Nate Oats compares Kentucky Basketball fans to Alabama Football fans: "They're spoiled"

I don’t need to tell you that the mood around Kentucky Basketball is a little different these days. The Cats fell out of the AP Poll for the first time since the 2020-21 season following last week’s loss to Missouri. On Tuesday, Kentucky notched a much-needed win over LSU, but those baby steps of progress are about to be put to the test. Tomorrow, the Cats face the No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide in a sold-out Coleman Coliseum, the first of two road games vs. top ten opponents over the next week.

Today, Alabama coach Nate Oats was asked about this Kentucky team and its “restless” Big Blue Nation.

“I mean, that’s part of being at Kentucky, I think. If they’re not number one in the country, I think their fans get a little restless. I mean, this is a good team. What have they lost, three games this year? Four? Yeah, I mean, to me, they played a good schedule. They’re good. I think they fixed some of their, you know — I think they were upset they didn’t have enough shooting before now they’re leading the SEC in three-point percentage.”

When it comes to Kentucky Basketball fans, Oats didn’t have to look far for a comparison.

“They’re spoiled. It’s probably like Alabama Football fans, to be honest with you. Like, we’re not in the College Football Playoffs and everybody’s upset and acts like it’s a bad year. We were probably — I mean, shoot, I don’t know what the final football polls were, but after I watched those two games previous, it looks like we might be in the top three or four teams in the country and still people are upset around here. Well, Kentucky’s not in the top three or four, people are probably upset there. They’re a really good team though.”

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Oats thinks Kentucky’s biggest issues are on defense

Oats spent plenty of time praising the Cats, pointing out that they lead the SEC in three-point percentage (39.0%) and rank in the top 20 of KenPom’s offensive efficiency (although that is still partially based on last season).

“Their offense is actually really good. If you go to KenPom right now, their offense is ahead of our offense. So, I’m not quite sure what their fans are restless about because I think their offense, you look at their effective field goal percentage is high because they’re making shots. Like I said, they’re leading the SEC in three-point percentage. If they miss, they don’t turn the ball over much. If they do miss, they get a bunch of their rebounds.”

In critiquing Kentucky, Oats pointed to the other side of the ball.

“I think their issues this year have been a lot more of a defensive end. You know, people want to make something about their offense, I think their offense hasn’t been — apparently, a few games they’ve struggled a little bit offensively. I think some of their losses have been more defensive issues and I think they’ve got the athletes to guard.

“I think they’ll probably be pretty motivated coming in here with what we’re ranked. It’s typically the other way around, where Alabama would be the unranked team and they’d be the ranked team. So my guess is they’re gonna have a chip on their shoulder and that certainly helps on the defensive end.”

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“It’s still Kentucky”

It’s a rare day when five SEC teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 and one of them isn’t Kentucky. Alabama is one of three SEC teams in the AP Top 15, along with Tennessee (No. 8) and Arkansas (No. 13). When asked if he feels Alabama is approaching Kentucky’s level when it comes to brand and reputation, Oats shook his head.

“No. It’s still Kentucky. I think you’d have to do this for year after year after year. Now, I will say this, I think people’s memory gets a little shorter here. Like, Kentucky’s Kentucky. They’ve been doing it for multiple years, especially since Cal took over. You know, we won the SEC two years ago, were in the middle of the pack last year, the middle of the pack the year before. We’ve got to do this for multiple years in a row to get to where I feel like people are gonna look at us like they look at Kentucky, to be honest with you.”

Oats said that despite the progress his staff has made — like landing five-star freshman Brandon Miller — the Cats are still king on the recruiting trail.

“When we get into recruiting battles, people aren’t looking at us like we’re Kentucky right now. I can assure you. We’ve been able to recruit pretty well. [Assistant coaches] Bryan [Hodgson], [Antoine] Pettaway’s done a really good job bringing some good talent in here but Kentucky’s still got a little bit — not a little bit — Kentucky still definitely has the persona of being Kentucky.”

That said, the Cats will likely be the underdog tomorrow, a role Oats expects them to embrace.

“They’ve dropped a few that maybe they wish they wouldn’t have dropped and they’re trying to fight and claw their way back in it and it’s gonna be a war tomorrow.”