Kentucky needs to beat Mississippi State on Saturday night for a variety of reasons. Let’s add another one to the list. At halftime, Kentucky will honor the 1965-66 team, aka Rupp’s Runts, on the 60th anniversary of their national runner-up season. According to Oscar Combs, every living member of the team, including Pat Riley, is expected to be in attendance, except for Larry Conley due to health reasons.
Led by Riley and Louie Dampier, the 1965-66 team only lost one regular-season game, to Tennessee. Nicknamed Rupp’s Runts because they didn’t have any players taller than 6’5″, the team is best known for its second loss, to Texas Western in the national championship game.