There are only two remaining teams in this state that have never lost to the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program.
Those two schools are Alice Loyd College and Murray State.
Both of these teams hold an astounding record of 0-0 against the Wildcats.
UK’s non-conference schedule was released on Wednesday and to the surprise of no one, Murray State was absent from the list of teams UK will play for the 111th straight year.
The closest the two teams have ever gotten to facing off against each other was the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Overall, the Wildcats are 35-0 against teams who are currently in the OVC.
The defending OVC Champions, the Belmont Bruins, will be the eighth OVC team Kentucky will have faced in the program’s history.
So why Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Austin Peay, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and Jacksonville State but not Murray State?
I am not naive enough to believe that the reason is because Kentucky is afraid of losing. Although, they would have a lot to lose, would it be any more embarrassing for them than their past losses to VMI, Gardner Webb and Robert Morris?
I think UK could sell Murray State as a marquee game. Murray State carries a lot of prestige.
As we know, ESPN ranked Murray State as one of the top 30 programs of all time.
Plus, the Racers currently have a longer streak of winning seasons than “the Commonwealth’s University.”
So, Coach Calipari and Coach Prohm, do what you have to do and give the fans throughout the state something they’ve never seen: Murray State vs. Kentucky.
Column by Steven Peake, Contributing writer.