(updated through 3/3/17)
Kentucky is the winningest program in college basketball history, and have been immensely successful at home. Now and then, you'll hear about a school like Kansas racking up another long home streak. But no one ever comes close to UK's all-time NCAA record of 129 home wins in a row.
On January 2nd, 1943, UK lost in Alumni Gym to Ohio State. They went on to play 84 more home games at Alumni, the last in February, 1950. ALL were wins.
Then they moved into Memorial Coliseum, and the streak continued. 45 MORE wins, for a total of 129. They didn't lose until January 8th, 1955, against conference foe (at that time) Georgia Tech. And it was a narrow 1-point defeat!
That's right. Twelve years and six days without a home loss. It's unlikely to ever be topped.
Longest home winning streaks in NCAA history:
1) Kentucky - 129 games (1943-1955, ended by Georgia Tech)
2) St. Bonaventure - 99 games (1948-61, ended by Niagara).
3) UCLA won 98 straight at home during their prime (1970-76, ended by Oregon). That is the most recent streak of 80+ games.
4) Cincinnati won 84 in a row at home, also during their heyday (1957-64, ended by Kansas).
5) (tie) Both Arizona (1945-51) and Marquette (1967-73) won 81 in a row at home.
Notes on other prominent schools:
- Kansas' longest streak at Allen Fieldhouse is 69 games (2007-11).
- Duke's longest at Cameron Indoor is 46 (1997-2000), but they currently hold a 132-game winning streak in home non-conference games. Most of those have come against garbage opponents, but I'll begrudgingly grant that it's a very impressive mark.
- Indiana's longest streak at Assembly Hall is 50 games.
Here are the longest home streaks in Kentucky history...
1) 129 games
Coach: Adolph Rupp
Venues: Alumni Gym (84 games) and Memorial Coliseum (45 games)
Loss that preceded it: 1/2/1943 vs. Ohio State
First win: 1/4/1943 vs. Fort Knox
Last win: 12/30/1954 vs. St. Louis
Loss that ended it: 1/8/1955 vs. Georgia Tech (59-58)
Highlights during the streak: Where to start? This era was when UK basketball truly arrived on the scene. Championships in 1948, 1949 and 1951. Elite Eights in 1945 and 1952.
Victories over blue bloods: North Carolina (1950), Kansas (1950), UCLA (1951), Duke (1953)
2) 54 games
Coach: John Calipari
Venue: Rupp Arena
Loss that preceded it: 3/4/2009 vs. Georgia (Senior Day)
First win: 11/13/2009 vs. Morehead State
Last win: 11/23/2012 vs. Long Island
Loss that ended it: 12/1/2012 vs. Baylor (64-55)
Highlights during the streak: 2012 National Champions, 2010 and 2011 Final Fours. First college program to reach 2000 wins (vs. Drexel 12/21/09)
Victories over blue bloods: North Carolina (2009), Indiana (2010), North Carolina (2011)
3) 42 games
Coach: John Calipari
Venue: Rupp Arena
Loss that preceded it: 2/27/2014 vs. Arkansas
First win: 3/4/2014 vs. Alabama (Senior Day)
Last win: 11/25/2016 vs. Tennessee-Martin
Loss that ended it: 12/3/2016 vs. UCLA (97-92)
Highlights during the streak: 2014 Final Four, the near-undefeated 2015 season
Victories over blue bloods: North Carolina (2014)
4) 40 games (regular season, official home games only - 30 if you count tournament games)
Coach: Joe B. Hall
Venue: Rupp Arena
Loss that preceded it: 1/28/1980 vs. LSU
First win: 2/2/1980 vs. Tennessee
Last win: 1/5/1983 vs. LSU
Loss that ended it: 1/15/1983 vs. Auburn (75-67)
Important note about this streak: UK lost not once but TWICE at Rupp during this streak, but the losses were a 1980 NCAA Tournament game against Duke and the 1982 SEC Tournament Championship game against Alabama. If you count those as home losses (which they weren't, officially), then the longest part of the streak was actually 30 games (between the Duke and Alabama games).
5) 39 games
Coach: Adolph Rupp
Venue: Alumni Gym
Loss that preceded it: 1/2/1933 vs. Ohio State
First win: 1/10/1933 vs. South Carolina
Last win: 2/21/1936 vs. Creighton
Loss that ended it: 2/22/1936 vs. Creighton (31-29, the day after beating the same team by 30 points)
Note about this streak: it began in the first season of Southeastern Conference play, at a time when Sewanee, Tulane and Georgia Tech were in the SEC
6) 30 games (regular season, official home games only - 33 if you count tournament games)
Coach: Rick Pitino
Venue: Rupp Arena
Loss that preceded it: 1/25/1992 vs. Arkansas
First win: 1/29/1992 vs. Ole Miss
Last win: 2/2/1994 vs. Alabama
Loss that ended it: 2/9/1994 vs. Arkansas (90-82)
Highlights during the streak: 1992 Elite Eight run by the Unforgettables, 1993 Final Four
Important note about this streak: UK also won the 1993 SEC Tournament at Rupp, which would add 3 games to the "Rupp streak" but not the "home streak."
What about Kentucky's home SEC streaks?
1) 69 games (1939-55) under Rupp - ended against Georgia Tech
2) 49 games (1967-73) under Rupp and Hall - ended against Vanderbilt
3) 33 games (1955-60) under Rupp - ended against Georgia Tech
4) 28 games (2014-present) under Calipari
5) 24 games (2010-13) under Calipari - ended against Texas A&M
6) (tie) 22 games (1980-82) under Hall, 22 games (1989-92) under Sutton and Pitino, 22 games (1999-2002) under Tubby
And finally, UK's non-conference home streaks?
1) 78 games (1943-55) under Rupp - ended against Georgia Tech
2) 39 games (1991-97) under Pitino - ended against Louisville
3) 36 games (2012-16) under Calipari - ended against UCLA
4) 34 games (2008-12) under Gillispie and Calipari - ended against Baylor
5) 29 games (1979-84) under Hall - ended against Southern Methodist
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