Kentucky coach Mark Stoops stood in the middle of a crowded visitors locker room on Sept. 8, 2018, and surveyed the postgame celebration. Coaches bear-hugged one another. Players grinned and bobbed their heads to the music thumping in the background. Everyone, it seemed, was screaming.
It had taken them too long to get the job done -- 31 straight games, to be exact -- and now the fourth-longest losing streak in NCAA history was over. Kentucky had gone into The Swamp and beaten Florida 27-16. Instead of popping champagne, they unscrewed plastic tops and sprayed one another with bottled water.