It has been, yet again, the best of times and the worst of times.

Kentucky is back.

Kentucky is bad.

Sometimes in the same game.

But in March 2024, Kentucky basketball has hit a crossroads. Their coach is John Calipari. One of only two coaches to take 3 teams to the Final Four. A national champion. The man who took UK to 4 Final Fours in his first 6 years in Lexington. The leader among active coaches in NCAA Tournament wins and winning percentage.

Ah, but their coach is also John Calipari. Who hasn’t taken Kentucky to the second week of the NCAA Tournament since 2019. Who hasn’t won an SEC Tournament since 2018. Who hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2015.

Calipari’s 2023-24 team might end up as the measuring stick by which his tenure is ultimately evaluated. After a few years of losing a few recruiting battles, Kentucky has been a day late and a player short recently. They were in 2023 when they lost to Kansas State in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. They were in 2022 when they suffered their biggest NCAA upset ever in a loss to St. Peter’s. They certainly were in that bizarre 2021 abomination that was Kentucky’s first losing season since 1989.

That’s not the case in 2024.

Reed Sheppard, local Kentucky kid pedigree aside, is a lottery pick in training. Rob Dillingham might be even more explosive, if a bit less consistent. Antonio Reeves is the sort of veteran scorer who has carved up Kentucky for years. Justin Edwards, after a brutal start, is looking like the player he was expected to be by analysts who thought he could be the top prospect in his NBA Draft class. DJ Wagner is slumping but has carried the team at times.

And Kentucky has looked every bit the SEC Tournament and NCAA contender. If you want to bet on the SEC Tournament, be sure to check out our guide to the best sportsbooks. At times. Times like their 85-81 win at Tennessee to end the regular season. Or the 117-95 beatdown of Alabama last month. Or even the 70-59 road takedown of Auburn.

Kentucky is the 2nd-highest scoring team in college basketball, at 89.5 points per game. After seasons of coaching teams with old-school offenses stuck in molasses, Calipari adapted. UK leads the nation in 3-point shooting at 41.2%. They’re even 15th in 3-point makes, at 9.9 per game.

But the defense has been … well, iffy. Kentucky gives up 79.1 points per game, which is 338th in NCAA basketball. They foul too much, as opponents shoot 21.4 free throws per game, which is one of the higher rates in college basketball. Opponents get 12.0 offensive rebounds per game, a total that is 342nd best in D1 basketball.

And when Kentucky isn’t playing well, they can lose to UNC Wilmington. Or by 17 points to South Carolina. Or to Texas A&M or LSU.

The truth is that, even for a strong Kentucky team (23-8, with a NET ranking of 18), there are still some major question marks. Wagner has been mired in a massive slump. Big man Tre Mitchell, who was an integral part of the team early, has battled injuries and ineffectiveness. The three-headed monster of 7-footers Aaron Bradshaw, Ugonna Onyenso and Zvonimir Ivisic can sometimes just be 21 feet of bad basketball player.

So here we are. The coach who pledged to make Kentucky the gold standard has to admit the past few years have felt a little more like the bronze standard. Maybe the consolation trophy standard.

The players are here, and Kentucky, on a 5-game winning streak and looking like a team that could play its way into a No. 3 NCAA Tournament seed in Nashville this weekend, is capable of answering the bell. Kentucky sportsbooks have the Cats as 1 of the 4 favorites this week.

Has it ever meant more?

Either Kentucky plays to its potential, delivers another round of pros to the NBA, reloads and continues the Calipari era … or something else.

Calipari has engendered enough crankiness from the Big Blue Nation that another early-round loss might get him exiled to Siberia … or Louisville. Kentucky feels like it could be at a tipping point where the cost of Calipari exceeds the merits of Calipari.

In the end, the games will tell the tale.