It’s truly astonishing how much one year can make a difference. This time last year, the lifeblood of the state of Kentucky, basketball, was on life support. The men’s basketball team, already mired in its longest national title drought in two decades, was fighting just to get into the NCAA Tournament. Ultimately, after weeks of bubble watching, the Cats weren’t invited to the Big Dance for the first time in 18 years.  Meanwhile, the women’s team was fortunate just to make the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. A plethora of injuries to an already depleted roster left head coach Matthew Mitchell with few options to field a bench. UK fought valiantly but stumbled into the WNIT for the third straight season. The basketball reputation of the Bluegrass, seemingly tarnished for the near future, was hanging in the balance. And now this. One year later, Kentucky basketball is on top of the nation. Ranked No. 2 (men) and No. 16 (women) in the nation, both teams are a shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament. Their combined record of 49-5 is the best mark in all of college basketball.Basketball, as we know it, is back in Kentucky.But how did we get here? What led us to this revival of hoops hysteria? One could certainly point to a number of things – two head coaches who just get it, deep and talented rosters, up-tempo teams, etc. – but to put things in perspective, relive where Kentucky was one year ago today and how it got here today.I like to call it a “timeline of a turnaround.”Feb. 22, 2009: The women’s basketball team had re-established slim hopes of an NCAA Tournament bid following an upset of nationally ranked Tennessee, but a heartbreaker at LSU all but ends the 14-13 Cats’ chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
Feb. 25, 2009: At 19-8, the men’s team appears to be limping into the NCAA Tournament, but in the Big Dance nonetheless. Then a 77-59 blitzing at South Carolina, where Patrick Patterson gets blocked some two-thousand times (a couple of those swats just landed), firmly places the Cats on the bubble watch.March 5, 2009: If the women were going to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006, they had to win the Southeastern Conference Tournament. But with only seven players left in the rotation, Georgia bounces UK in the first round.March 7, 2009: The men’s NCAA Tournament pulse grows faint. One game after an embarrassing loss to last-place Georgia on Senior Day, UK drops a 60-53 decision to Florida, its fourth straight loss. Only a deep SEC Tournament run will save the Cats’ postseason hopes at this point.March 13, 2009: A 67-58 loss to LSU in the second round of the SEC Tournament all but seals the men’s fate to the NIT.March 15, 2009: The run of 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances officially comes to an end for the men’s team when the Cats are left out of the 65-team NCAA Tournament and relegated to the NIT.March 16, 2009: For the third straight year, the women are selected for the WNIT. The Cats host Chattanooga in the first round.
March 17, 2009: UK fans show their support for the men’s program has never wavered when 8,327 people pack Memorial Coliseum for a first-round NIT win vs. UNLV. It was the first time Kentucky hosted a game at Memorial Coliseum since 1976.March 22, 2009: The women’s 2009 season officially comes to an end with a 49-45 loss to Wisconsin in the second second round of the WNIT.March 25, 2009: The men’s 2009 season officially comes to an end with a 77-67 loss to Notre Dame in the NIT quarterfinals. March 25, 2009: Women’s basketball signee A’dia Mathies is named the 2009 Kentucky Miss Basketball. It was the beginning mark of a stellar recruiting class for head coach Matthew Mitchell. Mathies’ infusion would be one of just several highlights of first-year talent into the 2010 team.March 27, 2009: Billy Gillispie’s two-year reign as head coach of the men’s program comes to an end when Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart announces that UK will not retain Gillispie for a third year. An immediate coaching search is put into place. Gillispie ends with a 40-27 record at UK.April 1, 2009: John Calipari is announced as the 22nd men’s basketball coach in program history. After signing an eight-year contract worth $31.65 million, Calipari is introduced to the Kentucky fan base and vows to return Kentucky to the top of college basketball. He would stay true to his word.April 7, 2009: Jodie Meeks submits his name to the NBA for the June draft. Meeks ends up staying in the draft and is picked in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks. The decision leaves the men’s team without its leading scorer.April 27, 2009: Calipari creates a Twitter account. Small in terms of its relevance to his job at Kentucky, but the beginning mark of a coach that understands and embraces the UK fan base. The Twitter phenomenon started an ongoing trend of a coach who reached out to the fan base. Calipari currently has more than 1.1 million followers. June 14, 2009: Mitchell institutes an offseason program for the women’s team to renew and strengthen their commitment to the team. Each player was ordered to dribble a blue and white ball around campus at all times except inside buildings. At the time, Mitchell hoped the players would understand how fortunate they were to be able to put on the Wildcat uniform.May 8, 2009: Forward Patrick Patterson withdraws his name from the NBA Draft and decides to return to Kentucky for his junior season. The return of Patterson, who averaged 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in 2008-09, gives Calipari’s team a bona fide and experienced low post scorer. May 20, 2009: Mega-recruit John Wall inks a national letter of intent to play college basketball at the University of Kentucky. The signing is the highlight of a No. 1 recruiting class that included the likes of DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton, Jon Hood and Darnell Dodson. June 27, 2009: The women’s team kicked off its “Drive for 5K,” a campaign to break the season ticket record of 4,808, with the “5K for 5K.” Kentucky not only breaks the record, it brings together a team that was made up largely of first-year players and forms a team chemistry that proves to be the team’s greatest strength.
July 17, 2009: NBA superstar and Calipari friend LeBron James flies into Lexington for a tour of the Joe Craft Center. The visit and connection brings unmatched exposure to the men’s and women’s programs.Oct. 16, 2009: Fans jam-pack Rupp Arena for the annual Big Blue Madness, kicking off the 2009-10 basketball season for both the men’s and women’s programs. Music stars Drake and Eddie Montgomery make special guest appearances, a precursor of the national spotlight yet to come.Oct. 30, 2009: Despite the infusion of talent, the women are picked to finish 11th in the SEC by the media and coaches in what proves to be a motivational tool for the team. Nov. 1, 2009: Without a wealth of interior players but a roster loaded with athletic guards, Mitchell decides to change the women’s defensive philosophy and go to a full-court press and trap. The move pays dividends down the road. Guard Amber Smith sheds her knee brace, which Mitchell credits to her becoming a faster and better defender.Nov. 13, 2009: The men’s team opens the Calipari era with a 75-59 win over Morehead State at Rupp Arena. Eric Bledsoe scores 24 points in his UK debut, jumpstarting a 19-game winning streak.Nov. 13, 2009: The makeover was quickly underway for the women’s team. In its first game of the season, the women pound Boston 92-58 at Memorial Coliseum. UK converts 29 turnovers into 30 points, setting the tone for an in-your-face defense and up-tempo offense that changes the direction of the program.
Nov. 16, 2009: The legend of John Wall begins – as if it hadn’t already begun. After serving a one-game suspension, Wall makes his highly anticipated collegiate debut in sparkling fashion. The freshman phenom hits a game-winning jump shot with. 0.5 seconds left on the clock to give the men’s team a thrilling 72-70 win over Miami (Ohio). Wall scores 19 points in his first game.Nov. 26, 2009: The men’s team claims the Cancun Challenge championship with an overtime victory over Stanford. At 6-0 on the season, the rest of the nation takes notice of Kentucky and realizes the Cats are legit.Dec. 1, 2009: The women’s fast start is legitimized with a 107-53 pounding of Miami (Ohio). The Cats surpass the 100-point mark for the first time since 2005 behind 59.5 percent shooting, 28 turnovers and a 17-plus rebounding edge.Dec. 20, 2009: Breaking a school record never felt so sweet for the women as they capture the best start to a season (10-0) with a win against archrival Louisville. UK forces a school-record 38 turnovers to snap a five-game losing streak against the Cardinals.Dec. 21, 2009: The men’s basketball team becomes the first program in NCAA history to 2,000 wins with an 88-44 romp over Drexel.Dec. 28, 2009: Middle Tennessee hands the women their first loss of the season in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Jan. 2, 2010: The men’s team breaks a two-game losing streak to archrival Louisville and matches the best start in 40 years with a 15-0 record. DeMarcus Cousins scores 18 points, pulls down 18 rebounds and inserts himself into the National Player of the Year discussion.Jan. 10, 2010: Former football coach Rich Brooks often talked about breaking the notorious losing streaks in order to climb the ladder in the SEC. The women’s team does exactly that by breaking a 10-year losing streak to Vanderbilt and defeating the No. 17 team in the nation.Jan. 19, 2010: The women’s team finally earns some respect in the polls when they crack the ESPN/USA Today Coach Poll for the first time since 2006. UK would continue to climb in both major polls.Jan. 24 2010: Calipari and his men’s team reminds Kentucky once again how special this team is with the generosity of “Hoops for Haiti,” a telethon to help the millions affect in the aftermath of the horrific earthquake in Haiti. With the help of matching funds, UK raises more than $1 million. United States President Barack Obama calls the team two days later to thank them for their efforts.Jan. 25, 2010: Kentucky basketball is back on top. For the first time since 2003, the men’s team is ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today/Coaches Poll. Jan. 26, 2010: The men’s pursuit of perfection is halted in South Carolina, where a feisty Devan Downey leads the Gamecocks to an upset of Kentucky. The loss snaps a 19-game winning streak and ends the Cats’ brief stay at No. 1.
Jan. 27, 2010: The women break another notorious streak with a 71-62 win over LSU, UK’s first win at LSU since 1995. More importantly, it puts the Cats in the hunt for an SEC  title, a chase they’ll be in until the season’s end.Feb. 1, 2010: It took a while, but the AP voters finally placed the Cats in the top 25. UK debuts at No. 20.Feb. 11, 2010: The women display their staying power with a vengeful win over Georgia, a previous top-10 team that beat the Cats earlier in the year. With the win, UK takes commanding control of second place in the league.Feb. 13, 2010: ESPN College GameDay comes to town for the UK-Tennessee game. With the eyes of the nation on Lexington and the men’s and women’s programs, UK sets the GameDay attendance record with 22,144 fans during the live morning broadcast. The men’s team goes on to defeat Tennessee later that night.Feb. 20, 2010: The men’s team finishes off its second straight come-from-behind thriller in hostile territory, this time against No. 17 Vanderbilt in Nashville. The win prompts many national analysts to believe UK has locked up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.Feb. 21, 2010: For just the second time in program annals, the UK women complete a perfect record at home with a 71-50 win over South Carolina. With the win, the Cats finish the season 17-0 in Memorial Coliseum.March 4-7, 2010: Women’s SEC TournamentMarch 11-14, 2010: Men’s SEC TournamentMarch 18, 2010: Men’s NCAA Tournament begins.March 20, 2010: Women’s NCAA Tournament begins.April, 5, 2010: Men’s national championship game from Lucas Oil Stadium in IndianapolisApril 6, 2010: Women’s national championship game from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas