(updated through 2016)
In Kentucky's storied history, they have won 8 national titles, reached 17 Final Fours and won more games than any other school. Many of those wins have come consecutively...and here are their longest streaks of all time. As you would expect, most if not all of these streaks occurred during either national championship seasons or years when they absolutely SHOULD have won the whole thing, with #1 being the most painful example.
1) 38 games during the 2014-2015 season.
Coach: John Calipari
Leading scorer during the season: Aaron Harrison
Loss before it began: 60-54 to Connecticut in National Title Game, 4/7/14
First win: 85-45 over Grand Canyon at Rupp Arena, 11/14/14
Notable victories in streak: #5 Kansas (by 32 points), #6 Texas, #21 North Carolina, UCLA (by 39 points), at #4 Louisville, won 28th SEC Tournament title over #21 Arkansas
Last win: 68-66 over Notre Dame in the Midwest Regional Final, 3/28/15
Loss to end the streak: 71-64 to Wisconsin in a National Semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, 4/4/15
Ranking: #1 pre-season, finished as national semifinalists.
Notes: UK became the first power conference team to finish a regular season undefeated since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers, and only team other than Wichita State in 2014 to enter NCAA tournament 34-0. They are the first team to ever start a season 38-0, surpassing Wichita State's 35-0. Alas, the perfect season was not to be...and it was made ten times worse when Duke stole the 2015 title.
2) 32 games over 2 seasons (1953-54 and 1954-55).
Coach: Adolph Rupp
Leading scorer during the season: Cliff Hagan
Loss before it began: 64-57 to St. John's in the Elite Eight, 3/22/52.
First win: 86-59 over Temple at Memorial Coliseum, 12/5/53.
Notable victories in streak: #13 Duke, #16 LaSalle, #8 Minnesota, #8 LSU in SEC playoff to end 1954 season, #2 Utah and #4 LaSalle in the following season
Last win: 101-69 at Temple, 1/1/55
Loss to end the streak: 59-58 to Georgia Tech at Memorial Coliseum, 1/8/55
Ranking: #2 at start, #1 at end
Notes: The 1953-54 season remains UK's only undefeated year. It followed a year in which there was no Kentucky basketball, due to the infamous point-shaving scandal. The 25-0 Wildcats did not play in the postseason because of a rule preventing graduate students from participating. The following season, they extended the streak to 32 games. The loss to Georgia Tech is equally significant for ending UK's 129-game home winning streak, which still stands as the NCAA record. They hadn't lost a home game in more than 12 years - since falling to Ohio State at Alumni Gym on January 2nd, 1943.
3) 27 games during the 1995-1996 season.
Coach: Rick Pitino
Leading scorer during the season: Tony Delk
Loss before it began: 92-82 to #5 Massachusetts in Great Eight at Auburn Hills, Michigan on 11/28/95.
First win: 89-82 over Indiana at Indianapolis, 12/2/95
Notable victories in streak: #16 Georgia Tech (by 23 points), #25 Louisville (by 23 points), at #12 Mississippi State (by 18 points)
Loss to end the streak: 84-73 to #25 Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament Championship game at New Orleans, 3/10/96. Dontae Jones scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. His better-known teammate Erick Dampier actually contributed very little to the upset, going 2 for 11 from the field. Tony Delk was ice cold, shooting 5 of 19.
Ranking: #1 at start and end (fell to #5 in first poll after the UMass loss, back to #1 in late February)
Notes: Went on to win school's 6th national title, and defeated UMass in the Final Four along the way.
4) 26 games during the 2002-2003 season.
Coach: Tubby Smith
Leading scorer during the season: Keith Bogans
Loss before it began: 81-63 at unranked Louisville, 12/28/02. Fell to a record of 6-3 at the time.
First win: 115-87 over Tennessee State at Rupp Arena on 12/30/02.
Notable victories in streak: #10 Notre Dame (by 15 points), at #15 Alabama (by 17), #1 Florida (by 15), #3 Florida on Senior Night, won SEC Tournament, beat Wisconsin in Sweet 16
Loss to end the streak: 83-69 to Marquette in the Elite Eight at Minneapolis, 3/29/03. Dwyane Wade had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Keith Bogans scored 15 points in spite of suffering a high ankle sprain in the Sweet 16.
Ranking: #20 at start, #1 at end
Notes: This was probably Tubby Smith's best team, but Bogans' injury was ill-timed and they ran into a future NBA star.
5) 26 games over 2 seasons (1945-46 and 1946-47).
Coach: Adolph Rupp
Leading scorer during the season: Alex Groza
Loss before it began: 56-47 to Notre Dame at Louisville (Jefferson County Armory) on 1/26/46
First win: 54-26 over Georgia Tech at Alumni Gym, 1/28/46
Notable victories in streak: Michigan State, won SEC Tournament, won NIT over Arizona/West Virginia/Rhode Island, DePaul, St. John's
Loss to end the streak: 37-31 to Oklahoma A&M at Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) 12/30/46.
Rankings: N/A
Notes: Stars like Groza, Jones, Beard and Barker went on to win championships for Rupp.
The rest of the top ten....
6) 25 wins in 1965-66, ended with loss at Tennessee.
7) 24 wins in 2011-12, ended with loss to Vanderbilt in SEC Tournament Championship Game.
8) 24 wins in 1932-33 and 1933-34, ended with loss to Florida in first round of the second-ever SEC Tournament.
9) 23 wins in 1951-52, ended with loss to St. John's in Elite Eight. After this loss, they won 32 more games in a row (see #1 on this list).
10) 21 wins in 1950-51, ended with loss to Vanderbilt in SEC Tournament Championship Game.
10) 21 wins in 1948-49, ended with loss to Loyola in NIT, but they subsequently won the NCAA Championship.
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