They can take the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, for example.
This year’s Kentucky Wildcats baseball team is enjoying one of its best seasons in school history, but we’ve all seen similar seasons end in flameouts. There’s a reason why new heights are difficult to reach and records are difficult to break, but if the Cats work hard, they can make this season something truly exceptional. Here are five opportunities for UK baseball to create history this year:
CARDIAC CATS STRIKE AGAIN!!!! #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/IhmS4iGpOy
— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) May 10, 2024
1. Break their previous win record (45 wins)
The Cats are currently 10 wins away from tying the record for most wins in a season after Friday’s exciting extra-innings victory over Florida. Their best performance came in 2012, when they finished 45–18, won two games in the SEC Tournament, and advanced quickly out of the NCAA Tournament Gary Regional after winning two games.
2. Win the SEC regular-season title outright for the first time ever
Although the Cats did split a trophy with Alabama in 2006, they have never before won the SEC regular season championship outright. The Cats had a fantastic season that year as well, but they were unable to go past their first regional pod.
3. Win the SEC Tournament
Kentucky has never prevailed in the SEC baseball tournament held in Hoover, Alabama, since it started in 1976. Missouri and Georgia have also never won the trophy. But the Cats did make it to the semifinals in 2021—and as the 11th seed, no less! They nearly got away with an NC State.
4. Make the Super Regionals for just the third time ever
both in 2017 and 2023. The fact that those are the only years in UK baseball history that they have ever advanced to the Super Regionals highlights how difficult it is as well as how little the country’s baseball heritage is. While making a comeback this year would be extremely impressive, it wouldn’t be the greatest…
5. Get the giant monkey off their back and no longer be the only SEC team that has never made the College World Series
Although UK has had some fantastic baseball seasons with high win totals, they have never succeeded in the postseason. They are the only SEC club that has never advanced to the College World Series. In 1988, they were within one victory of defeating Stanford, who went on to win a second straight national championship, before dropping two straight games. Even though the past two seasons have been excellent, it’s now practically CWS-or-bust.