From dominant to dumbfounded: Kentucky's season is twisting in the wind

What has happened to the preseason No. 2 team in the country?

Kentucky has hit some sort of odd slump here, and it's time to start questioning if the Wildcats will be capable of turning things around.

Eighth-ranked UK, which will slip out of the top 10 come Monday's poll update, fell 88-66 at No. 24 Florida on Saturday. This not only marks the third defeat in the past four games for John Calipari's team, but it was the worst offensive game Kentucky has had all season, and the first instance since last year's NCAA Tournament loss to Indiana that the Wildcats couldn't hit 70 points.

It was also the widest margin of defeat for Kentucky as a top-10-ranked team since 1992. That's a wow. Malik Monk, UK's most needed scorer, had 11 points. It was his worst game of the season. At one point, Monk was spotted laughing on the bench as he team took on its most disturbing loss yet. Not the biggest deal, but certainly not something you want to see, either. With Monk out of it, Kentucky was 33 percent from 3-point range, 38 percent from the field and 61 percent from the foul line.

And without Monk playing in groove, the Wildcats were stalled on offense. There is correlation there, and there's also correlation with Monk failing in UK's losses. He's shooting below 40 percent from the field in the five games Kentucky's dropped. Additionally, those losses have mostly come to good teams. The Wildcats are 1-4 against the five best teams they've played this season: a win vs. North Carolina has been overshadowed by defeats to Louisville, UCLA, Kansas and now Florida.

So not only is Monk slipping in the losses, but he's slipping against the best competition he's going up against.

He has been the savior, but he's streaky, too. Kentucky would be on a four-game losing streak, remember, if Monk hadn't hit a late shot at home against Georgia on Tuesday, putting the game into OT.

The loss to Florida took Kentucky from first to third place in the SEC. And now Kentucky's hopes of a 1 seed are officially dead. That will not be happening this season. Remember when we all thought Kentucky could run the table in conference? Remember when Kentucky was the No. 1 team in the country? Now, to ensure it can finish atop its own league, it needs to make sure it doesn't lose even one more time.

There's a lot that's off about this team, and it's not hard to decipher. De'Aaron Fox could be the fastest player in the sport, but he's not fully healthy, and because Florida has speed the Gators outpaced UK 31-12 in fast-break points. Fox has been UK's most valuable player from the start. Let's hope he can be healthy soon, because when he and Monk are able to click, it's some of the best entertainment in college hoops.

More evidence of damage: Kentucky's offensive efficiency was third in the country at the start of the Florida game. Now it's ninth. And the defense, which Calipari openly said in October that, if it wasn't the No. 1 defense in the country, it would be on him? Remember that?

Kentucky is 16th. Good, but not elite.

So from the defense to Monk's tantalizing but erratic play, from needing just a bit more out of Bam Adebayo to not getting quite enough from Isaiah Briscoe and Wenyen Gabriel, everything's falling just a little bit short, and it's adding up in a hurry.

The question now becomes: How will Kentucky handle this? We're in February, which means the intense local pressure now expands well beyond the state's borders. The nation is paying more attention now, and these young players will be forced to mature in a hurry.

Things should get better, but don't get fooled. UK will play host to helpless LSU next, then play iffy Alabama, followed by a revenge game at Rupp Arena against Tennessee. So you can expect this team to start looking stronger in the short-term, but the truth is we won't really have a firm grasp on Kentucky's ability against the best until the road game against Georgia, maybe? Winning that would be a tangible step. But if not then, the Florida return game to Rupp Arena on Feb. 25.

I once believed the SEC wasn't going to be tough enough to give Kentucky the challenges it was worthy of. Now I'm thinking the Wildcats are right where they deserve to be.