Last Saturday night, just a few hours after Kentucky demolished Notre Dame 88-73 for its seventh straight victory, subtle support for Tubby Smith's work as coach of the Wildcats was on display in a Lexington sports bar.

On one large screen, Arkansas was being humiliated in Bud Walton Arena by Georgia, on its way to 5-9 and conceivably 20 losses. On the neighboring big screen, UCLA was simultaneously being emasculated in Pauley Pavilion by Arizona, on its way to 4-9 and an eventual Steve Lavin career change.

	Chuck Hayes' recent strong inside play has helped Kentucky play its best basketball of the season.

The Hogs blown out in Bud? The Bruins punked in Pauley?

It was shocking when four-time NCAA champion North Carolina went 8-20 last season. It was startling when two-time titleist Louisville imploded in the enfeebled final years of Denny Crum's tenure. Now two more kingpins -- who played each other for the national title just eight years ago -- have completely unraveled.

In today's transient times, is nothing sacred in college basketball?

Well, yes it is. Kentucky remains disaster-proof.

The closest Smith has come to "disaster" was a second-round NCAA Tournament loss in 2000. There has been no ceiling collapse, no losing season, not even a year when the Cats failed to win 20 games. They have never lost competitiveness, no matter how much hollering the Big Blue fans aim at their coach.

And while simply maintaining competitiveness is not what made Kentucky Kentucky, it beats the alternative. And the alternative is very real in today's hoops.

Think back to that '95 NCAA Tournament, when Arkansas and UCLA ruled the game. In the eight tourneys from then through last March, only two teams have been seeded fifth or better (i.e., considered one of the nation's 20 best teams) every single year:

Arizona and Kentucky.

Not Duke (6 of 8), not Kansas (6 of 8), not Maryland (7 of 8). Not Connecticut (6 of 8) or Michigan State (5 of 8) or Cincinnati (7 of 8).

In fact, Kentucky has had a top-five seed 11 straight years, since coming off postseason probation in 1992. And the Wildcats are well on their way to a 12th straight this year.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey watched the Cats come from behind to bury Vanderbilt last week with a crushing second-half defensive effort and figured his team was in trouble when it came to Lexington.

"They found their identity," Brey said.

The last three halves Kentucky has played have been its best of the year. They outscored Vandy 46-16 in the final 20 minutes in Nashville, stole the ball 12 times and won the rebounding battle by 10. Against the Fighting Irish the Cats cranked up their inside game, getting 50 points, 30 rebounds, 11 dazzling assists and six blocked shots from the starting front line of Erik Daniels, Marquis Estill and Chuck Hayes.

Hayes has been especially productive in this stretch, racking up 28 points, 21 rebounds and five assists.

	"	That's the best basketball team we've played this year ... And we've played a heck of a schedule. It's the number of bodies they come at you with where they are different than a Texas, Maryland, Marquette or anyone else we've played." "
		— Mike Brey, Notre Dame head coach following UK's 88-73 victory over Irish

"The last two games we showed the nation we are a good defensive team," the muscular sophomore said. "We're scary."

Notre Dame looked scared at times against Kentucky. Then sounded convinced afterward.

"That's the best basketball team we've played this year," Brey said. "And we've played a heck of a schedule.

"They're very good. It's the number of bodies they come at you with where they are different than a Texas, Maryland, Marquette or anyone else we've played."

Actually, Smith has shortened up the body rotation noticeably. The Vandy comeback and the Notre Dame thrashing were basically the work of seven men: starters Daniels, Estill, Hayes, Keith Bogans and Gerald Fitch, with big man Jules Camara and point guard Cliff Hawkins off the bench.

That deals newcomers Antwain Barbour and Kelenna Azubuike out of the mix at present, though it's hard to see this team going deep into March without any input backup wing players. Nevertheless, the mix is working now after handling Auburn (4-1 SEC) 67-51 in a surprising early-season showdown Wednesday night.

Of course, a loss to the Tigers in Rupp Arena would have brought Smith's critics back onstage. Big Blue fans rarely stray far from the panic button, despite not facing anything nearly as problematic as some other perennial powers.

Despite the solid record, Smith's biggest problem remains the fact that he is not Rick Pitino -- a fact that was driven home with blunt force last month, when Pitino's Louisville team bludgeoned Smith's Kentucky team by 18 points in Freedom Hall. It was the worst loss in Smith's UK tenure, both literally (in terms of point spread) and figuratively.

That crushing, the Cardinals' ensuing streak to 12-1, and the fact that Pitino is doing exceptional work 70 miles down the road, only make Smith's life more complicated. Unless Tubby wins the title this year, his first six years will be less successful than Pitino's final six in Lexington (the post-probation years).

His style has never been as exciting, and his annual promises to play faster and press more have been largely hollow. He hurt his credibility with fans by playing son Saul too much and failing to recruit a better point guard. And he let last season, which began with Final Four aspirations, dissolve into a joyless, underachieving struggle rife with disciplinary problems.

But the season still ended with a No. 4 seed and a Sweet 16 berth. That might not be enough at Kentucky, but it's better than what's goig on in some other basketball meccas right now.

Games of the Week

Kentucky at Alabama Saturday Two teams heading in opposite directions at this point. Crimson Tide needs to win this one against a team it has beaten the past two seasons. Auburn at Georgia Saturday Nobody thought this game meant much in the preseason, but it does now. Louisville at Tennessee Saturday Cardinals have been rolling so well that Rick Pitino might be starting to wonder whether a loss will help keep his team hungry and humble. This might be the spot for an upset.

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