The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of any franchise in the league's history, but the team did not join the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1976 ABA–NBA merger.

Among the things they were known for was their "mascot" Ziggy, a prize-winning Brussels Griffon dog that was owned by original team owners Joe and Mamie Gregory.

The early color of their franchise began to wane during the 1970–71 season, when they signed another Wildcat star in All-American Dan Issel.

The Colonels won 68 games in his rookie campaign under coach Joe Mullaney; their record turned out to be best in the league's entire history.

Brown helped increase interest in the team, and looked to improve its on-court performance by hiring popular ABA coach Babe McCarthy.

Brown, Jr. dealt Dan Issel to the ABA's new Baltimore Claws franchise (which folded after a few preseason exhibition games, never taking the floor in the regular season) for financial reasons.

They owned the NBA rights to Artis Gilmore, and desperately wanted him on their roster, even at the expense of accepting the geographically much closer Pacers in their place.

Darel Carrier, Randy Mahaffey and Louie Dampier played in the ABA All Star game but the team finished with a record of 36 wins and 42 losses, tying New Jersey for fourth place in the Eastern Division.

Among the Colonels' draft picks was University of Louisville star Wes Unseld, who opted to take a higher paying deal with the NBA's Baltimore franchise.

Sam Smith was acquired from Minnesota and then Randy Mahaffey and Manny Leaks were traded to the New York Nets for Oliver Darden and Andy Anderson.

Darel Carrier and Louie Dampier repeated as ABA All Stars and were joined by Kentucky's Jim "Goose" Ligon.

During this season the Colonels fielded the first ever female professional basketball player when jockey Penny Ann Early joined the team for pregame warmups and appeared briefly during a game.

In the Eastern Division semifinals the Colonels lost a tight series to their rival the Indiana Pacers, 4 games to 3.

In July the Colonels traded Jim "Goose" Ligon, Gene Moore and Bud Olsen to Dallas for Cincy Powell.

On October 8, 1971, the Colonels hosted the Milwaukee Bucks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Freedom Hall in front of over 18,000 fans.

Gilmore's impressive statistics included leading the league with 3,666 minutes in play, a field goal percentage of 59.8% and an average of 17.8 rebounds per game.

Kentucky's remarkable season came to a surprising end when the Colonels lost in the Eastern Division semifinals to the New York Nets, 4 games to 2.

Prior to the season the Colonels traded Cincy Powell to the Utah Stars for a draft pick and cash, and bought Rick Mount from the Indiana Pacers for $250,000.

In preseason play, on September 23, 1972, the Colonels hosted the NBA's Atlanta Hawks for an exhibition game in Frankfort.

The Colonels also selected Ernie DiGregorio in a special circumstance draft but he signed with the NBA's Buffalo Braves.

In January 1974 the Colonels traded Jim O'Brien and a first round draft pick to the San Diego Conquistadors for Red Robbins and Chuck Williams.

That same month Kentucky dealt Rick Mount to the Utah Stars for a draft pick and cash, and then sent Mike Gale and Wendell Ladner to the New York Nets for former Colonel John Roche.

Louie Dampier, Dan Issel and Artis Gilmore again played in the ABA All-Star Game, and Babe McCarthy coached the East team.

The Colonels posted a regular season record of 53 wins and 31 losses, clinching second place in the Eastern Division.

The Colonels took Jim Price, Greg Smith, Rowland Garrett, Herm Gilliam and Larry Steele in a draft of NBA players, bought Ted McClain from the Carolina Cougars, signed Wil Jones, and traded a draft pick and cash to the San Antonio Spurs for Bird Averitt.

The Colonels also sent Al Eberhard to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Marv Roberts and sent Red Robbins to the Virginia Squires for cash.

Brown offered $1 million to the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors to play a world title game.

Shortly after the regular season began the San Diego Sails folded and the Colonels picked up Caldwell Jones from their roster.

The Colonels also traded Marv Roberts to the Virginia Squires during the season in exchange for Johnny Neumann and Jan van Breda Kolff.

Shortly after the regular season ended, the Virginia Squires were forced to fold because they could not meet a league-mandated financial assessment.