[-STAT-]

Might as well get this one started. 

Had some battles with Arkansas in the past, one of our biggest rivals in the SEC, and of course we all know it got turned juuuust a few notches with the departure of John Calipari, and taking the Arkansas job. Emotions will be high for this one, Cal returning to Rupp and coaching against his old team. 

Kentucky desperately needs a win going into this game, sure don't want to be losers of 3 in a row, hopefully that changes against Tennessee tonight. 

Both teams aren't healthy going into this one, Butler & Kerr are both out tonight against UT, Carr has been questionable for the last 3 weeks now with his back issues. Then freshman guard Boogie Fland who was arguably Arkansas best player alongside Theiro, is out for the season due to a wrist injury. Speaking of Theiro, you have him, Big Z, and DJ Wagner all returning to Rupp, be interesting to see the receptions they all get, along with Calipari. 

Tip-off is set for 9:00 Saturday night.

Rumors have it that College Gameday was going to be there, but chose Duke-UNC this weekend, what a surprise! 

So, with all that being said, what's everyone's thoughts, predictions, opinions on this one?

[Bluecat]

Gotta wait and see if Butler is playing.

---

This will be a game where I think we could be the more physical team and the better defensive team. It really does depend on Butler and Carr's availability.

[King Kong]

Hog roast this Saturday night at Lexington baby! 

[plantmanky]

Hogs win by 5 because chaos is fun.

[rookie57]

Cats by 10

[Wildcat_blue]

Just hope the fans don’t boo Cal, yes we are all glad he is gone but have respect and we are nothing but class and prestige. Once the whistles blows then it’s a cage match and everything is out the window. Show respect not incompetence

[Old School Hound]

If the Hall of Famer is able to pull out a win in Rupp Saturday, it will be viewed by the Big Blue Sybils as the most disappointing loss in the history of Kentucky basketball. A loss by Kentucky on the 1st will result in a Big Blue Wave of domestic abuse arrests across the Bluegrass.

[Cactus Jack]

I think it's going to be a close game either way. Each team will probably hit some runs on the other. Arkansas will put the clamps on the Cats and turn defense into easy offense. Kentucky will get hot from outside and hit some runs while the Hogs go through some of the offensive droughts that have held them back all season.

Hope the fans cheer Cal and the returning Kentucky players prior to the tip. We're happy and in a better spot, Cal did a lot for the program at a time when we were down, and the players followed the coach who recruited them and did what they thought was in their best interest. No use in anyone being bitter.

Will be a different ballgame if we have to play Perry and Noah big minutes against the kind of athleticism Cal can roll out. Chandler was athletic enough to hold his own at one point (and we might be seeing him get closer to form as he works back into shape), but Cal's guards are just going to be bigger and more athletic than Zeigler and Lanier.

Key to the game is probably going to be how effective Johnell Davis is able to be. We know what Thiero, Wagner, and Ivisic are (and aren't) capable of. Think Williams will hold his own against Thiero. Unless Butler is back, I do think Wagner will get his on some drives to the goal where he just bullies our defenders or throws it up (for Thiero) because I don't know that we want to burn Oweh on him. If Cal looks to involve Ivisic too much, that probably plays into Pope's hands. Williams will drawi Theiro and Oweh gets their best perimeter threat, so we'll probably try to hide someone on Ivisic and live with him posting us up while really hoping that he starts drifting onto the perimeter and we get into a game with lots of scoring and possessions.

Know Aidoo will probably be mentioned, but he's honestly just not produced since his injury. Brazile playing well could open some things up given the possible line-ups and what you could do with each team, but he hasn't been as much of a factor as you'd think and seems like the typical "odd man out" that Cal always seems to carry on his roster.

Cal has ramped up Karter Knox's minutes since Fland's injury, so he's a bit of a wildcard-- don't know that any outcome for him is off the board. I could see him getting anywhere between 2 or 22, but would live with going into the game knowing that they were counting on him getting 16+ to beat us. Still, I don't have to squint too hard to see some of our defenders struggling with him if he gets rolling.

Billy Richmond isn't really getting a lot of attention but I'd love for Pope to be able to bring someone with his athleticism and defensive intensity off of our bench. He seems like a throwback player from Cal's days at Memphis. He's nowhere near the point where you can count on him to win the game for you this early in his career, but you can do much worse than brining someone with those tools off of an already short bench in hopes that he does the little things to help your team win. I've always thought of him as a less physically gifted, less hyped MKG, but that's still someone who can terrorize a college game on a given night, especially if he's blowing up dribble hand-offs, getting through screens, and playing the passing lanes.

[jetpilot]

If  the Hall of Famer is able to pull out a win in Rupp Saturday, it will be viewed by the Big Blue Sybils as the most disappointing loss in the history of Kentucky basketball. A loss by Kentucky on the 1st will result in a Big Blue Wave of domestic abuse arrests across the Bluegrass.

If Kentucky didn't lead the nation in domestic abuse arrests the last several years under Cal, no way it spikes in 2025...

[Old School Hound]

I think it's going to be a close game either way. Each team will probably hit some runs on the other. Arkansas will put the clamps on the Cats and turn defense into easy offense. Kentucky will get hot from outside and hit some runs while the Hogs go through some of the offensive droughts that have held them back all season.

Hope the fans cheer Cal and the returning Kentucky players prior to the tip. We're happy and in a better spot, Cal did a lot for the program at a time when we were down, and the players followed the coach who recruited them and did what they thought was in their best interest. No use in anyone being bitter.

Will be a different ballgame if we have to play Perry and Noah big minutes against the kind of athleticism Cal can roll out. Chandler was athletic enough to hold his own at one point (and we might be seeing him get closer to form as he works back into shape), but Cal's guards are just going to be bigger and more athletic than Zeigler and Lanier.

Key to the game is probably going to be how effective Johnell Davis is able to be. We know what Thiero, Wagner, and Ivisic are (and aren't) capable of. Think Williams will hold his own against Thiero. Unless Butler is back, I do think Wagner will get his on some drives to the goal where he just bullies our defenders or throws it up (for Thiero) because I don't know that we want to burn Oweh on him. If Cal looks to involve Ivisic too much, that probably plays into Pope's hands. Williams will drawi Theiro and Oweh gets their best perimeter threat, so we'll probably try to hide someone on Ivisic and live with him posting us up while really hoping that he starts drifting onto the perimeter and we get into a game with lots of scoring and possessions.

Know Aidoo will probably be mentioned, but he's honestly just not produced since his injury. Brazile playing well could open some things up given the possible line-ups and what you could do with each team, but he hasn't been as much of a factor as you'd think and seems like the typical "odd man out" that Cal always seems to carry on his roster.

Cal has ramped up Karter Knox's minutes since Fland's injury, so he's a bit of a wildcard-- don't know that any outcome for him is off the board. I could see him getting anywhere between 2 or 22, but would live with going into the game knowing that they were counting on him getting 16+ to beat us. Still, I don't have to squint too hard to see some of our defenders struggling with him if he gets rolling.

Billy Richmond isn't really getting a lot of attention but I'd love for Pope to be able to bring someone with his athleticism and defensive intensity off of our bench. He seems like a throwback player from Cal's days at Memphis. He's nowhere near the point where you can count on him to win the game for you this early in his career, but you can do much worse than brining someone with those tools off of an already short bench in hopes that he does the little things to help your team win. I've always thought of him as a less physically gifted, less hyped MKG, but that's still someone who can terrorize a college game on a given night, especially if he's blowing up dribble hand-offs, getting through screens, and playing the passing lanes.

There are not enough Cactus Jack's or Old School Hound's in Big Blue Nation. Unless Mark Pope publicly pleads for leniency for Cal from fans, they will boo him mercilessly. Hell, they roundly and loudly booed poor Aaron Bradshaw at MSG.  Unless Pope steps up to the plate for the Hall of Famer, the Big Blue Nasties will be up to their usual grotesque mischief on Saturday.

[jetpilot]

The fans might not be booing Cal, they may be booing Barnhart for paying Cal $50MM+ those last years when he couldn't beat St. Peter's or Oakland and wouldn't show up for his postgame show half the time. But he did make a home run hire getting Pope, who is a much better coach, saving UK $Millions per year in the process and bringing joy back to UK basketball. So yeah, the booing will be for Cal...

[Old School Hound]

The fans might not be booing Cal, they may be booing Barnhart for paying Cal $50MM+ those last years when he couldn't beat St. Peter's or Oakland and wouldn't show up for his postgame show half the time. But he did make a home run hire getting Pope, who is a much better coach, saving UK $Millions per year in the process and bringing joy back to UK basketball. So yeah, the booing will be for Cal...

There's so much wrong here. I don't know where to begin... But give me time. lol

Btw, I have no doubt that you would be one of those booing , if you were lucky enough to have someone to buy you a ticket. I personally think Cal deserves a standing ovation for what he did here. He won a lot of games(over 400) and helped make a lot of kids pretty financially secure.

[Mr. D]

You have to win this game if you are Mark Pope. He has already done so much to turn the page and get fans on his side by his interviews, taking photos after games, saying the right things, oh and beating Duke, Louisville, and Tennessee already this season. But for the fan base to fully get closure and put the Calipari chapter to rest you have to win this game. This game is at Rupp, the crowd is going to be crazy, Arkansas is 1-6 and just lost Boogie Fland for the season. Whether we are fully healthy or not we have to find a way.

I also am hoping that the crowd is on fire, and they cheer as loud as possible. But I really hope they don't boo Cal. He coached here for 15 years and gave us some of the best years in our school's history. He won over 400 games, numerous finals fours, elite 8s, SEC championships, and dominated Louisville. Even though it was absolutely time to move on he still deserves a lot of love and respect.

[Cactus Jack]

The whole thing about booing Cal doesn't have a logical flow to me.

Those booing Cal wanted him gone. He left. Those who had a problem with him, especially those booing, got what they wanted.

So why boo?

[Old School Hound]

You have to win this game if you are Mark Pope. He has already done so much to turn the page and get fans on his side by his interviews, taking photos after games, saying the right things, oh and beating Duke, Louisville, and Tennessee already this season. But for the fan base to fully get closure and put the Calipari chapter to rest you have to win this game. This game is at Rupp, the crowd is going to be crazy, Arkansas is 1-6 and just lost Boogie Fland for the season. Whether we are fully healthy or not we have to find a way.

I also am hoping that the crowd is on fire, and they cheer as loud as possible. But I really hope they don't boo Cal. He coached here for 15 years and gave us some of the best years in our school's history. He won over 400 games, numerous finals fours, elite 8s, SEC championships, and dominated Louisville. Even though it was absolutely time to move on he still deserves a lot of love and respect.

Unless  Pope  publicly pleads for a nice welcoming for Cal, the boos will rein down from the rafters of Rupp. Think about how awful of a guy uncle Adolph was. And yet Big Blue Madness is going send a chorus of boos in Cal's direction? I hope for class, as well, but I'm not expecting it. KY fans heartily booed Aaron Bradshaw in MSG, for goodness sakes.

[Old School Hound]

The whole thing about booing Cal doesn't have a logical flow to me.

Those booing Cal wanted him gone. He left. Those who had a problem with him, especially those booing, got what they wanted.

So why boo?

Because they can.  Booing is a part of their DNA, a part of their hickdom.

[jetpilot]

The fans might not be booing Cal, they may be booing Barnhart for paying Cal $50MM+ those last years when he couldn't beat St. Peter's or Oakland and wouldn't show up for his postgame show half the time. But he did make a home run hire getting Pope, who is a much better coach, saving UK $Millions per year in the process and bringing joy back to UK basketball. So yeah, the booing will be for Cal...

There's so much wrong here. I don't know where to begin... But give me time. lol

Btw, I have no doubt that you would be one of those booing ,  if you were lucky enough to have someone to buy you a ticket. I personally think Cal deserves a standing ovation for what he did here. He won a lot of games(over 400) and helped make a lot of kids pretty financially secure.

You need to brush up on your reading comprehension skills. I won't boo but I'm thrilled he's gone. And kids all over NCAA basketball and lots of other sports are getting financially secure. Cal sucked the last several years and had a bad attitude while doing it.

[-STAT-]

I know it's the hot topic, but who cares if they boo or not? I'm sure there will be cheers & boos both and that's everyone's right, but at the end of the day who cares.

Just like every game in this conference, it's a must win but at least Kentucky is going in with a lot more confidence after the UT win last night. The key here is getting guys healthy, Butler & Carr's status I'd assume will be game time decisions Saturday, but we definitely need them back. I was impressed with the starting 5 against Tennessee, size at all 5 spots, you obviously need a primary ballhandler, who can handle full court pressure but that lineup did cause a lot of problems for UT. Wouldn't be difficult to do against Arkansas bc they never seem to get in any sort of rhythm offensively, no movement, a lot of standing around and watching 1 guy iso to the basket, sound familiar? Rebounding will be another issue but hell it has been all season, you give a team enough 2nd chance opportunities they're eventually going to make a basket, can't give up those easy opportunities, 50/50 balls will be huge too, have to play with hustle & heart, get down & dirty.

This will definitely be a fun one, would love to be there and possibly the loudest, most hostile environment ever at Rupp.

[jetpilot]

The whole thing about booing Cal doesn't have a logical flow to me.

Those booing Cal wanted him gone. He left. Those who had a problem with him, especially those booing, got what they wanted.

So why boo?

Because they can.  Booing is a part of their DNA, a part of their hickdom.

Booing is a worldwide phenomenon. 99% of the worldwide population understands this simple concept. Arkansas fans booed the other night as the clock hit 0:00 on yet another embarrassing loss, this one at home. Maybe if someone is booed by 2 different fan bases they are the problem and not the fans.

[Old School Hound]

This is a no lose game for Old School. If the Cats win I'll be happy for another SEC win. If Cal wins, I will go to Kroger and buy me enough popcorn to last a week because the Big Blue Crazies will have a meltdown of epic proportions. It will be one of the most entertaining meltdowns in recent years. Fun stuff ,either way, for Old School on Saturday.

[Cactus Jack]

Booing is a worldwide phenomenon. 99% of the worldwide population understands this simple concept. Arkansas fans booed the other night as the clock hit 0:00 on yet another embarrassing loss, this one at home. Maybe if someone is booed by 2 different fan bases they are the problem and not the fans.

Agreed and think you raise really good points. At the same time, programs with Kentucky's tradition get held to a different standard. No fan base will ever be perfect but there's definitely a national perception of Kentucky fans that won't be helped by everyone raining down boos on a guy who won a national championship for us 12 years ago and left when we were begging for his exit.

Think it'd be different if there were some type of back-stabbing, inflammatory comments, or the like.

I understood LSU fans booing Saban after he bolts them for the NFL, and was quoted using a prejorative term for Cajuns and talking about them "digging ditches" on the day he took the Alabama job. Saban apparently thought he was off the record and probably meant it harmlessly and regrets it, but yea... I get why Louisianans wouldn't have taken kindly to it.

I would understand West Virginia fans booing Rich Rodriguez or John Beilein if they'd brought their Michigan teams into Morgantown while the emotions were still raw.

I can even understand why Kentucky fans booed Pitino. The best analogy I'd heard for his leaving Kentucky for the Celtics before ending up at Louisville was "it's like your high school sweetheart cheated on you with the rich kid down the street who dumped them a week later... you don't want them back, but it still stings and you may even miss the good times you know you won't have back".

Heck, I would understand Memphis fans booing Calipari given the way he left. But we're Kentucky. What actually separates us from so many other blue bloods is that we've done it under a number of coaches.

I just wish the majority of fans would give him a golf clap, cheer, or if nothing else, stay quiet during his introduction and then let loose any boos or jeers once the ball was tipped.

[jetpilot]

Booing is a worldwide phenomenon. 99% of the worldwide population understands this simple concept. Arkansas fans booed the other night as the clock hit 0:00 on yet another embarrassing loss, this one at home. Maybe if someone is booed by 2 different fan bases they are the problem and not the fans.

Agreed and think you raise really good points. At the same time, programs with Kentucky's tradition get held to a different standard. No fan base will ever be perfect but there's definitely a national perception of Kentucky fans that won't be helped by everyone raining down boos on a guy who won a national championship for us 12 years ago and left when we were begging for his exit.

Think it'd be different if there were some type of back-stabbing, inflammatory comments, or the like.

I understood LSU fans booing Saban after he bolts them for the NFL, and was quoted using a prejorative term for Cajuns and talking about them "digging ditches" on the day he took the Alabama job. Saban apparently thought he was off the record and probably meant it harmlessly and regrets it, but yea... I get why Louisianans wouldn't have taken kindly to it.

I would understand West Virginia fans booing Rich Rodriguez or John Beilein if they'd brought their Michigan teams into Morgantown while the emotions were still raw.

I can even understand why Kentucky fans booed Pitino. The best analogy I'd heard for his leaving Kentucky for the Celtics before ending up at Louisville was "it's like your high school sweetheart cheated on you with the rich kid down the street who dumped them a week later... you don't want them back, but it still stings and you may even miss the good times you know you won't have back".

Heck, I would understand Memphis fans booing Calipari given the way he left. But we're Kentucky. What actually separates us from so many other blue bloods is that we've done it under a number of coaches.

I just wish the majority of fans would give him a golf clap, cheer, or if nothing else, stay quiet during his introduction and then let loose any boos or jeers once the ball was tipped.

Fans boo other teams' players, coaches and fans every day in this country. Cal isn't exempted from it lol. In his defense I'm sure he couldn't care less. Probably fire his team up actually.

In time Cal will get a standing ovation in Rupp, and deservedly so. Won't take nearly as long as it took Pitino either. But it ain't happening Saturday lol...Probably some cheers, lots of polite golf claps, and yes the boos too.

[Mr. D]

I get that there was a lot of anger at how things had really started to go downhill under Cal. I am the first person to say it was time for Cal to move on and time for UK to have a fresh start and voice. But I don't know what fans really want at this point? We should be thanking Cal and Arkansas for providing him a way out because Mitch Barnhart was not paying that exorbitant buyout. If it hadn't been for the Tyson foods guy we would probably have had to sit through 1 or 2 more average and disappointing seasons under Cal.

I am thankful for the wins, memories, and championship under Cal. I am also thankful he wasn't stubborn and left for Arkansas.