Not trying to steal the thunder of any Kentucky fans, but I felt this deserved a thread.

With a 88-44 win over Drexel tonight, Kentucky is now the first basketball program to reach 2,000 wins. A great accomplishment for one of the most storied programs in college basketball history.

North Carolina currently has 1,992 wins and should reach the 2,000 win plateau this season. Kansas currently sits at 1,980 wins and could possibly reach the 2,000 mark this season as well. UK, Carolina, and KU are the only three programs with 1,900+ wins.

Carolina will obviously get there and Kansas should as well. Hard to believe that UCLA isn't up there yet.

They had a great celebration after the game. Coach Joe B. Hall was near tears, and Calipari, Patrick Patterson, and Adolph Rupp's son all spoke. The entire student section got t-shirts, and the confetti was pouring. I would've loved to be down there for this one.

It was an absolutely dominating performance too. UK led at one point 80-29. Drexel is NOT a pushover either, but tonight everything came together and it was a magical performance.

Nice little celebration, but Calipari kept the focus on the task ahead. Great to see Jamal Mashburn call the game and so many UK legends in attendance. Memorable night.

Oh, and watch Sportscenter for the John Wall highlights

wildcats20 wrote: Carolina will obviously get there and Kansas should as well. Hard to believe that UCLA isn't up there yet.

Not really. UCLA outside of the Wooden era (and not for his entire era) hasn't been that great. Despite the titles, UCLA is NOT the program that UK, UNC, Kansas and even Duke and Indiana is.

wildcats20 wrote: Carolina will obviously get there and Kansas should as well. Hard to believe that UCLA isn't up there yet.

UCLA actually isn't close, which really surprised me. Here's a wins list prior to the start of this season.

http://basketball.about.com/od/recordbook/a/most-wins.htm

The Eric Bledsoe follow-up dunk might have been the highlight of the night. This one was full of highlights. There should be one up on YouTube fairly soon.

Azubuike24 wrote:

wildcats20 wrote: Carolina will obviously get there and Kansas should as well. Hard to believe that UCLA isn't up there yet.

Not really. UCLA outside of the Wooden era (and not for his entire era) hasn't been that great. Despite the titles, UCLA is NOT the program that UK, UNC, Kansas and even Duke and Indiana is.

I guess you're right AZ

ironman02 wrote: UCLA actually isn't close, which really surprised me. Here's a wins list prior to the start of this season.

http://basketball.about.com/od/recordbook/a/most-wins.htm

Wow, there's some surprising programs on that list. Penn? And the state of Kentucky has 3 in the top 20. Western Kentucky...who would've thought?

Western has fantastic tradition that dates back a LONG time. They have recently been very strong as well.

Congratulations, Kentucky fans. Kentucky is a polarizing program, no doubt. This 2,000 win plateau only continues to grow the Big Blue basketball empire. It is, unequivocally, the most successful and envied program in college basketball. I might dislike many things about UK, but there are even more that I love and admire. It's Kentucky, and that's hard to ignore.

In terms of the super six, I agree with Az. It's Kentucky, then North Carolina, Kansas, Indiana, Duke and UCLA (in that order). These are the standard bearers of the game. I'd give five years of my live if these teams could play in some sort of Tournament of Champions every other year or something. Or even once. Can you imagine that event? I imagine it might feel something like Field of Dreams. Although, that might also take away from the luster and excitement that surrounds these teams when they do meet in the regular season or in the NCAAs. And, of course, it would never happen in a billion years.

Forget UCLA and rotate Duke and UNC (to keep their 2 games a year in-tact), and have all each school play the other.

I'd love to see Kansas, Indiana, Duke/North Carolina and Louisville on the schedule every season. Do that, and it wouldn't matter who else you play each year.

That's a great idea, Az. My goodness that would be pure heaven. And rotate the event to the Super Six teams' home states, to the biggest or most historic arenas available. In North Carolina, it would be the Greensboro Coliseum. In Kentucky it would be in Louisville at the new Rick Pitino Palace thing or whatever (now that Freedom Hall is going away). In Indiana it would be at Conseco Fieldhouse (too bad they tore down the Hoosier/RCA Dome). For Kansas, I guess it would have to be Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Not exactly in Kansas, but it definitely couldn't be played at Allen.

People would come. People would most definitely come. Field of Dreams indeed. Name it "The Court of Dreams Classic" or something similar. Although, I like my original name for it: The Tournament of Champions. Which, of course, I stole from Kentucky's high school basketball tournament.

I can't imagine that hype for such an event.

I can't imagine what ticket prices would be for that event lol.

Was my favorite team when I first began watching college basketball back in thevery early 80's. We had 3 freaking channels and all were out of Huntington WV and channel 3 always showed Kentucky game. Melvin Turpin, Kenny Walker, Sam Bowie, Dickie Beal....all awesome....unfortunatley for my Kentucky fandom my family finally got cable and I could see the rest of the US. lol


How about a shout out for Rex Chapman

It was great tonight...all of the festivities and all of the legends in attendance. I know Drexel isnt a world beater, but I think we could do some real damage if we played like this every night.

P.S. When did Patterson get range...He has been great his entire career, and I think is now a COMPLETE player..kiinda reminds me of a Dirk now

Congrats to UK.

The Heels will have their day this season as well, and I for one, can't wait

It's really telling to how dominant and consistent these programs have been over the history of college basketball. Truly astounding.

Azubuike24 wrote: Not really. UCLA outside of the Wooden era (and not for his entire era) hasn't been that great. Despite the titles, UCLA is NOT the program that UK, UNC, Kansas and even Duke and Indiana is.

This statement is ridiculous. Of course a program 'will not seem as great' when you take away the accomplishments they had while being lead by one of the most legendary coaches in the history of college basketball.

This is like saying, outside of the Paterno era, Penn State football is not a great program. Like Wooden and UCLA, you can't separate the two. Paterno IS Penn State. Wooden IS UCLA. And each program is one of THE best in their respective sports.

BOOOOOOOOOOOO Kentucky!!!


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dtdtim wrote:

Azubuike24 wrote: Not really. UCLA outside of the Wooden era (and not for his entire era) hasn't been that great. Despite the titles, UCLA is NOT the program that UK, UNC, Kansas and even Duke and Indiana is.

This statement is ridiculous. Of course a program 'will not seem as great' when you take away the accomplishments they had while being lead by one of the most legendary coaches in the history of college basketball.

This is like saying, outside of the Paterno era, Penn State football is not a great program. Like Wooden and UCLA, you can't separate the two. Paterno IS Penn State. Wooden IS UCLA. And each program is one of THE best in their respective sports.

meh, I don't think that analogy applies. Paterno has been at PSU for over 40 years. Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas had a few coaching changes during their lengthy history and remained strong (ie. Rupp, Petino, Smith, Phog Allen, Naismith, etc.). Wooden's tenure is a blip on the radar compared to the lengthy success of the schools mentioned above.

dtdtim wrote:

Azubuike24 wrote: Not really. UCLA outside of the Wooden era (and not for his entire era) hasn't been that great. Despite the titles, UCLA is NOT the program that UK, UNC, Kansas and even Duke and Indiana is.

This statement is ridiculous. Of course a program 'will not seem as great' when you take away the accomplishments they had while being lead by one of the most legendary coaches in the history of college basketball.

This is like saying, outside of the Paterno era, Penn State football is not a great program. Like Wooden and UCLA, you can't separate the two. Paterno IS Penn State. Wooden IS UCLA. And each program is one of THE best in their respective sports.

I don't dispute that Wooden is UCLA. That is EXACTLY my point. What has UCLA done, outside of the Wooden era? They have been very good recently, and Jim Harrick had some great years in the mid-90's, but outside of that, have they been a top 10 program? Can you compare the fan support and other major milestones of UCLA compared to UK, UNC, Kansas, Duke and even Indiana? The answer is no. When arguing UCLA, you can use Final Fours and National Titles, but it STOPS there. To me, to be THE top program(s), it takes more than that. Others might think differently, but I don't.

Maybe the biggest thing I think that separates UCLA from the other Big 5 is the fan support. They don't even sell out games in an arena that holds 12,000. Ask UK, UNC or KU fans how UCLA travels to big time games. The consensus answer will be...THEY DON'T. I'm sorry, but that's why I don't include their program amongst the elite.

Im with Az. UCLA is ONLY Wooden (but at the same time Duke is only K).

But for Kansas, UNC, Indiana, and Kentucky you have AT LEAST 2 coaches that have won titles and been fantastic and are going to the HOF.