Can Kentucky Go Undefeated?

When the University of Kentucky hired John Calipari to be their head basketball coach last spring, it was universally regarded as a home run hire. Marrying college basketball's winningest program and most passionate fans with its best recruiter had to be a scary combination. But did anyone think the Wildcats would have a realistic shot at running the table?

Kentucky (No. 3 USA Today/AP) beat arch rival Louisville on Saturday to finish their non-conference season with a perfect mark of 15-0. And in a sports world where undefeated seasons are rare (although not rare enough for the BCS advocates), you have to ask yourself could this team do it?

Now I'm not talking about the postseason tournaments. Those are impossible to predict even for the best of teams. But the regular season is there for the taking.

The Wildcats are fifteen games into a 31-game regular season schedule. Every game in front of them is part of a less than daunting 16 game Southeastern Conference schedule. Only three of those games are against teams that are currently ranked in the Top 25. And eight of those games are against teams that have already lost at least four games. It is not Conference USA, but UK is no Memphis.

The Wildcats are far more talented than the rest of the SEC. You can go ahead and bet your life’s savings on freshman John Wall being the SEC Player of the Year. And if it was not for Wall, freshman center Demarcus Cousins or junior forward Patrick Patterson would be next in line for the honor.

Shooting was supposed to be the weakness for this team, but they are shooting an astounding 40 percent from behind the arc. 

Against Louisville and Connecticut, though, the Cats shot a combined 5 for 26 from three and still found a way to beat formidable competition.

If this team can continue to shoot at that rate and continue to win even when they do not, it is hard to find an SEC team that can beat them.

Will they go undefeated? Don't bet on it. Could they? You better believe it.

One other Kentucky team finished their season undefeated in 1954, but that team refused an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. You can bet on these Cats being in the field of 65 undefeated or not.