This is so transparent that it makes me sad for the shell-shocked fragment that Rick Pitino has become.
Kentucky is getting barrels of national ink ahead of the Thursday draft in which seven Cats might be drafted. That dwarfs what was for Rick a success: getting two guys drafted. So he has to come up with some fantasy quote he knows will circulate among the brain dead true believers about how UofL will "do even better!" than Kentucky: "seven or eight!" instead of six or seven. That is so clearly the context for his remark, and it is so, so pitiful.
The degree to which he has let Calipari get into his head during the L1C7 era, and the gutting-lacerating jealousy, is pathetic for a man his age. Have the grace to admit you had the dream, and you threw it away, Rick. It is the first step toward peace.