Kansas and Kentucky are quietly fighting over college basketball's all-time wins lead
The NCAA lead for all-time wins is currently held by Kentucky, but Kansas has quietly closed the gap.
As far as coaching tenures go in college basketball, John Calipari’s run at Kentucky has delivered just about everything a fan could ask for.
He’s taken the Wildcats to four Final Fours, won the title in 2012 and produced enough lottery picks to start an NBA team in Lexington. There have been a few down years, of course, but Calipari has used all of his powers to keep Kentucky an elite program.
All the while he’s quietly allowed the Kansas Jayhawks to creep up the all-time college basketball wins list. In 2005, Kentucky had a solid lead in the win column with 1,900 all-time to Kansas’ 1,850. Entering 2021-22, Kentucky led 2,327-2,323. The Jayhawks already narrowed the gap this year with eight wins to Kentucky’s seven through nine games, knocking the Wildcats’ lead down to three games.
And wouldn’t you know it, the two teams are scheduled to meet in Allen Fieldhouse next month on January 29. Will the all-time win total go up for grabs when the two longtime rivals tipoff?
It’s starting to look that way.