This was when I was a fresh UK fan. Passion at an all time high. Little kid watching with the entire family. Went from crying to celebrating back to crying.
What's yalls?
What's yalls?
Most heartbreaking moment as a fan
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Also as someone mentioned recently this was one of the most joyful games during the same era.
1975 NCAA Finals loss to UCLA and 2015 loss to Wisconsin
Figured Wisconsin would be the most popular answer
Losing to Duke in 92 was absolutely heartbreaking for me.
Wisconsin is THE answer. We were right there to 40-0. The Duke game gave way to massive momentum. The loss to Wisconsin gave way to cals deep depression and inability to land top 5 players. Not to mention it stands as the last final four we were in. That’s how devastating that loss was. All the hype we all felt it and bam out like a dud.
It took along time to get over than one. I don’t think cal ever got over it. Usually getting to a final four is great. But we barely made that. It’s a difficult task and cal put it all on the undefeated season instead of catching ucla. I think if we pace ourselves we win 2015.
We would be in a much better situation now. And cal would have continued to put together complete teams. 2017 was lacking. Win the 2015 title and we have a team that probably wins or makes a ff in 2017. Maybe 2018 has a top 5 in there instead of a lot of guys who need development. Nevertheless cal wins far more and has better success with recruits if we don’t give away that title in 2015.
Old schoolers will say March 19,1966 when the 1 lose Rupp Runts lost to Texas Westen.
Laettner is number one and it’s only rival to me is the 2015 final 4.
Two football losses that still stick with me we're Couch's duel with Peyton in '97. We put up points, but were outclassed by Tennessee still. It was the first time I felt like we had a chance v Tennessee as a kid, and those bastards still got us.
'07 v Florida also stands out. They came in here the week after the LSU win, we thought "OK, we've made our statement and the nation is on notice, here's our chance to validate it wasn't a fluke." We battled but ultimately lost, and had a backslide the rest of the season to boot.
'07 v Florida also stands out. They came in here the week after the LSU win, we thought "OK, we've made our statement and the nation is on notice, here's our chance to validate it wasn't a fluke." We battled but ultimately lost, and had a backslide the rest of the season to boot.
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The 1984 tournament loss to Georgetown is still a recurring nightmare more than 40 years later.
1986 tournament loss to LSU is another.
1986 tournament loss to LSU is another.
I think there were a lot of factors beyond that single game that led to Cal's decline, but it is a definite demarcation point.
40-0 would have been the greatest single season accomplishment since 1976, and in some ways more impressive. And Cal had his team ahead by 4 with the ball with 5:00 left in the game, for that to be 1 win away.
But I do think the other factors would have caught Cal even if he had finished the deal in 2015. Duke was already starting to claim its spot as Nike's #1 program. One and done had reached a point where many top players didn't care if their college season was on a title contender or not. And the way the game was being played was moving away from what Cal is comfortable with.
Cal's glory run was pretty much 06-15, and if you look at what was winning titles in the NBA, it makes sense. Physically gifted teams that made a commitment to defense and didn't rely on jump shooting. The pre-2014 Spurs, The Garnett Celtics, the Kobe/Gasol Lakers, the Lebron teams in Miami. That started to change when the Spurs destroyed the Heat in 2014 with ball movement and spacing, and then the seismic shift towards spread offenses and 3 point shooting really took off the next year with Golden State.
All of that filtered into the college game, and Cal was never able to adapt and pretty much unwilling to try. Finishing off 2015 would change his legacy, but I think he would have declined regardless.
1984 and 1992 are my most heartbreaking loses. In 1984 I really believed that the twin towers were the best team in college basketball. Then the 92 loss to Duke on the Laettner shot ended the run of my favorite UK team of my lifetime.
This is far below a lot mentioned but one of the worst losses for me was the opening round loss to Mississippi State in the 2007 SEC tournament after Sheray Thomas committed a lane violation. My buddies and I had front row tickets and had planned the weekend around a run. Instead, the next day we went to the aquarium where I remember just staring at a dead catfish at the bottom of a tank and thinking "this seems appropriate."
I was at the Wisconsin game. For me, it wasn't heartbreaking. It was raw, unadulterated, anger. I went to a dark place that night.
Several good answers in this thread, but the complete shock of Luke Maye hitting the shot to put UNC back up after Monk tied it was a real kick in the nuts for me.
Is, was, and always will be ’92 UK/ Duke, for any fan born before 1986. After that, 2015 UK/ Wisconsin has to be near the top for most.
All these games mentioned above are “list worthy” and each has its own unique sting.
One of my earliest recollections of extreme disappointment was the 1970 game against Jacksonville. Cats were top rated and my still favorite player of all, Dan Issel was going up against Jacksonville’s center, Artimis Gilmore.
Late in the game and Cats were coming from behind, Issel scores and starts backpedaling on defense after a bucket…Jvill’s little point guard stops right behind Issel, and Issel runs him over. Fifth foul on Dan and Jacksonville goes on to win. Heartbreaking end to a tremendous career at UK.
Another is UKs loss to Western in the NCAA tourney…Rupps last game as our coach.
As with many other of my fellow fans:
Duke (I still hate Laetner)
Wisconsin (I’ll never get over it)
75 UCLA (Wooden’s last year in coaching - incredible hype for this matchup with the Bruins)
Georgetown (We had ‘em on the ropes in the 1st half)
More…but getting depressed thinking about them.
Appreciate the thread even though it brings back some disappointment. You know though, all these memories are a testament as to our great (the greatest) legacy of all time in college basketball.
GBB!
One of my earliest recollections of extreme disappointment was the 1970 game against Jacksonville. Cats were top rated and my still favorite player of all, Dan Issel was going up against Jacksonville’s center, Artimis Gilmore.
Late in the game and Cats were coming from behind, Issel scores and starts backpedaling on defense after a bucket…Jvill’s little point guard stops right behind Issel, and Issel runs him over. Fifth foul on Dan and Jacksonville goes on to win. Heartbreaking end to a tremendous career at UK.
Another is UKs loss to Western in the NCAA tourney…Rupps last game as our coach.
As with many other of my fellow fans:
Duke (I still hate Laetner)
Wisconsin (I’ll never get over it)
75 UCLA (Wooden’s last year in coaching - incredible hype for this matchup with the Bruins)
Georgetown (We had ‘em on the ropes in the 1st half)
More…but getting depressed thinking about them.
Appreciate the thread even though it brings back some disappointment. You know though, all these memories are a testament as to our great (the greatest) legacy of all time in college basketball.
GBB!
The ‘70 game was a few years before I remember but checking that game out, looks like 3 other Cats fouled out too. Including Mike Pratt and Terry Mills.
As a fan, probably haven't been the same since that game. After the the hose job by Higgins, I told myself it isn't worth getting too emotionally invested in these games.
1993 against Michigan, only because I didn't watch the '92 loss to Duke.
I was a little kid in '93, and Mashburn was Superman to me. I still watch Mashburn's 5th foul on Juwan Howard with the hopes that he won't push him in the back.
I was a little kid in '93, and Mashburn was Superman to me. I still watch Mashburn's 5th foul on Juwan Howard with the hopes that he won't push him in the back.
Id say 2015. I think if they win they definitely matched up better with Duke than whisky.
92 was devastating but idk that that team definitely wins a title if they beat Duke.
Of course nothing is definite, but I just feel like 2015 missed history. Also way more recent. Recency bias.
92 was devastating but idk that that team definitely wins a title if they beat Duke.
Of course nothing is definite, but I just feel like 2015 missed history. Also way more recent. Recency bias.
92 Duke can never be beat for several reasons
1. You had a group of Kentucky kids that stuck around during probation facing one of the biggest Goliaths in college basketball history.
2. Lack of distractions during this time. Pre-internet, most people still only had 3 channels and you just had to stew in it.
3. "The shot". It just wouldn't go away. Again, before an age of distraction and when you watched sports years after that you would either see the replay or hear a reference to it.
4. It was Duke!!!
5. It not only ended one of the most loved UK teams of all time but the most beloved UK personalities in Cawood.
1. You had a group of Kentucky kids that stuck around during probation facing one of the biggest Goliaths in college basketball history.
2. Lack of distractions during this time. Pre-internet, most people still only had 3 channels and you just had to stew in it.
3. "The shot". It just wouldn't go away. Again, before an age of distraction and when you watched sports years after that you would either see the replay or hear a reference to it.
4. It was Duke!!!
5. It not only ended one of the most loved UK teams of all time but the most beloved UK personalities in Cawood.
Cannot disagree with any of the above
Also the Fitch, Daniel’s, Antwon Barbour team that was like a 1-2 seed and lost to UAB I think their second game out. I remember being so disappointed about that one as well
Also the Fitch, Daniel’s, Antwon Barbour team that was like a 1-2 seed and lost to UAB I think their second game out. I remember being so disappointed about that one as well
The only thing working against it is that UK was a heavy underdog in that game. It can never be beat in terms of a gut-punch ending, but it was also a superb performance, something to be completely proud of.
Other losses had no real redeeming quality. Certainly Wisconsin 2015, but from my youth, the 83 OT collapse against Louisville and the 84 semi vs Georgetown. Just horrible ways to end a season.
I have quite a few game disappointments... I think one of the more heartbreaking moments for me was when Pitino left in 97 to take that Celtics job. If he would've stayed all the possibilities of already passing UCLA for the all time lead in Championships...
I was going to post all of that. Vaughn Wedeking was that little prick who flopped and got Issel's 5th foul. The blowout WKU loss, while extremely embarrassing, wasn't Rupp's final game. That came next year with another embarrassing blowout loss to FSU and future UGA coach Hugh Durham in the Mideast Finals in Dayton.
Not funny at all but I had to laugh at the honesty. I've definitely let this (game) ruin some nights. I've recently learned to not care as much as when I was younger but that's mainly because I feel like the players don't care as much.
Not like we have 4 or 5 seniors busting through the paper portrait on senior night that gave their all to UK.
But then again I'm kind of lying. Ill still throw a damn tantrum when we lose. Always will. I love UK lol
Tubby had a three year stretch with Marquette, UAB, and Mich St that had a lot of parallels to what happened to Joe B Hall in 81, 82, 83, and 84. Just cumulative crushing endings.
After that Wisconsin game, my dad said to me “with that, I’m probably not going to get see another championship.” He passed away the day of the UCLA sweet sixteen game in 2017. So then the UNC ending didn’t even really register. It was also pretty clear the fix was in, and I’m not sure I’ve ever really recovered from that aspect of it.
Michigan St in 2005 and WVU in 2010 both happened on my birthday. I took both very hard. On the flip side, UNC in 2011 also was on my birthday.
I’ll give a game that most have probably forgotten. UConn in 2006.
After that Wisconsin game, my dad said to me “with that, I’m probably not going to get see another championship.” He passed away the day of the UCLA sweet sixteen game in 2017. So then the UNC ending didn’t even really register. It was also pretty clear the fix was in, and I’m not sure I’ve ever really recovered from that aspect of it.
Michigan St in 2005 and WVU in 2010 both happened on my birthday. I took both very hard. On the flip side, UNC in 2011 also was on my birthday.
I’ll give a game that most have probably forgotten. UConn in 2006.
Those bad tournament losses Cal had were the hardest ones to me. Would have been amazing to go undefeated but seeing an amazing legacy talent like Reed get bounced game one and that season ending like that really, really sucked. Squandered opportunities always hurt worst to me.
I was at my UNC in-laws house where I was the only non-UNC fan (independent of some people who were just there to socialize) in a group of like 30 people. I reacted to all of it in a slightly muted version of how it would have gone if I was at home. No one was too big of a jerk about it but yeah, that one sucked too. Some of their smiling faces needed punching.
I was 11. Nothing will ever top this unless the Bengals are winning the Super Bowl with 40 seconds to go and Joe Burrow fumbles the ball as he’s kneeling and the defense returns it for a TD.
I see your point but going from one of the highest of highs in my sports fandom after Woods hit that shot to the lowest of lows in a matter of seconds was a pain that could never be topped for me.
I will say, it took years but I have changed the way I view the game from disappointment to pride. But that level of pain stuck with me much longer than 84 or 2015.
Agree. For me ‘84 sucked but it hadn’t been “that” long since a championship at the time.
‘15 sucked but UK was flying high and at the top of the CBB world.
It’s ‘92 for me as well.
I feel like that game doesn't get talked about enough. I use it a lot to talk about Pitino's greatness in that era. Look at those lineups and tell me how we were even close in that game. Insane how he had his teams playing back then.
Also, that was the first time I cussed in front of my mom. Demanding the ref call a freaking charge that Delk drew at the end. Only, I didn't say freaking.
For me it is the Laettner loss, the loss to LSU after we had beaten them three times, and the loss to Georgetown. I was there for that one.
Same, I did so many drugs that night I’m shocked I didn’t die. I was depressed for a long while. Obviously it wasn’t just because of the game but that was a really happy portion of my life at that time. It hurt.
Laettner was a gut punch. As great a coach as Rick was, not guarding the inbound was triple bogey stupid
The UAB loss 2004. Team wasn’t on the floor that day
I'm nearly 40.
2015 vs Wisconsin is my #1. That team seemed invincible. 40-0 was a shot clock violation away. Feeling robbed/cheated made it worse.
2003 Marquette is #2. I was 15. 5 Years without a championship seemed like an eternity. We had the #1 team. We were playing to get back into the Final 4. And I was old enough to really follow the team, just loved that whole team.
I was 4 years old when Lattener got us. I don't REALLY remember it. I've watched the game a few times as an adult. I've seen the play 1,000 times. But I never really felt that pain like some of you who were older.
2015 vs Wisconsin is my #1. That team seemed invincible. 40-0 was a shot clock violation away. Feeling robbed/cheated made it worse.
2003 Marquette is #2. I was 15. 5 Years without a championship seemed like an eternity. We had the #1 team. We were playing to get back into the Final 4. And I was old enough to really follow the team, just loved that whole team.
I was 4 years old when Lattener got us. I don't REALLY remember it. I've watched the game a few times as an adult. I've seen the play 1,000 times. But I never really felt that pain like some of you who were older.