by Andrew Hardison
Beating a bitter rival: The 2009 season was supposed to be the end of an era in Kentucky Wildcats football history, but it was all for not as the Cats lost for a 25th straight time to Tennessee. The border-battle between the Cats and the Vols has been epic and truly something to watch. This year’s version was no different.
The problem however, was Kentucky’s inability to stop Tennessee’s running attack as Montario Hardesty tore up the Wildcats front seven. Riding a three game winning streak, the Cats had an opportunity to not only beat the Vols for the first time in 24 years, but also give itself the chance to play in a higher profile bowl quite possibly the Capitol One Bowl in Florida.
Despite the back and forth nature of the game, Tennessee wound up pulling out the victory in overtime on a Hardesty 20-yard dash to the end-zone that finished the Wildcats off. This year’s resolution is finally beating the Vols, which won’t be an easy task. Head coach Lane Kiffin has been molding Tennessee into a program that can easily rise to the top of the SEC East and the battles between these two border rivals will only continue to heat as the years go on.
Become the SEC Elite: Kentucky Wildcats basketball has taken a backseat to the rest of the SEC and the nation the last several years, that the blue-blooded Kentucky fans started to become restless with the team’s performance.
It’s been years since the Wildcats were the crème d’ le crème of the SEC and there isn’t a better year to ascend to the mountain top once more than this one. 2009 has been very good to the young Cats team and it looks as if 2010 will be just as sweet. The combination of talent and motivated players, along with one of the nation’s most prolific winners, Kentucky is primed for a regular season conference title for the first time in years.
The team’s chances to not only win the regular season but also the post-season conference tournament hinges largely on the ability to improve upon what the team’s done already. At 14-0 you may think there isn’t much left to do, but the regular season will present Kentucky with challenges that their out of conference opponents haven’t presented yet. If the Wildcats can endure the challenges of conference play, a conference tournament title may come shortly thereafter.
Cheer, Cheer, Cheer: As Wildcats fans, we’ve seen the ups and downs of Kentucky Wildcats sports for the past decade. There has been much to cheer about, but there were plenty of heartbreaks and hardships as well.
2010 has the potential to be a great year for Kentucky sports, namely in football and basketball. John Calipari’s basketball team is on the verge of becoming a complete, NCAA tournament bound team. Last year provided the Cats with an NIT bid, far from what UK fans expect out of their basketball team. This year’s team is a drastic change from last year and we should get to see them back in the tournament, vying for another streak of 17 consecutive NCAA bids.The football team has once again proved all the critics wrong when it comes to Wins-Loses. Rich Brooks’s overall record isn’t something to write home about, but the records and memorable games have littered his coaching tenure at Kentucky. A victory over Clemson in the 2006 Music City Bowl started the trend, with wins over #1 LSU and a Top-10 Louisville team coming a year later. This year provided milestone victories against Auburn and Georgia that broke decade long streaks in a matter of sixty minutes.
Next year can be just as fulfilling, but one thing is certain. We must Cheer, Cheer, Cheer for our Wildcats through the good and bad times because let’s face it, it looks like there is more good in the future than bad which is certainly a great thing for the Big Blue Nation. Stayed tuned for 2010!
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