[jetpilot]

As we all know, Pope has UK at 14-3 with more quad 1 wins than anyone in the country (5). They have been ranked in the top 10 for a good part of the year.

Kelsey has Louisville at 13-5 and the Cards have won 7 in a row since the loss to Kentucky.

St. John's is 15-3 under Pitino and have won 10 of their last 11. The lone loss in that span was by 1 point to Creighton. The other 2 losses were to ranked teams Georgia and Baylor, by 3 and 1 in OT respectively.

Amazing what these 3 guys have done this year. All 3 should get (very early) COY chatter.



Meanwhile, Calipari is 0-4 in the SEC. Yikes!

[Cactus Jack]

According to which poll you are using, there are some really interesting picks if you go through the recent history. If going by AP selection, I might not want Pope to win. A list with Anthony Grant, Juwan Howard, and Tommy Lloyd as three of the last five seems a bit cursed.

Naismith Coach of the Year has Jerome Tang, Ed Cooley, Anthony Grant, and Rick Barnes as selections since 2018.


If I had to guess, T.J. Otzelberger is this year's leader at this point. It probably would be Bruce Pearl if not for his reputation and history.

Pope would certainly be in the discussion, but if he were to win it, I'd think that Kentucky would have to finish really well for him to actually win. If it's a media poll, he's probably the guy who finishes third or fourth and you save the coronation for a bit.