By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

On Friday, Bob Wiggins of Falmouth, Ky., will attend his 856th Kentucky basketball game of the last 860.

UK fan Bob Owens, renowned for his blue Wildcats pants, is an Indiana grad, but his father played for UK. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

Dr. Bob Owens of Crestview Hills, stricken with cancer, adjusted his chemotherapy treatments so he could attend the Southeastern Conference Tournament last weekend.

Newport native Joann Thinnes, about to move from Hyde Park back to the Bluegrass, postponed her moving day so it wouldn't conflict with the Final Four.

Don't be surprised if a case of the "Blue flu" keeps much of the Commonwealth home from work Friday.

Such is the passion surrounding UK basketball, the nation's winningest program. In this, UK's 100th season - one seemingly sprinkled with pixie dust - the Wildcat faithful are approaching a fever pitch.

The men's NCAA Tournament begins today.

No feel-good story this winter can match that of UK, which has followed one of its most turbulent seasons with one of its finest. The Wildcats (29-3) take a 23-game winning streak and the nation's No. 1 ranking into their Midwest Regional opener at 12:30 p.m. Friday in Nashville, Tenn., against Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Bob Owens' father, Hays, played for UK in the 1920s. | ZOOM |

UK became the first SEC team to go unbeaten in both league play and the conference tournament since the 1952 Wildcats. The team made it look easy, winning those 19 SEC games by an average of 15.8 points.

"I probably won't appreciate it until later on," coach Tubby Smith said of the achievement. "But to do what just a few teams have done puts . . . a real stamp on the solidity of this team. All the future Kentucky basketball teams will be measured against this team."

UK has won seven national championships and 1,846 games overall. Yet it began this season with a No. 17 ranking, its lowest since 1990. It was picked third in its own SEC division.

It was coming off its third consecutive 10-loss season, the first such stretch of futility in program history. The Wildcats last season were branded as "Team Turmoil," a talented crew that struggled with chemistry issues that included fights and suspensions.

This ranks as UK's biggest surprise since Adolph Rupp's 1965-66 team, known as "Rupp's Runts," was unranked in the preseason yet reached the NCAA final.

"This season is surprising to me, particularly after the month of December. Going into January, I wasn't sure this team was very good," said ESPN analyst Larry Conley, who played on that '65-66 team.

"I don't know what labels a special team, but we're playing well right now," sophomore forward Chuck Hayes said.

Ask a UK fan, and he or she will admit to being spoiled. But those who angrily demand coaching changes are an outspoken minority.

BIG BLUE WORLD

A short list of UK's basketball accomplishments: • Winningest program in college basketball (1,846-571-1 record in 100 seasons) • Highest all-time winning percentage (76.4 percent) • Seven national championships,    second-most to UCLA's 11 • 13 Final Four appearances • 44 NCAA Tournament appearances, most in nation • 42 Southeastern Conference championships • 24 SEC Tournament titles • Just one losing season the past 75 years • 38 All-American players • 88 players drafted by the NBA

Most fans are the diehards who pack Rupp Arena - UK has won the national attendance title the past eight seasons - and travel with the team en masse come tournament time. Or simply drop everything when the Wildcats are on TV.

Owens, 69, is an Indiana grad, but his father, Hays, played for UK in the late 1920s. The retired oral surgeon has attended UK's last five Final Fours, and he's renowned for his pair of blue Wildcat pants that earned him a photo in the UK fan-tribute book, Catmania, by Shannon Parks.

Diagnosed with esophageal cancer in August, he said UK's victories are his best medication. "Everything seems brighter when we win," he said.

Thinnes, a UK alum and retired teacher, attended UK's championship-game victories in 1996 and '98, and last year the self-described "snow chicken" drove through an ice storm to Syracuse, N.Y., to see the Wildcats in the NCAAs.

Wiggins, 75, has attended 602 consecutive home games - dating to the 1960-61 season - and all but four games overall since 1977. He missed those four only because of a heart attack in 1996.

Said Owens: "Kentucky basketball is a lot like religion here. We take it very personal.

"Right now, it feels like this is our year. The year of the cat."

Review of Kentucky's title seasons