Written By: Logan Hornback
When it comes to college basketball there are certain teams that always come to mind such as Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, and UCLA. These teams are four out of the six universities deemed “blue bloods” of college basketball with the other two being Indiana and Kansas. The term “blue blood” refers to a member of a noble or prominent family which translates in the college basketball world to a prominent university that has at least three national championships and six final four appearances. Over the past few years these blue bloods haven’t dominated the landscape like they have in the past and this year is not different with three out of the six teams not making the tournament. The three teams that didn’t make the tournament are Kentucky, Duke, and Indiana. The two teams I want to focus on in this post are Kentucky and Duke with this being the first time since 1976 that both teams didn’t make the NCAA tournament. Kentucky ended up having one of the worst seasons in its history finishing with a 9-16 record which is their worst since the 1926 season. Duke ended the season with a 13-11 record which is their worst since 1996 which is also the last year, they missed the NCAA tournament. It is easy to see that Kentucky had the more disappointing season but both teams not making it the tournament is a historic feat. College basketball just isn’t the same when these teams are not playing well and the tournament sure won’t feel right not seeing these two powerhouses not participating. For both teams this year was one that was highlighted by true freshman, inconsistency on the court, and Covid pausing team activities. We all know this Covid has been wreaking havoc on the world as a whole but it has also made a huge impact on the college basketball world. It’s super important early in the year for players to find some kind of cohesion and it was clear that Duke and Kentucky never found there footing as a team. There were certain stretches throughout the year where both Duke and Kentucky looked like they would turn their seasons around but that unfortunately never happened. This college basketball year didn’t pan out the way Kentucky and Duke fans would have liked but there’s that optimistic saying when people have down seasons “there’s always next year”.
