Kentucky and Western Kentucky are two of the top three all-time winningest college basketball programs. Kentucky and Louisville are two of the top six programs in history with the most 20-win seasons.
Western Kentucky coach Rick Stansbury recently pointed out these facts as part of his reason for an annual basketball event in Kentucky that would include UK, Louisville, Western Kentucky and either Murray State, Eastern Kentucky or Morehead State as a rotating fourth team.
“You would have three of the winningest teams in college basketball,” Stansbury said. “But they (UK and Louisville) don’t want mentioned in the same breath with us. We are here, though, and not going anywhere. We are going to be a good team. So why not let us be part of something special for our state like that?”
Since UK and Louisville play each other annually, Stansbury said Western could alternate playing the two teams with another of the state’s schools rotating in to play Louisville or Western.
“I think Kentucky fans would like that,” Stansbury said. “It would be good for college basketball. It would be great for in-state basketball.”
Stansbury isn’t holding his breath waiting for UK and Louisville officials to agree with him. The Hilltoppers have a series now with Louisville but the four-year deal includes two games in Louisville, one in Bowling Green and one in Nashville.
Stansbury does believe his Hilltoppers can not only be a top 25 team this year but a top 25 team every season.
“I do not look at Western as a mid-major,” Stansbury said. “We can be as good as anybody in country. What is Gonzaga? What is Butler? What is Xavier? One thing Western has over all three of them is more tradition. Western just hasn’t done it consistently lately. What is Wichita State now?
“My challenge is to make sure that everybody looks at Western Kentucky that way. We don’t have to take a backseat to anybody. Our program can be as good as anybody’s program.”
Stansbury, a Kentucky native who was also head coach at Mississippi State, says he has a “competitive” relationship with UK coach John Calipari.
“We had competitive games when he was in Memphis. The year they went to the national championship game (and lost to Kansas), we led the whole friction’ game in the NCAA. We had a last shot to win and missed. Memphis goes on to the Final Four and should have won,” the Western coach said.
“Back in 2012 when Kentucky was unbeaten in league play they were ranked No. 1 and were up 13 at halftime at our place. Then Rodney Hood gets hurt and that changed the whole complexion of the game. That let Cal take (Michael) Kidd-Gilchrist and put him on Dee Bost, who had been killing them, and they beat us. I think we have mutual respect for each other and Cal has done an unbelievable job at Kentucky. My relationship with Cal is good but I don’t know that it’s good enough to pull this event off.”
Stansbury has no doubts about how good Kentucky, the No. 1 team in various preseason polls, will be this year. He even joked with Kentucky fans about that.
“The good news for Kentucky fans this year is that you all can believe and hope. Kentucky will definitely have a chance to win the national championship,” the Western Kentucky coach said. “Can you do it? It’s a fine line between winning and losing. One missed free throw, one bad call … but they are going to be very, very good.”
Even without the in-state event he’s proposed, Stansbury feels like he’s lined up a powerful schedule for the Hilltoppers.
“I want to play the best because in our conference (Conference USA) you better play a schedule to give you a chance (to get in the NCAA Tournament) if you don’t win the conference tournament,” Stansbury said. “I am secure. I don’t have to go 11-1 in non-conference play. My job is to prepare our team to be the best it can be. We will be challenged.”
Western starts the season at Washington, which won 21 games last year. Western could face West Virginia in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. The Hilltoppers have an early December game at Arkansas which won 23 games and played in the NCAA last year. Western has St. Mary’s and Wisconsin coming to Bowling Green in late December. St. Mary’s won 30 games last year and Wisconsin rallied for a controversial win over Western and will be the first Big Ten team to play in Diddle Arena since 1977.
Western Kentucky finished 27-11 last year and lost in the NIT semifinals in New York to Utah after going on the road to win at USC and Oklahoma State. The Hilltoppers lost 67-66 in the conference championship game to Marshall, which returns four starters this year.
“We beat Purdue, a top 15 team, last year. We lost by only eight to Villanova. We beat a good SMU. We got robbed at Wisconsin, but we got them coming back to our place and the officials aren’t coming with them,” Stansbury said. “USC was second in the Pac-12, and we won. We went to Oklahoma State, which was 314-8 against non-conference teams, and won when it was sold out and they were planning on going to New York.
“I liked our team last year and I like our team this year. We have a chance (to be good). I like our parts. I like our young men. I’ll take character over talent every day. I am too old to coach knuckleheads. I don’t want them any more. We may not have eight McDonald’s All-Americans, and never will, but we have good players. I just have to put the ingredients together and fit the right pieces and parts together to make us the team I think we can be.”
When Stansbury took over at Western, he told fans to get season tickets then before they were gone to 8,500-seat Diddle Arena. Four of the final five games last year sold out and less than 200 season tickets remain this year.
“When Diddle is packed, it is special,” Stansbury said. “It’s returning to the way it used to be. I want fans hanging out of the rafters and knocking on the door to get in. We have 18 sky boxes. We have a new sound system, new video board. I have better stuff at Western Kentucky than I had at Mississippi State.”
Western went 27-11 last year — the most wins for the Hilltoppers in 10 years — and reached the NIT semifinals. It beat teams from the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big Ten. The Hilltoppers are 25-6 at Diddle in Stansbury’s two seasons.
“If a team isn’t good, it doesn’t matter if you have 23,000 fans like they do at Rupp Arena,” Stansbury said. “Players win the games. But when you have players and an atmosphere like we can have at Diddle, then you can have something special.”