When this basketball season began, Texas (7) was ranked third and Kentucky (8) fifth in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. One of the big reasons for the high early rankings was the strength of both schools' 2009 recruiting classes — UK's was ranked No. 1 by ESPN.com, UT's No. 4. Today, the Wildcats are 26-1 and No. 2 in the polls, riding a seven-game winning streak. The Longhorns are 21-6 and No. 21, having lost six of their last 10. The two programs have been speeding in opposite directions for a few weeks now, largely because they have done drastically different jobs meshing newcomers and veterans into a cohesive unit.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.