justin coleman uk 2016 SEC.jpg
Alabama's Justin Coleman stumbles as he drives against Kentucky's Jamal Murray during UK's 85-59 win March 11, 2016, in the SEC Tournament in Nashville. (Mark Humphrey/AP photo)
By Kentucky's impossible standards, this season would have to be considered a letdown.
The Wildcats aren't undefeated, didn't spend the year at the top of the polls and had to share the SEC regular-season title with Texas A&M, which hadn't won a basketball title since it played in the Southwest Conference.
Their prize freshman didn't come close to fulfilling his one-and-done hype, and in perhaps the greatest shame of all, they lost to 13th-place Auburn.
It would seem, if you were an SEC program in search of validation - no matter how fleeting - this was your year to get Kentucky.
Alabama had three shots at the 'Cats and went 0 for 3.
The Crimson Tide's SEC Tournament exit Friday was its latest and largest loss to the Big Blue Nation. UK shot the lights out from the arc and ran away in the second half to cruise 85-59.
In their three meetings this season, Alabama scored no more than 61 points and gave up no fewer than 77. The Tide lost by 16 in Tuscaloosa, 25 in Lexington and 26 in Nashville. Collective score: Kentucky 240, Alabama 173.
Of the six SEC teams Alabama played more than once, Kentucky's the only one to sweep the Tide.
Avery Johnson set his goals admirably high when he arrived in Tuscaloosa and declared Duke as the standard for his program. Kentucky reminded him which shade of blue is the standard around here.
For all the good things Alabama has done this season, it still has miles to go to measure up. Even for 40 minutes.
There's never any shame in losing a basketball game to Kentucky. From a historical perspective, Alabama is the SEC program that comes closest to UK in terms of all-time conference wins, conference winning percentage and conference tournament titles.
Granted, there's a large gap in those numbers and others between the 'Cats and the Tide, but Alabama does not have a history of fainting at the sight of the Big Blue mist. Anthony Grant didn't go winless against John Calipari.
Neither will Johnson. It'll just take time for him to draw some blue blood. After all, Calipari's in his seventh season in Lexington. Johnson's just getting started in Tuscaloosa. His meetings with Cal aside, Johnson's enjoyed an impressive debut.
By the numbers, Johnson's first year looks a lot like Grant's final campaign. The 8-10 SEC record is the same. The 10th-place SEC finish is one spot lower. This team won a game in the SEC Tournament while last year's team was one-and-done.
But this team did things Grant's teams hadn't done in a long time, like beating ranked opponents, or ever, like beating Florida. More importantly, there's no comparison in the new energy and excitement around the program.
A year ago, the final 19-15 record felt like a sad slog through muddy water. This year's 18-14 mark feels like a hopeful jog through partly cloudy skies with periods of intense sunshine.
This team is almost certainly headed back to the NIT, where last year the Tide went 1-1 under an interim coach. There's a good chance Alabama will be seeded high enough to get at least one home game, which'll be another chance for another strong home crowd.
Imagine the howls from Birmingham if UAB gets sent to Tuscaloosa. The only known NIT bracketologist projects Alabama as a No. 4 seed and UAB as a No. 7.
Given the teams Alabama's already beaten this season, there's no reason this team couldn't make a run to New York. The odds are even better because Kentucky will be in that other tournament.