Kentucky Invitational this weekend.........

If you have ever wondered why they call the SEC tournament the Kentucky Invitational......here is why!

SEC regular-season champion and fourth-ranked Kentucky tries to win its 26th SEC Tournament title when it begins play in the 46th league postseason event Friday night. UK has claimed the last two SEC Tournament crowns and 10 of the last 13 league tourney trophies. The Wildcats have won more SEC Tournament titles (25) than all the other league teams combined (19).

As the Eastern Division’s top seed, Kentucky plays the winner of Thursday’s Arkansas/Tennessee game, Friday at 7:30 p.m. Kentucky snuck past Arkansas, 68-67, in Fayetteville, and swept the season series with Tennessee, winning 84- 62 in Knoxville and 73-61 at home on Senior Night.

SEC Coach of the Year Tubby Smith has a remarkable 19-4 (.826) career SEC Tournament record, having won five out of the last seven tournaments at Kentucky (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004) after guiding Georgia to the final game in 1997.

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Inside the SEC NumbersUK is the only team to own 100 SEC Tournament wins ... Kentucky is 105-17 overall in SEC Tournament action, 48-12 since the tourney was renewed in 1979, and 32-3 since the league expanded in 1992 ... This is the 26th SEC Tournament, and UK has won more than half (25) the titles despite playing in just 43 previous events ... UK has won 32 of its last 35 SEC Tourney games ... Since the tournament was renewed in 1979, UK is 17-0 in semifinal games and 13-4 in title games ... Georgia (0-8) and Ole Miss (0-12) have never beaten UK in the SEC Tournament ... Since the league split in 1992, UK has earned the No. 1 seed eight times and the No. 2 seed six times ... A Wildcat has been named tournament MVP 13 times since the renewal ... At 19-4 in SEC Tournament play, Tubby Smith is tied with John Mauer (19-7 at Tennessee and Florida) and Harry Rabenhorst (19-16 at LSU) for third in league tournament wins. Smith trails only Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp (57-6) and Alabama’s Wimp Sanderson (25-7) ... UK Associate Head Coach David Hobbs has a 31-10 SEC Tournament record (with 7 titles), including his time as an assistant and head coach at Alabama (1985-98).

Wildcats Earn Another First-Round ByeSince 1992, when the Southeastern Conference split into two divisions and implemented its current postseason tournament format that allows first-round byes for four teams, Kentucky has earned a bye in all 14 tournaments. UK has not played in the SEC Tournament’s first round since the first season of the renewal in 1979.
The Wildcats earned this year’s bye by capturing the 2005 SEC Championship by two games (Alabama, LSU and Florida all finished league play with 12-4 records.).
UK has won or shared 11 SEC East titles since the divisional format began in 1992.

I also thought you might enjoy seeing how crazy (and unrealistic) our fans can be sometimes. Check out this poll that was done with Kentucky and Louisville fans in Kentucky.....shocking that some people are still unsatisfied........

CLICK HERE