Virtually every major college basketball program will, at some point, suffer the ignominy of a significant first-round NCAA tournament upset loss. It had been a while for Kentucky … until it ran into MAAC champion Saint Peter’s on Thursday night, that is.
The No. 15 Peacocks scored an incredible upset, beating the No. 2 Wildcats 85–79 to send shockwaves through the East Region. Daryl Banks III led the way with 27 points, while Doug Edert poured in 20 off the bench to overcome a 30-point, 16-rebound performance by Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe.
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Few members of Big Blue Nation expected to be in this position this early in the tournament. Kentucky had not lost to a seed lower than 11 in its NCAA tournament history, with those losses coming in the 1980s.
The Wildcats had not lost in the first round since 2008, when they fell to No. 6 Marquette as a No. 11 seed, 74–66. Their last first-round loss as a higher seed was back in 1987, when they lost a No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed game to Ohio State. Coach John Calipari’s last first-round loss was in 2003, while at Memphis.
Needless to say, the reaction online has been something, with many fans claiming this as the worst loss in the history of the program.
After an impressive 2021–22 season, which culminated in a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance, it appeared that Calipari and Kentucky had put the rough 9–16 campaign in 2020–21 behind them. Instead, many ‘Cats fans are treating this history loss as an extension of a troubling downward trend for the program.
