The drive to keep alive an epic Kentucky basketball streak

Mark Story

On March 9, 1963, John F. Kennedy was about to complete his 26th month as President of the United States.

The No. 1 song on the Billboard Top 40 was “Walk Like A Man” by The Four Seasons. At the movie theater, Gregory Peck’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” had wrested the No. 1 place atop the tickets-sold list from the cinematic masterpiece that was “Son of Flubber.”

Meanwhile, in Lubbock, Texas, the 1963 men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament tipped off with a first-round doubleheader that saw Oklahoma City defeat Colorado State 70-67 and Texas beat Texas Western 65-47 in the Midwest Region.

For a Kentuckian, that 1963 NCAA tourney has special resonance: It was the most-recent one held to date in which no team from the commonwealth participated.

Though hopes have risen over the past week, what is a remarkable streak of NCAA Tournament continuity for our relatively small state appears to be in some jeopardy in 2022-23.

If John Calipari, Oscar Tshiebwe and the Kentucky Wildcats cannot put themselves firmly in position to claim an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, our state could find itself in the precarious position of needing a team to win a conference tournament to extend the commonwealth’s March Madness streak.

Making that potential reality seem even more uncertain, it is not clear that even one Kentucky team will enter a 2023 league tournament as the favorite to win.

In alphabetical order, let’s examine the odds each of the commonwealth’s NCAA men’s Division I basketball teams has of reaching the NCAA tourney in 2023:

Bellarmine

▪ Record: 8-11, 3-3 ASUN.

▪ NET Ranking: No. 261 (through games of Wednesday night). That is ninth of 14 teams in the ASUN.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: None. In the third season of their four-year transition period after moving from Division II to Division I, Coach Scott Davenport’s Knights remain ineligible for the NCAA tourney.

Former Lexington Catholic star Ben Johnson and Bellarmine will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament in 2024-25 after completing a four-year transition period after moving from Division II to Division I.
Former Lexington Catholic star Ben Johnson and Bellarmine will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament in 2024-25 after completing a four-year transition period after moving from Division II to Division I.

Eastern Kentucky

▪ Record: 12-7, 5-1 ASUN.

▪ NET Ranking: No. 170, fifth of 14 ASUN teams.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: If the postseason started this week, EKU — winners of four straight and seven of its last eight games going into Thursday night’s contest at Lipscomb — might be the commonwealth’s best bet to win a conference tournament.

Entering Thursday night play, Coach A.W. Hamilton’s Colonels were in a four-way tie with Kennesaw State, Liberty and Stetson for the ASUN lead.

Former Scott County star Michael Moreno (24) is the leading scorer for a balanced Eastern Kentucky offense at 10.7 points a game.
Former Scott County star Michael Moreno (24) is the leading scorer for a balanced Eastern Kentucky offense at 10.7 points a game.

Kentucky

Record: 12-6, 3-3 SEC.

▪ NET Ranking: No. 40, fifth of 14 SEC teams.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: After UK’s 85-71 victory over Georgia on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena, ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi has the Wildcats as the last team in the Dance. This even though the Wildcats have but a single Quad One win (the stunning road upset of then-No. 5 Tennessee) and also have a horrid Quad Four loss (to struggling South Carolina in Rupp).

Of Kentucky’s 13 remaining regular-season games, seven would be classified as Quad One and five as Quad Two (based on Thursday’s NET Rankings). So the Wildcats still have opportunity to enhance an at-large-bid-worthy resume — which is our state’s safest route to extending the NCAA Tournament streak.

Back-to-back wins from Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe (34) and his teammates have put UK on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, barely, in Joe Lunardi’s ESPN.com bracketology.
Back-to-back wins from Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe (34) and his teammates have put UK on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, barely, in Joe Lunardi’s ESPN.com bracketology.

Louisville

▪ Record: 2-17, 0-8 ACC.

▪ NET Ranking: No. 342, 15th out of 15 ACC teams.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: It would take a miracle of Biblical proportions for Kenny Payne’s historically bad Cardinals to win the ACC Tournament.

Not much has gone right for Kenny Payne, left, in his first season as the head coach at his college alma mater.
Not much has gone right for Kenny Payne, left, in his first season as the head coach at his college alma mater.

Morehead State

▪ Record: 10-9, 3-3 OVC.

▪ NET Ranking: No. 308, sixth out of 10 OVC teams.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: Entering Thursday night’s game at OVC-leading SIU Edwardsville, Coach Preston Spradlin’s Eagles were 2-7 in games played away from the Ellis T. Johnson Arena — and the OVC Tournament is in Evansville, Ind.

Coach Preston Spradlin’s Morehead State Eagles have fared a lot better at home than away from home in 2022-23.
Coach Preston Spradlin’s Morehead State Eagles have fared a lot better at home than away from home in 2022-23.

Murray State

▪ Record: 10-9, 5-4 MVC.

▪ NET Ranking: No. 183, seventh out of 12 Missouri Valley Conference teams.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: The first season of the Steve Prohm 2.0 coaching era has seen the Racers struggle (4-8) in games played in locations other than Murray. MSU is 2-1 in neutral-court games, however, and the MVC Tournament is played at the neutral site of St. Louis.

Coach Steve Prohm and Murray State have started 2022-23 2-7 on the road, 1-4 in Missouri Valley Conference road games.
Coach Steve Prohm and Murray State have started 2022-23 2-7 on the road, 1-4 in Missouri Valley Conference road games.

Northern Kentucky

▪ Record: 11-8, 6-2 Horizon League.

▪ NET RANKING: No. 219, seventh of 11 conference teams.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: If EKU is not our state’s best bet to win its league tourney, NKU probably is. Coach Darrin Horn’s Norse entered Thursday night’s game with Cleveland State in a four-way tie for the Horizon League lead with Milwaukee, Youngstown State and Cleveland State.

NKU has a history of playing well in the Horizon League Tournament. The Norse have won the league tourney in three of the past six seasons and fell by one point in the finals last season.

Last season as a sophomore, former Henry Clay star Marques Warrick averaged a team-high 16.8 points for Northern Kentucky. Over the season’s final six games, he averaged 25.2 points.
Last season as a sophomore, former Henry Clay star Marques Warrick averaged a team-high 16.8 points for Northern Kentucky. Over the season’s final six games, he averaged 25.2 points.

Western Kentucky

▪ Record: 11-7, 3-4 Conference USA.

▪ NET Ranking: No. 160, seventh out of 11 C-USA teams.

▪ NCAA Tournament scenario: It has been a disjointed season for the Hilltoppers, who have played their past seven games with assistant Phil Cunningham, the former Troy head man, running the team while WKU Coach Rick Stansbury has been out due to an undisclosed medical condition.

A program that has suffered a series of agonizing defeats in the C-USA Tournament finals as a favorite in the Stansbury era will seek to make a run in that event this year as an underdog.

Former Collins High School star Dayvion McKnight (20) has been Western Kentucky’s best player in 2022-23, averaging 17.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game.
Former Collins High School star Dayvion McKnight (20) has been Western Kentucky’s best player in 2022-23, averaging 17.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game.

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