The worst losses of the Calipari era before Duke

"I've been doing this so long fortunately that I have not had a lot of this type of games, but I've had a few," Calipari said after the defeat.

The Champions Classic defeat was Kentucky's biggest defeat at the time of Calipari, the biggest since a 41-point loss to Vanderbilt in 2008 and the twelfth biggest loss in the history of this program.

But it was not the first time a Kentucky team coached by the Caliparis was easily handled by an opponent. Eight times in the Calipari era, the Wildcats lost a match of at least 15 points.

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The way Kentucky has responded to many of these defeats suggests hope for the Wildcats to progress this season. Here's a look at how previous Calipari teams have recovered from their five biggest losses.

MORE: Duke's talent exposes Kentucky veterans in the Classic Champions eruption

Tennessee 88, Kentucky 58 (February 16, 2013)

The worst defeat of the Calipari era before Tuesday was the low point of Kentucky's 2012-13 regular season. A match after losing Nerlens Noel following a knee injury ending the season (a 17-point loss to Florida, tied for the fifth loss before Tuesday), the United Kingdom seemed lost to an eruption of 30 points in Knoxville. The team briefly stabilized the ship after the defeat, winning its next three games, but lost two out of three to end the regular season and abandon its first game of the SEC tournament to miss the NCAA tournament. An embarrassing defeat for Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT ended the season.

Florida 88, Kentucky 66 (February 4, 2017)

The 2016-17 Kentucky crisis marked the end of a three-game losing streak in four games, with a 22-point loss to Florida. A 13-0 run in the second half put an end to Florida's five-game losing streak. The loss, however, was a catalyst for the Wildcats, DeAaron Fox, Bam Adebayo and his company having won 15 straight wins before losing to a heartbreaker against North Carolina in the Elite Eight.

Florida 85, Kentucky 65 (March 8, 2014)

According to 2014 NCAA tournament legend, Aaron Harrison thought Kentucky would always write a "good story" after a shocking defeat on March 1 in South Carolina, but that was not really the low point of the season. Two games later, Kentucky was embarrassed to Florida by 19 points. The famous "tweak" followed during practice prior to the SEC tournament and Kentucky won the win against LSU and Georgia before a one-point loss against the Gators in the final tournament SEC. Harrison's exploits then led Kentucky to five consecutive wins in the NCAA tournaments, before a loss to Connecticut in the final.

MORE: Blue wave? Duke's freshmen were more like a blue tsunami against Kentucky

LSU 85, Kentucky 67 (January 5, 2016)

SEC's second game with the Wildcats in 9th place in 2015-16 was a revelation. LSU star Ben Simmons scored a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds), but it was his less-announced teammates that led to an 18-point win over Kentucky. The Wildcats rebounded with consecutive wins over Alabama and the Mississippi State, but the loss to LSU represented a turnaround in expectations as it became clear that it was not really a top 10. Kentucky eventually lost in the second round of the tournament NCAA against Indiana.

Connecticut 84, Kentucky 67 (November 24, 2010)

After winning four straight games for the opening of the 2010-11 season, Kentucky was blasted by UConn by 17 points at the Maui Invitational. The United Kingdom would lose another two games later in North Carolina. The current Kentucky team could do worse than follow the team's lead despite its 10 regular-season losses since coming into the quarterfinal final. Calipari and his company hope that the similarities will stop there, the 2010-11 season having been eliminated by this same Connecticut team in the Final Four. After Tuesday's game, there's no reason to think that a rematch against Duke would lead to a different result this year either.