An objectively disappointing season for Kentucky basketball reached a new low on Saturday, when the Wildcats were blown out 78-52 by Alabama. The loss pushes John Calipari's team to 10-5 overall, including 1-2 in SEC play.
The Wildcats' remaining schedule isn't getting any easier, either. Six of their final 16 regular-season games come against ranked opponents, including a home matchup with the third-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on January 28th. After entering 2022-23 as a consensus Final Four contender, it's hardly inconceivable that Big Blue could find itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble come early March.
If the team's ongoing struggles persist, could Calipari—one of the longest-tenured and most successful coaches in all of college basketball—be on the way out of Lexington? One person close to the Hall-of-Fame coach even believed before this season that his time at Kentucky had “run its course.”
“A close friend of Calipari's told me last summer that Calipari should've taken the UCLA job after Steve Alford was fired in 2019 because ‘this thing at Kentucky has run its course,'” CBS Sports' Gary Parrish reported.
This season is Calipari's 14th with the Wildcats. He's led them to two Elite Eights, two Final Fours and a national championship, sending tens of players—stars, role players and benchwarmers—to the NBA and professional basketball overseas. Calipari's legacy in Lexington is secure no matter what happens from here.
But Kentucky is clearly on the wrong track this season, made the wrong kind of history by losing to 15-seeded St. Peter's in last season's NCAA Tournament and went 9-16 during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Years-long momentum, basically, isn't exactly on the Wildcats' side.
Could that lead to Calipari seeking greener basketball pastures, or perhaps even retirement? How the remainder of this season plays out could go a long way toward deciding his future.
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