The race to 2000 wins: College Basketball's All Time Wins Leaders Update
By Staff
by Paul Jordan
#2 – 1993 (9-3)
#3 – 1981 – (11-0)
#4 – 1885 (9-1)
#5 – 1767 (12-0)
Well, the Cats officially ended the race to 2000 last week with a drubbing over Drexel, so you see a little different format to this column this week. Since the race to 2000 is over, I decided to pay tribute to the top 5 programs, just so we can see where everyone is. I will only detail the UK/UNC games as long as the all time race number is in single digits however.
Kentucky ended the race to 2000 in non dramatic fashion with a 88-44 thrashing of the Drexel Dragons. It was a magical night in Rupp and culminated in a scene worthy of a NCAA title celebration. You could sense the relief of the UK program in that they were able to not only hold off the hard charging Tar Heels but actually increase their lead by a few games. All in all, it’s been a storybook type start to UK’s season and you just hope that the end is not in sight. UK racked up victory 2001 on Wednesday afternoon with a win over the 49ers of Long Beach State. Widely thought to be a “trap” game, UK broke open a tie game at the half and cruised to a 86-73 victory.
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UNC ends up losing another game in the all time wins race due to schedule attrition. The Heels had just one game this week, a 98-61 thrashing of the Marshall Thundering Herd. Right now UK’s win lead sits at “8” but UK has actually played one more game than the Heels. .
THIS WEEK: Two games litter the schedule for UK this week: a Tuesday night tuneup at Rupp against the Hartford Hawks and then Saturdays bitter rivalry game against the hated Dirty Cards of Louisville. The Tar Heels have two home games this week: Monday night vs the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Albany Great Danes on Wednesday night.
FORECAST: UK should have no problem with Hartford on Tuesday. Yes, it is a “trap” game, but Long Beach State is a much better team and UK handled them. Then on Saturday …. well, it’s Rick Pitino and his Dirty Cards rolling into Rupp. I know that you never consider a rivalry game a sure “W” regardless of the records and it appears the Cards have rebounded from their earlier bump in the road. It is at UK, however, and I see UK coming out with that “big game” mentality and it’s hard to imagine losing to the Cards in Lexington this year.
North Carolina has an interesting game against the 9-2 Scarlet Knights. While they have an impressive record, it has been built solely of cupcakes. The Knights have not beat anything resembling a tournament team thus far. The Great Danes will just be along for the ride with a 4-9 record. They do have a cool “Scooby Doo” type logo however.
It’s hard to pick against either team losing this week. UK does have the tougher matchup but let’s consider this race pro-quid-pro this week as both teams should go 2-0 heading into conference play. Here is how the all times win race will look on Monday: Kentucky 2003, UNC 1995.
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