March Madness: Why Kentucky's Loss in SEC Tourney May Be a Blessing in Disguise

Well, it finally happened.

For the first time in their last 24 games, the Kentucky Wildcats finally lost.

Kentucky shot just 34 percent from the field and a whopping 18 percent from three-point land (6-for-33) en route to losing the SEC title game to the Vanderbilt Commodores, 71-64.

The loss is devastating to a team many consider to be head coach John Calipari's finest ever assembled. Now, questions may begin to arise as to whether this Kentucky squad is really as good as advertised.

They lost to a hungrier and more physical Vanderbilt team who had zero pressure on them to win. Expectations were non-existent.

For Kentucky, however, the loss may be a blessing in disguise.

It's hard enough to put together a winning streak, let alone go undefeated in the regular season in conference play, but Kentucky did just that.

They had so many expectations from fans and sports media to win the SEC and, at worst, make it to the Final Four for a second straight season.

Now that the nation's longest winning streak is over, and the SEC has crowned a new champion for the first time in three years (Kentucky had won back-to-back titles), the pressure of being perfect since December is over for the Wildcats.

This loss hurts, but it doesn't deter from the overall goal of the season: to win a national title.

Put simply, the burden is lifted off of Kentucky. They can now enter the March Madness tournament with a fresh start.

Prior to today, the last time Kentucky lost was back on December 10—a road game against Indiana that was lost on the final shot of the game.

From that point on until today, Kentucky rallied for 24 straight wins.

For the Wildcats and Coach Calipari, they can only hope that this loss is a blessing in disguise and will be the start of the only winning streak that matters in the month of March.