Kentucky basketball vs. Florida all-time (21 different coaches, 12 different arenas)

(updated through 2017 regular season matchups)

Florida has been quite a pest for the Kentucky Wildcats, especially within the confines of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O-Dome.

UK is only 20-17 at Florida's current venue, which has proved to be one of their most challenging environments.  Five of those losses were consecutive, from 2005 through 2009 (Tubby's last three, and both of Billy G's).  Calipari is 13-6 against Florida but only 4-5 in Gainesville.

Since Pitino left, it's been a relatively close battle.  Florida had some very strong teams under Billy Donovan (2006, 2007 and 2014 in particular).  UK is only 28-18 against UF since the Pitino days.

Overall, though?  UK has dominated Florida.  Just like any other SEC team.

UK is 100-38 against Florida (72.5%)

UK is 51-9 (85%) at home

Rupp Arena: 34-7

Memorial Coliseum: 16-2

Alumni Gym: 1-0

UK is 35-25 (58.3%) at Florida

O'Connell Center: 20-17

Florida Gym aka Alligator Alley: 15-8

UK is 14-4 (77.8%) at neutral sites

Jefferson County Armory (Louisville): 5-0 (SEC Tournament during the 1940s)

Georgia Dome (Atlanta): 3-2 (SEC Tournament)

Atlanta Municipal Auditorium 2-1 (1-0 Southern Conference Tournament, 1-1 SEC Tournament)

Superdome (New Orleans): 1-1 (SEC Tournament)

The Pyramid (Memphis): 1-0 (SEC Tournament)

Bridgestone Arena (Nashville): 1-0 (SEC Tournament)

Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center 0-1 (SEC Tournament)

By type of game:

SEC regular season home games: 50-9
SEC regular season road games: 35-25
Total SEC regular season: 84-34

Pre-SEC home games: 1-0

SEC Tournament: 13-4

Southern Conference Tournament: 1-0 

By coach:

John Calipari: 14-6 (7-1 home, 4-5 road, 3-0 SEC Tournament)

Billy G: 2-2 (2-0 home, 0-2 road)

Tubby Smith: 12-10 (7-3 home, 4-6 road, 1-1 SEC Tournament)

Rick Pitino: 17-2 (8-0 home, 6-2 road, 3-0 SEC Tournament)

Eddie Sutton: 4-4 (2-2 home, 2-2 road)

Joe B. Hall: 21-6 (11-2 home, 10-3 road, 0-1 SEC Tournament)

Adolph Rupp: 29-8 (13-1 home, 9-6 road, 6-1 SEC Tournament, 1-0 Southern Conference Tournament)

Basil Hayden: 1-0 (1-0 home)

By opposing coach:

Mike White: 1-3 against Kentucky (vs. Calipari)

Billy Donovan: 17-27 against Kentucky (5-11 vs. Calipari, 2-2 vs. Billy G, 10-12 vs. Tubby, 0-2 vs. Pitino)

Lon Kruger: 2-13 against Kentucky (vs. Pitino)

Don DeVoe: 0-2 against Kentucky (vs. Pitino)

Norman Sloan: 8-19 against Kentucky (4-4 vs. Sutton, 3-8 vs. Hall, 1-7 vs. Rupp)

Ed Visscher: 0-2 against Kentucky (vs. Hall)

John Lotz: 3-9 against Kentucky (vs. Hall)

Tommy Bartlett: 6-8 against Kentucky (0-2 vs. Hall, 6-6 vs. Rupp)

John Mauer: 0-8 against Kentucky (vs. Rupp)

Sam McAllister: 0-4 against Kentucky (vs. Rupp)

Spurgeon Cherry: 0-2 against Kentucky (vs. Rupp)

Ben Clemmons: 1-0 against Kentucky (vs. Rupp)

Brady Cowell: 0-3 against Kentucky (0-2 vs. Rupp, 0-1 vs. Hayden)

Among other websites consulted, one of my main sources for this and many other posts is the peerless UK resource (and probably the best site of its kind for any sports team) known as "The Kentucky Basketball Statistics Project" operated by Jon Scott.  Available at http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/statistics/statistics.html  

The Best (and Worst) opposing SEC coaches in UK Basketball History

As Kentucky fans know, the Southeastern Conference has never been as easy as it seems from the outside.  People may laugh at John Calipari's "everybody's Super Bowl" comments, but it's true.  Does a team like Auburn sell out games unless they're playing UK...or Alabama?  What about Georgia...it's just UK and Georgia Tech, right?  They put EVERYTHING into playing UK.  And it isn't just the fans and players.  Coaches define their legacies by their results in the Kentucky games.

Which SEC coaches have had the most (and least) success against our Cats?  Glad you asked...

MOST SUCCESSFUL:

1) RAY MEARS (TENNESSEE)

Record against UK: 15-15 (.500)

Years: 1962-1977

Faced: Adolph Rupp (8-12 vs. Rupp), Joe B. Hall (7-3 vs. Hall)

Memorable: He infuriated Rupp with everything from his hideous orange clothing to his deliberate style of play to his success, even winning four in a row against UK in the late '60s.  

2) BILLY DONOVAN (FLORIDA)

Record against UK: 17-27 (.386) at Florida, plus 0-2 at Marshall

Years: 1997-2015 at Florida

Faced: Rick Pitino (0-2 vs. Pitino), Tubby Smith (10-12 vs. Smith), Billy Gillispie (2-2 vs. Gillispie), John Calipari (5-11 vs. Calipari)

Memorable: Had a 7-game winning streak against the Wildcats from 2005 through 2008, the same timeframe during which his Gators won two national titles.  Also beat UK three times in a single season (2014), the same year Florida became the first team to go 21-0 in the SEC.  UK matched that feat in 2015.

3) DON DeVOE (TENNESSEE / FLORIDA)

Record against UK: 11-14 (.440) including 11-12 at UT, 0-2 at Florida

Years: 1979-1990

Faced: Joe B. Hall (9-6 vs. Hall), Eddie Sutton (2-6 vs. Sutton), Rick Pitino (0-2 vs. Pitino)

Memorable: Beat UK for the 1979 SEC Tournament title in Birmingham.

4) ROY SKINNER (VANDERBILT)

Record against UK: 14-18 (.438)

Years: 1959-1976

Faced: Adolph Rupp (9-15 vs. Rupp), Joe B. Hall (5-3 vs. Hall)

Memorable: One of the main reasons we now speak of "Memorial magic," as the Commodores had a "mysterious" way of pulling out victories during his era in Nashville.

5) NOLAN RICHARDSON (ARKANSAS)

Record against UK: 7-12 (.368)...but he was 6-5 during the regular season

Years: 1992-2002

Faced: Rick Pitino (4-6 vs. Pitino), Tubby Smith (3-6 vs. Smith)

Memorable: Won his first four regular season games against UK...but also lost his first six SEC tournament games against us.


HONORABLE MENTION: 
Wimp Sanderson (11-18 against UK at Alabama)
Dale Brown (18-33 against UK at LSU)
Tommy Bartlett (6-8 against UK at Florida)
Mark Gottfried (5-8 against UK at Alabama)
Kevin Stallings (12-23 against UK at Vanderbilt)
Mike Anderson (3-4 against UK at Arkansas)


And the LEAST SUCCESSFUL?

1) RED LAWSON (GEORGIA)

Record against UK: 0-15 (.000)

Years: 1952-1965

Faced: Adolph Rupp

Memorable: Six of his first seven games against UK were lost by 30+ points, including a 143-66 annihilation in 1956.

2) EMMETT LOWERY (TENNESSEE)

Record against UK: 1-25 (.038)

Years: 1948-1959

Faced: Adolph Rupp

Memorable: Lowery had the unfortunate task of facing UK during Rupp's most successful years, and was thrashed repeatedly.  His teams lost four SEC tournament games to Rupp in Louisville, with margins ranging from 15 to 39 points.

3) JAN VAN BREDA KOLFF (VANDERBILT)

Record against UK: 0-12 (.000)

Years: 1994-1999

Faced: Rick Pitino (0-8 vs. Pitino), Tubby Smith (0-4 vs. Smith)

Memorable: Gave up a combined 221 points in two blowout losses against the 1996 national champion Wildcats.

4) OLE MISS COACHES...

Bonnie Graham: 0-14 from 1950-1962

Lee Hunt: 0-9 from 1983-1986

Bob Weltlich: 1-14 from 1977-1982

Rod Barnes: 1-10 from 1999-2006

Andy Kennedy: 2-12 from 2006-present

5) AUBURN COACHES...

Jeff Lebo: 0-6 from 2005-2010

Tony Barbee: 0-5 from 2011-2014

Cliff Ellis: 1-13 from 1995-2004

Joel Eaves: 2-11 from 1951-1963


DISHONORABLE MENTION:
Floyd Burdette (0-10 against UK at Alabama)
Harry Rabenhorst (0-14 against UK at LSU)
Press Maravich (1-11 against UK at LSU)
Bob Polk (3-23 against UK at Vanderbilt)
Lon Kruger (2-13 against UK at Florida)