By nature of the historic rivalry, fans on Rocky Top are relishing in the Kentucky Wildcats’ miserable season. However, moving beyond the hatred of UK, what just happened could end up being good news for Tennessee football if you are superstitious.
Kentucky’s SEC Tournament loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs ended their season Thursday. They finished the year 9-16. It was the first time they failed to have a winning season since 1989-1990 and the first time they had a losing season since 1988-1989, when they went 13-19.
Well, Tennessee football managed to win back to back SEC Championships in 1989 and 1990. They went 11-1 in 1989 and finished in the top five, Johnny Majors’ best year on Rocky Top, and went 9-2-2 in 1990.
We can take this even further back, though. Kentucky’s losing season in 1988-1989 was the first losing season it had since 1926-1927. This year is the first time they failed to win 10 games in a season since 1926-1927.
In 1926, the Vols were entering their first year under a head coach you may have heard of, a guy by the name of Robert Neyland. The next year, they won their first Southern Conference Championship with an 8-0-1 record, beginning three straight seasons with no losses.
Once again, UT has just hired a new head coach in Josh Heupel. Now, it’s crazy to suggest he would have Neyland’s success, but hey, there is something to be said about the way these losing seasons for Kentucky basketball are connected.
Let’s take it a step further. In 1989, Phillip Fulmer entered his first year as offensive coordinator for the Vols, which helped ascend his rise to head coach three years later. When you look at it that way, Kentucky basketball suffering losing seasons is oddly connected to Tennessee football legends arriving on the scene.
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It’s not just Kentucky’s first losing season since 1988-1989 either. This is John Calipari’s first losing season as a head coach since 1988-1989. Of all the seasons coinciding with, 1926, 1927, 1989 and 1990, the best for the Vols was by far 1989.
Heck, even before that, Kentucky basketball went 3-10 in 1922-1923, and that coincided with M.B. Banks having his two best years on Rocky Top, going 8-2 in 1922 and 5-4-1 in 1923. Arguably the first coach to put UT on the national map, Zora G. Clevenger, took over in 1911. Kentucky went 5-6 in 1910-1911.
Between Banks and Clevenger, Kentucky had a losing season in basketball in 1916-1917, going 4-6 on the year. Under John R. Bender, the Vols managed to win their second SIAA Championship in three years in 1916, going 8-0-1 in 1916.
These years don’t always directly align, as the football season we refer to can come either the Fall after or before the basketball season we’re talking about. However, they share at least one of the calendar years every time.
Kentucky’s failures and John Calipari’s failures are always positives for the Vols as a program. That it can be a good omen for Tennessee football, though, only increases the incentive to root against that basketball program at all costs.