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Kentucky fans were NOT happy after the team’s 80-76 loss to Oakland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Fans apparently rushed to Wildcat message boards to post their frustrations, which only led to further aggravation.
In fact, so many supporters of the program wanted to vent that those online outlets crashed altogether!
Those feelings were certainly warranted.
The Wildcats entered the Big Dance as a dark horse national title contender. Having won seven of their last eight regular season contests, it seemed the team was getting hot at the right time.
Those championship dreams came crashing down in embarrassing fashion on Thursday.
Taking on 14-seed Oakland, a team that had never reached the second round of March Madness, the ‘Cats found themselves in a dog fight.
The Golden Grizzlies went up early and led for a majority of play. While that lead never got to more than six points, they felt in control of the contest throughout.
When all was said and done, Kentucky found itself on the wrong side of history with the opening round loss – a feeling that’s becoming all too familiar of late under Coach John Calipari.
After the game, the head coach spoke on the loss, blaming youth for the setback. Fans didn’t want to hear it!
John Calipari on what went wrong for Kentucky: “We made some critical mistakes at critical times again today. When you have a really young team and look at where the mistakes come from, they were freshmen.” pic.twitter.com/JoLJVuGDXv
— Kyle Boone (@kyletheboone) March 22, 2024
Those in attendance were visibly deflated after the loss, and those watching along at home wanted to take the moment to voice their displeasure.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t!
Message boards apparently crashed as Wildcats fans flooded Kentucky websites.
#Kentucky message boards are down! #MeltdownAlert pic.twitter.com/k7bkNE1H1A
— Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses) March 22, 2024
Most of that unwritten reaction likely involved calls for John Calipari’s firing. Of course, the university would need to open up the checkbooks to the tune of $33M if that becomes the ultimate endgame.
The loss made for a disappointing end to the season. What lies ahead for the program is yet to be seen.