The longest home winning streaks in college basketball history (and UK history)

(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

Kentucky basketball vs. Georgia all-time (26 different coaches, 20 different arenas)

(Updated through regular season matchups in 2017)

Georgia has been a bit of a strange opponent for the Wildcats in basketball.  They seem so difficult at times (even putting up quite a fight in Rupp), but their overall results Kentucky are easily the worst of any of the longtime "SEC East" foes.  Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida have all given UK much more consistent trouble.  That is NOT to say that we look forward to any trip to Athens.  It's always a physical battle.

Let's get to the numbers...

Kentucky is 123-26 overall against Georgia (82.6%).  Their only better marks against SEC opponents?  Missouri (100%), Ole Miss (89%), Auburn (83.6%), and MSU (82.9%).

The only opponents UK has played more than 149 games against?  Tennessee (222) and Vanderbilt (189).

Kentucky is 60-5 at home vs. Georgia (92.3%)

Rupp Arena: 35-4 (89.7%) - the only losses were in 1985, 2002, 2004 and 2009

Memorial Coliseum: 19-0 (100%)

Alumni Gymnasium: 6-0 (100%)

Buell Armory Gym: 0-1 (0%) - loss was in 1923

Kentucky is 42-17 on the road at Georgia (71.2%)

Stegeman Coliseum (since 1965): 35-14 (71.4%) - longest winning streak there is 7, longest losing streak is 3

Woodruff Hall (1926-1964): 7-2 (77.8%) - losses were in 1931 and 1950

Moss Auditorium (1925): 0-1 (0%)

Kentucky is 21-4 at neutral sites vs. Georgia (84%)

Jefferson County Armory (Louisville): 5-0 (100%) - SEC Tournament wins in 1943, 1944, and 1950, plus regular season wins in 1952 and 1956

Georgia Dome (Atlanta): 2-0 (100%) - 2004 and 2014 SEC Tournament games

The Omni (Atlanta): 2-0 (100%) - two regular season neutral site games in 1979 and 1988

The Pyramid (Memphis): 1-0 (100%) - 1997 SEC Tournament Title game

Bridgestone Arena (Nashville): 1-0 (100%) - 2016 SEC Tournament

Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville): 1-0 (100%) - 1984 SEC Tournament

Alumni Memorial Gymnasium (Knoxville): 1-0 (100%) - 1940 SEC Tournament Championship

Owensboro Sportscenter: 1-0 (100%) - 1954 regular season game

Municipal Auditorium (Columbus, Georgia): 1-0 (100%) - 1960 regular season

Pete Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge): 1-0 (100%) - 1988 SEC Tournament Championship (vacated)

Alexander Memorial Coliseum (Atlanta): 2-1 (66.7%) - regular season wins in 1958 and 1962, and the "Tornado game" loss in the 2008 SEC Tournament

Atlanta Municipal Auditorium: 3-2 (60%) - won 1921 SIAA Tournament Championship, lost in 1925 Southern Conference Tournament, won in 1926 Southern Conference Tournament, won in 1928 Southern Conference Tournament, lost in 1929 Southern Conference Tournament

Freedom Hall: 0-1 (0%) - lost in December 1986 under Sutton

By type of game:

SEC regular season home: 59-4

SEC regular season road: 40-15

SEC regular season neutral: 8-1

SEC regular season overall: 106-20

Pre-SEC regular season home: 1-1

Pre-SEC regular season road: 2-2

Regular season overall: 109-23

SEC Tournament: 10-1

Southern Conference Tournament: 2-2

SIAA Conference Tournament: 1-0

Postseason overall: 13-3

By UK coach:

John Calipari: 13-2 (7-0 home, 4-2 road, 2-0 SECT)

Billy Gillispie: 3-2 (1-1 home, 2-0 road, 0-1 SECT)

Tubby Smith: 16-5 (8-2 home, 7-3 road, 1-0 SECT)

Rick Pitino: 15-2 (8-0 home, 6-2 road, 1-0 SECT)

Eddie Sutton: 6-3 (3-0 home, 1-2 road, 1-1 neutral, 1-0 SECT)

Joe B. Hall: 23-4 (12-1 home, 9-3 road, 1-0 neutral, 1-0 SECT)

Adolph Rupp: 41-4 (20-0 home, 11-4 road, 6-0 neutral, 4-0 SECT)

John Mauer: 3-1 (1-0 home, 1-0 road, 1-1 SoCon Tournament)

Ray Eklund (1926): 2-0 (1-0 road, 1-0 SoCon Tournament)

Clarence Applegran (1925): 0-2 (0-1 road, 0-1 SoCon Tournament)

George Buchheit (1921, 1923): 1-1 (0-1 home, 1-0 SIAA Tournament)

By opposing coach:

Mark Fox (since 2010): 2-13 against Kentucky (all against Calipari)

Pete Herrmann (interim '09): 1-0 against Kentucky (vs. Billy G)

Dennis Felton (2004-09): 4-9 against Kentucky (3-6 vs. Tubby, 1-3 vs. Billy G)

Jim Harrick (2000-03): 2-6 against Kentucky (all against Tubby)

Ron Jirsa (1998-99): 0-4 against Kentucky (all against Tubby)

Tubby Smith (1996-97): 0-5 against Kentucky (all against Pitino)

Hugh Durham (1979-95): 8-28 against Kentucky (2-10 vs. Pitino, 3-6 vs. Sutton, 3-12 vs. Hall)

John Guthrie (1974-78): 1-9 against Kentucky (all against Hall)

Ken Rosemond (1966-73): 2-14 against Kentucky (0-2 vs. Hall, 2-12 vs. Rupp)

Red Lawson (1952-65): 0-15 against Kentucky (all against Rupp)

Jim Whatley (1949-51): 0-4 against Kentucky (all against Rupp)

Ralph Jordan (1946-49): 0-4 against Kentucky (all against Rupp)

Elmer Lampe (1940-45): 0-7 against Kentucky (all against Rupp)

Harry Mehre (1931): 1-0 against Kentucky (vs. Rupp)

Herman Stegeman (1921-30): 4-6 against Kentucky (1-1 vs. Buchheit, 2-0 vs. Applegran, 0-2 vs. Eklund, 1-3 vs. Mauer)

Kentucky basketball vs. South Carolina all-time (9 different arenas)

(updated through 2017 regular season)

South Carolina.  They have some memorably frustrating wins against UK (including two in the conference tournament against Tubby, Pitino's last game in blue at Rupp Arena, and the "Obama Curse" game in 2010).  But like any other SEC team, their overall results against the Cats are less than inspiring.

UK's overall record is currently 51-11 against USC-East (82.3%).  Let's check out the breakdown.

Home games: 27-2 (93.1%)

Rupp Arena: 24-2 (92.3%) - losses were 1997, 2009...two of the wins came before Carolina joined the SEC

Memorial Coliseum: 1-0 (100%) - the 1967 UKIT

Alumni Gym: 2-0 (100%) - games were in 1933 and 1941

Road games: 20-7 (74.1%)

Carolina Center / Colonial Center / Colonial Life Arena: 9-4 (69.2%) - losses were in 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014

Carolina Coliseum / Frank McGuire Arena: 11-2 (81.8%) - losses were in 1994, 1997...two of the wins were pre-SEC

Carolina Fieldhouse: 0-1 (0%) - game was in 1933

Neutral sites: 4-2 (57.1%)

Atlanta Municipal Auditorium: 1-0 (100%) - 1928 Southern Conference Tournament

Georgia Dome: 2-1 (67%) - 1998, 2002 and 2004 SEC Tournament

Gaylord Entertainment Center: 1-1 (50%) - 2001 and 2006 SEC Tournament

By type of game:

Regular season SEC home games: 22-2
Regular season SEC road games: 18-6
Regular season SEC neutral games: 0-0
Regular season SEC games overall: 39-8

Regular season pre-SEC home games: 5-0
Regular season pre-SEC road games: 2-1

SEC Tournament: 3-2

Southern Conference Tournament: 1-0

NCAA Tournament: N/A

By coach:

Calipari: 10-2
Billy G: 2-2
Tubby: 22-3
Pitino: 9-3
Sutton: 0-0
Hall: 4-0
Rupp: 3-1
Mauer: 1-0