'Touch Money' video has BBN worried about this team's mentality

Before the disaster against Vanderbilt unfolded, the media and the Kentucky team were in the tunnel together.

We know this team has a problem with lackadaisical starts. It has been an issue all season long. Last night was no different; they were down 11 before you could blink, but what was different was that we got a glimpse of Kentucky right before they hit the floor. And frankly, it explains a lot.

Pregame speeches matter

People like to look back on the legends. You think of Ray Lewis working himself into a frenzy, Deion Sanders talking swagger, or even Herb Brooks telling his guys their time is now. Those moments in the locker room, in the tunnel, right before a game matter. They set the tone. They tell you if a team is ready to go to war or if they are just ready to clock in.

Kentucky? They were standing around, low energy, and then they all got together and decided to break the huddle with one phrase:
"Touch Money."

What does that even mean?

Now, if you look online, there isn't some massive anthem topping the charts with that hook. The slang is murky; it can mean "always keep your money nearby," or in some circles, it's an alternate way of saying "I'll see you later" (as in, I'll touch money with you later).

Here is the problem: None of those definitions fit why you would be screaming it right before a massive conference road game.

It doesn't scream "focus." It doesn't scream "kill or be killed." It screams... well, nothing really.

The expensive roster optic

And then you go out and get absolutely beat down by a depleted Vanderbilt team. It looks infinitely worse when you remember that Mark Pope and this staff have bragged about having the "most expensive roster in college basketball."

When you have that label on your back, and you are breaking huddles, chanting about money, you'd better win. If you don't, you look arrogant, distracted, and soft.

BBN is up in arms

Naturally, the video made the rounds on social media after the blowout, and the fanbase is not amused. When the product on the floor looks disinterested, fans are going to nitpick everything—and this is a valid nitpick.

Does it matter?

Does a pregame chant lose you a basketball game? Probably not. But in a vacuum, with everything going on around this team, the slow starts, the lack of toughness, the inconsistent effort, it is a terrible look.

It reinforces the fear that this group is more in love with the lifestyle of being Kentucky basketball players than the grind of actually winning games for Kentucky.

And after a 25-point loss? That is a dangerous narrative to have hanging over your head.