Kentucky vs. Florida series has lost some luster in recent years

Florida basketball caught lightning in a bottle when the Gators hired Marshall head coach Billy Donovan following the 1995-96. That move had a seismic shift on SEC hoops.

In 19 seasons, Donovan won 71.5 percent of his games while roaming the sidelines and made the O’Connell Center one of the toughest places to play in the country behind a rowdy student section. The Gators brought home two national championships, three 30-plus win seasons, and multiple SEC titles both in the regular season and in the postseason.

For nearly two decades, the Kentucky vs. Florida rivalry was the preemminent rivalry in the SEC. That is no longer the case.

For the seventh consecutive year, Kentucky will play host to a Mike White Florida team on Saturday. However, the Gators are not the threat that they used to be.

Marquee matchups have disappeared

When Billy Donovan arrived at Florida, the two programs had met three times as ranked opponents. The first meeting in history was in 1927, but the Gators weren’t ranked in a matchup until 1994. Not surprisingly, Kentucky won each of those games over two seasons.

That changed with Donovan’s arrival. In 19 seasons, the Gators and Wildcats would meet 16 times as ranked opponents. Kentucky was 11-5 in those matchups with both Tubby Smith and John Calipari recording those wins. There were four top-10 matchups, and Kentucky was 4-0 in those contests. Famously, in 2003, the Wildcats whooped No. 1 Florida at Rupp Arena and then made the return trip to knock off No. 3 Florida on the road to secure an undefeated conference season.

The Gators would return the favor 11 seasons later as Florida beat Kentucky three times on their way to an unblemished league record in 2014.

In 2017, the two programs had a pair of ranked matchups with each team winning at home. However, we are now in the fifth season from a ranked matchup occurring between the two programs.

No more trading championships

During the Billy Donovan era, there were a pair of mainstays in the Southeastern Conference. No matter who was coaching at Kentucky, the Gators and Wildcats were the teams to beat.

In those 19 years, both Florida (6) and Kentucky (8) combined to win 14 regular-season titles. At the SEC Tournament, Kentucky brought home nine crowns and Florida claimed four. Both programs were heavyweights who constantly competed against each other.

Since Donovan’s departure, Kentucky has won three regular-season titles and three tournament titles. No other program in the SEC has won more than one. Florida is not one of those programs.

Some other programs are emerging as rivals in the league to Kentucky, but no one is reaching the consistency that the Gators had under Donovan.

One constant remains

Programs have been playing basketball for a long time in the SEC. Throughout those years, Kentucky has remained the standard on the hardwood. The Wildcats run the league.

Kentucky has won 49 regular-season titles. The rest of the league has won 56. The Wildcats owns 31 SEC Tournament crows. The rest of the conference has just 28.

There remains just one blue blood in the SEC.