On Jan. 27, 1998, the No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats entered its contest in Memorial Gymnasium against the Vanderbilt Commodores with an overall record of 18-2 and a perfect SEC mark of 7-0. It was Tubby Smith‘s first year as the head coach of the Wildcats, and he had his club rolling along as winners of eight straight, with the only blemishes on the Cats’ record an early season loss to No. 1 Arizona (a rematch of the previous year’s NCAA championship game), along with a home loss to the Louisville Cardinals.
