FanPost

101 Reasons ( And Then Some) UK is Better Than Duke: 2012 Edition

Well, we all know how this is going to go. We are obviously headed into battle against Duke. Tradition Vs. The Neuveau Riche. The Superior Program Vs. The Superior Ego, and so on. We are all reasonable people though, so there are going to be some things we can all agree on both Kentucky and Duke fan alike. And here some of them are. These are just the facts, and they are not in dispute.



Our First Round: (The first 64 Reasons are easy) All Time Wins: 2091 (NCAA rank #1), All Time Winning Percentage: .763 (NCAA rank #1), NCAA Championships: 8 (NCAA rank #2), NCAA Championship Game Appearances: 11 (NCAA rank #2), NCAA Final Four Appearances: 15 (NCAA rank #3), NCAA Final Four Games Played: 26 (NCAA rank #4), NCAA Final Four Wins: 19 (NCAA rank #2), NCAA Elite-8 Appearances: 34 (NCAA rank #1), NCAA Sweet-16 Appearances: 39 (NCAA rank #1), NCAA Tournament Appearances: 52 (NCAA rank #1), NCAA Tournament Wins: 111 (NCAA rank #1), NCAA Tournament Games Played: 157 (NCAA rank #1), NCAA Tournament Winning Percentage: .707 (NCAA rank #4), Total Postseason Tournament Appearances (NCAA and NIT): 60 (NCAA rank #1), NBA Draft Picks: 106 (NCAA rank #1), All-Americans: 55 (NCAA rank #1), All-American Total Selections: 85 (NCAA rank #1), First Team Consensus All-Americans: 19 (NCAA rank #2), First Team Consensus All-American Total Selections: 24 (NCAA rank #4), AP Poll Top-20/25 Weeks Ranked All Time: 785 (NCAA rank #2).

AP Poll Top-10 Weeks Ranked All Time: 626 (NCAA rank #1), AP Poll Top-5 Weeks Ranked All Time: 417 (NCAA rank #1), AP Poll No. 1 Weeks Ranked All Time: 99 (NCAA rank #4), Final AP Poll Top-25 Finishes: 48 (NCAA rank #1), Final AP Poll Top-20 Finishes: 48 (NCAA rank #1), Final AP Poll Top-15 Finishes: 43 (NCAA rank #1), Final AP Poll Top-10 Finishes: 40 (NCAA rank #1), Final AP Poll Top-5 Finishes: 28 (NCAA rank #1), Final AP Poll #1 Finishes: 9 (NCAA rank #1), Final UPI/Coaches' Poll Top-25 Finishes: 46 (NCAA rank #1), Final UPI/Coaches' Poll Top-20 Finishes: 45 (NCAA rank #1), Final UPI/Coaches' Poll Top-15 Finishes: 42 (NCAA rank #1), Final UPI/Coaches' Poll Top-10 Finishes: 38 (NCAA rank #1), Final UPI/Coaches' Poll Top-5 Finishes: 29 (NCAA rank #1), Final UPI/Coaches' Poll #1 Finishes: 8 (NCAA rank #1), Total 20-Win Seasons: 56 (NCAA rank #1), Total 25-Win Seasons: 31 (NCAA rank #2), Total 30-Win Seasons: 13 (NCAA rank #1), Total 35-Win Seasons: 5 (NCAA rank #1), Average Victories Per Season Played: 19.1743119266 (NCAA rank #3), Average Losses Per Season Played: 5.95412844036 (NCAA rank #1), Total Winning Seasons: 92 (NCAA rank #2), Total Non-Losing Seasons (.500 or better): 95 (NCAA rank #2), Total Coaches With a NCAA Championship Game Appearance: 5 (NCAA rank #1), Total Coaches With Multiple NCAA Championship Game Appearances: 3 (NCAA rank #1), Total Coaches With a NCAA Final Four Appearance: 5 (NCAA rank #2), Total Coaches With Multiple NCAA Final Four Appearances: 4 (NCAA rank #2),Total Decades With a NCAA Championship Game Appearance: 6 (NCAA rank #2), Total Decades With Multiple NCAA Championship Game Appearances: 4 (NCAA rank #1), Total Decades With a NCAA Final Four Appearance: 7 (NCAA rank #1).

Total Decades With Multiple Final Four Appearances: 5 (NCAA rank #1), Total Coaches With a NCAA Championship: 5 (NCAA rank #1), Total Coaches With Multiple NCAA Championships: 1 (NCAA rank #2), Total Decades With a NCAA Championship: 5 (NCAA rank #1), Total Decades With Multiple NCAA Championships: 3 (NCAA rank #1), Total Decades #1 in Total Wins (since 1930): 1 (NCAA rank #2), Total Decades Top-5 in Total Wins (since 1930): 4 (NCAA rank #1), Total Decades Top-10 in Total Wins (since 1930): 7 (NCAA rank #1), Total Decades #1 in Winning Percentage (since 1930): 2 (NCAA rank #1), Total Decades Top-5 in Winning Percentage (since 1930): 6 (NCAA rank #1), Total Decades Top-10 in Winning Percentage (since 1930): 7 (NCAA rank #1), Conference Regular Season Championships: 47 (NCAA rank #2), Conference Tournament Championships: 28 (NCAA rank #1) (Duke ranks behind UK in ALL of these categories)

Here Are 19 More: 13 players winning NBA Championships a total of 18 times, 10 players named NBA All-Star a total of 17 times, 12 Olympic Gold Medal winners, 8 Naismith Hall-of-Fame members, 5 players named National Player-of-the-Year, 6 head coaches named National Coach-of-the Year a total of 12 times, 7 head coaches named SEC Coach-of-the-Year a total of 21 times, 131 players named All-Conference a total of 224 times, 77 players named All-Conference Tournament a total of 113 times, 12 players named Conference Player-of-the-Year a total of 14 times, 14 players named Conference Tournament MVP a total of 15 times, 18 players named All-NCAA Final Four a total of 21 times, 48 players named All-NCAA Regional a total of 62 times, 11 players named NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player a total of 12 times, 5 players named NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player a total of 6 times, 72 players who played in the NBA at least one season 60 1000-point scorers, 42 players named McDonald's All-American, 11 times a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament

And Just A Few More: Kentucky has 2 NIT Titles (1946, 1976), 2 Helms Titles (1933, 1954), 2 undefeated seasons (1912, 1954), and 5 Sugar Bowl Tournament Championships (1937, 1939, 1949, 1956, 1963).

Kentucky holds the NCAA record for Consecutive Non-Losing Seasons (60), for Consecutive Home Court Victories (129), and for Total Victories in a Season (38).

Kentucky plays in the nation's largest basketball arena (Rupp Arena, capacity: 23,500), and has both the nation's largest radio and television affiliate networks.

Kentucky has made a 3-point basket in 829 consecutive games (3rd-most all time), has a current NCAA best 52-game home winning streak, has won 16 of the last 17 National Attendance Titles (including the last 7 in a row) is the only school to have multiple NCAA (8) and NIT (2) Championships, is the only school to have 5 different NCAA Championship coaches, is the only school to win NCAA Championships in 5 different decades, and is the only school to win multiple NCAA Championships in 3 different decades.

Kentucky has played before the largest regulation basketball game crowd in history (78,129), and the largest Final Four crowd in history (75,421).

Kentucky was the first school (in 2010) to have 5 players selected in the 1st-Round of the NBA Draft, is the only school to have both the #1 and #2 picks in the NBA Draft during the same year (in 2012), is the only school to have 6 players drafted in the first two rounds of the NBA draft during the same year(in 2012), is the only school to have two different head coaches win a NCAA Championship within the same decade (the 1990s), and was also the first school to reach both the 1000-win and 2000-win victory plateaus.

We Have Been And Always Shall Be Kentucky: Where The Elite Come To Be Challenged