#BBN 1969-70

Spoiler alert:

Hoping to lure him into providing some game reports over the course of the season, here’s the schedule in Go Heath style (home games in ALL CAPS):

12/01/1969: WEST VIRGINIA

12/16/1969: KANSAS

12/08/1969: North Carolina (Charlotte, N.C.)
12/13/1969: INDIANA
12/19/1969: NAVY (UKIT)
12/20/1969: DUKE (UKIT)
12/27/1969: Notre Dame (Louisville, Ky.)
12/29/1969: MIAMI (OHIO)
01/03/1970: MISSISSIPPI (conf.)
01/05/1970: MISSISSIPPI ST. (conf.)
01/10/1970: Florida  (conf.)
01/12/1970: Georgia (conf.)
01/17/1970: TENNESSEE (conf.)
01/24/1970: LOUISIANA ST. (conf.)
01/26/1970: ALABAMA (conf.)
01/31/1970: Vanderbilt (conf.)
02/02/1970: Auburn (conf.)
02/07/1970: Mississippi (conf.)
02/09/1970: Mississippi St. (conf.)
02/14/1970: FLORIDA (conf.)
02/16/1970: GEORGIA (conf.)
02/21/1970: Louisiana St. (conf.)
02/23/1970: Alabama (conf.)
02/28/1970: VANDERBILT (conf.)
03/02/1970: AUBURN (conf.)

03/07/1970: Tennessee (conf.)

There has been some disconcerting roster news during the offseason. This little item turned up in Hopkinsville's Kentucky New Era in July:

And then this heartbreaking followup showed in August:

Well, we'll just have to root for Shelbyville's Mike Casey in his recovery and see what happens.

The 1969-70 UK media guide is for sale at eBay, and here are a couple of images from thekentuckytraders' post:

I wondered what was going on with that big cake (I should've remembered), and so I got a little more serious about the Googling and discovered that Kentucky Digital Library has the whole 411:

The cover pictures on this season's Basketball Facts capture two historic moments in the history of the University of Kentucky and collegiate basketball. 

First, the front cover contains a picture of a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame plaque presented Wildcat coach Adolph Rupp during induction ceremonies last April in Springfield, Mass. 

The "Baron of Basketball" has forged an amazing record of 810 victories and only 175 defeats during 39 years as head coach of the Wildcats and ranks as undisputed winning coach of all time. 

His victories form the bulk of the cause for cake-blowing as displayed on the back cover. 

The Wildcats, fresh from an 88-67 victory over Florida Jan. 11, 1969, in Memorial Coliseum, were feted for becoming the first collegiate basketball team to reach the magic Victory No. 1,000 mark. 

According to UK count, the feat had been accomplished five days earlier, when Rupp's forces blasted Mississippi State, 91-72, at Starkville. 

A small cake ceremony was held in the Wildcats' motel headquarters after that game, but the big blowout came after the Florida game, when players representing the different century victory milestones were special guests of honor. 

The Wildcat claim to 1,000 games against "legitimate" competition had one drawback. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, which had sent Rupp's forces to an International Tournament in Tel Aviv in August, 1966, refused to recognize the Wildcats' five victories en route to the championship. 

There was no argument about who was first to hit 1,000, however, after the Wildcats defeated Georgia, 104-73, Jan. 15, 1969, in the Coliseum, to satisfy the NCAA. ...

Hooray for jmuddcat of YouTube, Google, the Associated Press, thekentuckytraders of eBay, Kentucky Digital Library, the Internet and Christmas! And go, 1969-70 UK!