An Update On The Race For 2,000
Posted by jstevrtc on February 19th, 2010We know that Kentucky crossed the finish line first in the quest to reach the 2,000-win plateau back on December 21st, but the race for second has become pretty tight, as well. Kansas started the season in third position in total wins with 1,970 victories and have added 25 so far this season. North Carolina started the season with 1,984 wins, just four behind Kentucky, but have only added 14 this year. We’re fairly sure you’ve already done the math on this, but we’ll go ahead and tell you that the score going into this weekend currently stands at UNC with 1,998 and Kansas with 1,995.
Each team’s remaining regular season games are as follows:
No, Coach W. You only need two.
North Carolina
- Tomorrow 2/20 @ Boston College
- Wednesday 2/24 vs Florida State
- Saturday 2/27 @ Wake Forest
- Tuesday 3/2 vs Miami (FL)
- Saturday 3/6 @ Duke
It's now down to five, Coach.
Kansas
- Tomorrow 2/20 vs Colorado
- Monday 2/22 vs Oklahoma
- Saturday 2/27 @ Oklahoma State
- Wednesday 3/3 vs Kansas State
- Saturday 3/6 @ Missouri
It’s true that the Duke/North Carolina rivalry produces amazing games no matter what the teams are ranked, but one would have to admit that UNC’s chances in Cameron Indoor in the regular season finale is not likely to work out for them, so that leaves four games to win two. KenPom has a grim outlook for the Tar Heels, though. His calculations predict that UNC will win only that game against Miami on 3/2 and finish the regular season with 1,999 wins, meaning that they’d have to pick up a game in the ACC Tournament to get to 2,000 victories this season.
Whether they’re second or third, Kansas has the chance for a truly memorable close to the regular season, as you can see. If they win out — and that’s even tougher than it looks, with that schedule — they’d be celebrating win #2,000 in that final game against Missouri. KenPom’s Kansas page predicts the Jayhawks will win all five of them, with their toughest challenge obviously coming in the last game (predicted 63% chance of winning) against Missouri. What a wave of momentum to launch Kansas into the post-season, though, if they can pull it off: the #1 ranking, a win on senior night against rival K-State, and then the program’s 2,000th win to finish it against another huge rival at Missouri.
Both programs have some bigger issues on their minds right now, but what do you think? Kentucky’s already taken the Win, but as far as the the Place and Show positions in the Race For 2,000 — will Kansas win five games before North Carolina wins two?
I can’t imagine that Carolina fans could have ever imagined that they’d get overtaken by Kansas so quickly after the last few yrs of success they’ve had in Chapel Hill. Coming into this season, many of their fans may have reasonably believed they would make it to 2000 wins first AND overtake Kentucky for the all-time lead; now they could end up third in both by the end of this debacle of a season. A bitter pill to swallow indeed.