017-18: 17-5
9. 2010-11: 16-6
10. 2015-16: 16-6
11. 2012-13: 16-6