So how bad is it ...

... for UK? Four losses in a row for the first time since 1989-90. That's pretty bad, especially since it wasn't even in SEC play (that'd be one thing) and the last two were against Conference USA teams (although apparently good CUSA teams). They're 4-5 (you'll recall their other loss before the streak was against Gardner Webb). Anyway, UK fans aren't going to be patient ... they're not willing to give Billy Gillispie the couple of years he needs to build a winner like he did at A&M. But as long as he's not that worried about them or this year, he should be fine. The way they could still salvage this season is not only to get healthy (the injury talk always sounds like an excuse, but I do think they will be more competitive with everyone available) but to develop an identity (as they say they need to do) in a hurry. After last night's game, Joe Crawford said, "We've been trying to find our identity, it's a tough time right now. Every day another person is injured. ... It's hard to build off that." Well, it would help if every night they got the same Joe Crawford who scored 14 of UK's final 19 points like he did last night. Especially as long as Patterson's hurt. And getting a couple of points from Ramel Bradley wouldn't hurt (he had 0 in 26 minutes last night).

So, will they still make the tournament? Well, let's look at the rest of their schedule ...

Tennessee Tech W
San Diego W
Fla. Int'l W
Louisville W
Vandy W
at Miss. St. L
at Florida L
Tennessee W
South Carolina W
at Georgia L
at Auburn W
Alabama L
at Vandy L
at LSU W
Georgia W
Arkansas L
Ole Miss W
at Tennessee L
at So. Carolina L
Florida W

Note: I don't really think they'll lose all of their road games and win all of their home games. I just figured they'll balance each other out.

I've got 16-13 going into the SEC tournament. In which case they'd probably at least need to get into the final. I hate to even do something like this so far in advance ... I was just thinking about how bad a predicament their 4-5 start puts them in. I guess the bottom line is they're going to need to go about 9-7 or 10-6 in the SEC to have a shot at an at-large. They've been to 16 consecutive NCAA Tournaments.