[Cactus Jack]

Roster isn't set so this will be a little difficult at exactly this moment, but what finish would you need to consider next season a success for Kentucky?

For me, getting in the NCAA Tournament is a win, and anything else is gravy.

[Bluecat]

I agree Jack. Getting his system in place is key. If they can haver a good run and make the tournament I think that is a success. I think we will start to see rosters with players who play multiple seasons. Key this year will be to get some good players out of the portal and build the new system.

[Cactus Jack]

I think that the only way that we start looking at more than that as the floor is if Sheppard, Thiero, and Ivisic all return and we get Jaxson Robinson and some major help out of the portal as well.

Short of that or a major influx of talent (read: past role players like Hall and Khalifa), then I'll be fine with making the NCAA and disappointed but not shocked by only making the NIT.

Past just having the talent, there'll definitely be a culture change that probably takes some time.

[plantmanky]

15 wins would be a huge success. They might get to 10.

[Old School Hound]

Cal would have 26+ wins with what he was bringing in. Drew would have 22+ . Mark might not reach 20 but I'm glad he's here instead of Drew.

[Spud6]

Cal would have 26+ wins with what he was bringing in. Drew would have 22+ .  Mark might not reach 20 but I'm glad he's here instead of Drew.

Cal would've had 26 and no SEC tourney wins and NCAA tournament wins

[pjdoug]

15 wins would be a huge success.  They might get to 10.

Malarkey.

[pjdoug]

Kentucky will win a game in The Big Dance.

[jetpilot]

15 wins would be a huge success.  They might get to 10.

[jetpilot]

Cal would have 26+ wins with what he was bringing in. Drew would have 22+ .  Mark might not reach 20 but I'm glad he's here instead of Drew.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. We've sucked for years but wait until next year BAHAHAHAHA.
Then the rest of your post you state you prefer less wins. Big red nose, big shoes.

[Old School Hound]

Kentucky will win a game in The Big Dance.

Mediocrity no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A win....

Run off a guy who has won 855 games and had the #2 recruiting class in the nation in favor of a guy with 7 double digit loss seasons out of 9 and zero tourney wins.  What am I missing?

[jetpilot]

Kentucky will win a game in The Big Dance.

Mediocrity no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A win....

Run off a guy who has won 855 games and had the #2 recruiting class in the nation in favor of a guy with 7 double digit loss seasons out of 9 and zero tourney wins.  What am I missing?

You're missing 1 NCAA tournament win in 4 years and no SEC titles. Humiliating. The fanbase is overjoyed Cal is out of here.

[Old School Hound]

Kentucky will win a game in The Big Dance.

Mediocrity no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A win....

Run off a guy who has won 855 games and had the #2 recruiting class in the nation in favor of a guy with 7 double digit loss seasons out of 9 and zero tourney wins.  What am I missing?

You're missing 1 NCAA tournament win in 4 years and no SEC titles. Humiliating. The fanbase is overjoyed Cal is out of here.

Until they're not.

[jetpilot]

Kentucky will win a game in The Big Dance.

Mediocrity no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A win....

Run off a guy who has won 855 games and had the #2 recruiting class in the nation in favor of a guy with 7 double digit loss seasons out of 9 and zero tourney wins.  What am I missing?

You're missing 1 NCAA tournament win in 4 years and no SEC titles. Humiliating. The fanbase is overjoyed Cal is out of here.

Until they're not.

I guess you mean until somebody wins 0 games in the NCAA tournament in 4 years which is virtually impossible to do.

[Old School Hound]

Kentucky will win a game in The Big Dance.

Mediocrity no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A win....

Run off a guy who has won 855 games and had the #2 recruiting class in the nation in favor of a guy with 7 double digit loss seasons out of 9 and zero tourney wins.  What am I missing?

You're missing 1 NCAA tournament win in 4 years and no SEC titles. Humiliating. The fanbase is overjoyed Cal is out of here.

Until they're not.

I guess you mean until somebody wins 0 games in the NCAA tournament in 4 years which is virtually impossible to do.

If Sheppard had done ANYTHING against the Oakland Raiders, Cal and KY would have advanced to the Final Four. It wasn't Cal's fault that Reed peed his shorts.

[pjdoug]

Kentucky will win a game in The Big Dance.

Mediocrity no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A win....

Run off a guy who has won 855 games and had the #2 recruiting class in the nation in favor of a guy with 7 double digit loss seasons out of 9 and zero tourney wins.  What am I missing?

When did that guy last win a game in the big dance? You've definitely lost something along the way.

[jetpilot]

Mediocrity no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A win....

Run off a guy who has won 855 games and had the #2 recruiting class in the nation in favor of a guy with 7 double digit loss seasons out of 9 and zero tourney wins.  What am I missing?

You're missing 1 NCAA tournament win in 4 years and no SEC titles. Humiliating. The fanbase is overjoyed Cal is out of here.

Until they're not.

I guess you mean until somebody wins 0 games in the NCAA tournament in 4 years which is virtually impossible to do.

If Sheppard had done ANYTHING against the Oakland Raiders, Cal and KY would have advanced to the Final Four. It wasn't Cal's fault that Reed peed his shorts.

UK didn't even know how to attack Oakland's zone they played all year and didn't have a clue how to guard Gohlke, the only guy they had to stop and only shot 3s. COACHING lost the game, everybody knows it. Takes no responsibility and blames others, your brain is so easily hijacked it's insane, literally.

[Old School Hound]

You're missing 1 NCAA tournament win in 4 years and no SEC titles. Humiliating. The fanbase is overjoyed Cal is out of here.

Until they're not.

I guess you mean until somebody wins 0 games in the NCAA tournament in 4 years which is virtually impossible to do.

If Sheppard had done ANYTHING against the Oakland Raiders, Cal and KY would have advanced to the Final Four. It wasn't Cal's fault that Reed peed his shorts.

UK didn't even know how to attack Oakland's zone they played all year and didn't have a clue how to guard Gohlke, the only guy they had to stop and only shot 3s. COACHING lost the game, everybody knows it. Takes no responsibility and blames others, your brain is so easily hijacked it's insane, literally.

A lot of the blame goes to Reed. He was scared and AWFUL!!! Two buckets by Shep and we win.

[jetpilot]

Until they're not.

I guess you mean until somebody wins 0 games in the NCAA tournament in 4 years which is virtually impossible to do.

If Sheppard had done ANYTHING against the Oakland Raiders, Cal and KY would have advanced to the Final Four. It wasn't Cal's fault that Reed peed his shorts.

UK didn't even know how to attack Oakland's zone they played all year and didn't have a clue how to guard Gohlke, the only guy they had to stop and only shot 3s. COACHING lost the game, everybody knows it. Takes no responsibility and blames others, your brain is so easily hijacked it's insane, literally.

A lot of the blame goes to Reed. He was scared and AWFUL!!! Two buckets by Shep and we win.

The average-intelligence 4th grader doesn't buy your idiotic excuses and deflection. If players just would have played better Cal would have 15 NCAA wins the last 4 years instead of 1. LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!

[plantmanky]

15 wins would be a huge success.  They might get to 10.

Laughing is the only way your going to get through this.

[jetpilot]

15 wins would be a huge success.  They might get to 10.

Laughing is the only way your going to get through this.

*you're

I got through the last 4 years, I can get through anything.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Look at it this way …

As I’ve said in this board for the past 8 years. Cal needed to go. I said it 8 years ago and i said it on his last day in Lexington…..and that is he was never going to win another title.

Take all those little wins that mean nothing and blah blah. Didn’t mean anything. Only titles matter here.

I’m not saying pope will ever win one. But we KNEW cal wasnt

I just hate that we wasted 8 good years of basketball wishing he was more than he was. We could have already been back in the trophy case by now

[pjdoug]

Until they're not.

I guess you mean until somebody wins 0 games in the NCAA tournament in 4 years which is virtually impossible to do.

If Sheppard had done ANYTHING against the Oakland Raiders, Cal and KY would have advanced to the Final Four. It wasn't Cal's fault that Reed peed his shorts.

UK didn't even know how to attack Oakland's zone they played all year and didn't have a clue how to guard Gohlke, the only guy they had to stop and only shot 3s. COACHING lost the game, everybody knows it. Takes no responsibility and blames others, your brain is so easily hijacked it's insane, literally.

A lot of the blame goes to Reed. He was scared and AWFUL!!! Two buckets by Shep and we win.

He played how the mediocre coach wanted him to play.

[pjdoug]

Look at it this way …

As I’ve said in this board for the past 8 years. Cal needed to go. I said it 8 years ago and i said it on his last day in Lexington…..and that is he was never going to win another title.

Take all those little wins that mean nothing and blah blah. Didn’t mean anything. Only titles matter here.

I’m not saying pope will ever win one. But we KNEW cal wasnt

I just hate that we wasted 8 good years of basketball wishing he was more than he was. We could have already been back in the trophy case by now

well said.

[pjdoug]

Have OSH and plantmanky consolidated and joined each other in one and mind and body ?

[16BBall Fan]

The nonconference schedule for 2024-2025 season is as follows:

Monday, November 4: UK vs. Wright State
Saturday, November 9: UK vs. Bucknell
Tuesday, November 12: UK vs. Duke- State Farm Champions Classic
Tuesday, November 19: UK vs. Lipscomb- BBN Invitational
Friday, November 22: UK vs. Jackson State- BBN Invitational/Unity Series
Tuesday, November 26: UK vs. Western Kentucky- BBN Invitational
Friday, November 29: UK vs. Georgia State
Tuesday, December 3: UK at Clemson- SEC/ACC Challenge
Saturday, December 7: UK vs. Gonzaga- Battle in Seattle
Wednesday, December 11: UK vs. Colgate
Saturday, December 14: UK vs. Louisville
Saturday, December 21: UK vs. Ohio State- CBS Sports Classic
Tuesday, December 31: UK vs. Brown

[jetpilot]

I had a horrible nightmare that I went to the opening game in Rupp and Calipari was still the coach. Jumped up in my bed covered in sweat and screaming.

[Old School Hound]

Have OSH and plantmanky consolidated and joined each other in one and mind and body ?

I couldn't warm up to him if we were cremated together...

[Cactus Jack]

Revisiting The Above Conversation:

Kentucky now stands 10-1 with wins against Duke, Gonzaga, and Louisville and a loss against Clemson. We have two non-conference games remaining: this Saturday against Ohio State then Brown on New Year's Eve. Barring a huge upset, the worst that happens is 11-2 with an additional neutral site loss to Ohio State.

Some of the above responses to what we'd consider a successful season were: "10 wins, 15 wins, putting a system in place, going to the NCAA Tournament, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament".

We've exceed the 10 wins, and it looks like 15 or more wins is a formality. We're #4 in the country and on pace to make the NCAA Tournament with the type of seed that would at least lead you to believe that we'd be favored (or at worst a slight underdog) in the first round. Suffice to say that we're on pace to meet or surpass everyone's expectations.



The SEC Schedule:

The SEC slate will be rough and I honestly think we have at least a handful of losses in store. The 18-games we know of are listed below, and we'll have at least one game in the SEC Tournament.

There's a Home and Home with:
Alabama, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt

Away games at:
Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri

Home games against:
Florida, Texas A&M, Arkansas, South Carolina, Auburn, and LSU



Moving Forward:

Short of us taking some huge losses during SEC play and the wheels falling off for everyone who'll matter in our metrics (i.e., we know Duke, Gonzaga, and Clemson), I don't know how you keep this team out of the tournament.

Realistically, we could go .500 in the SEC and I don't see any way that we aren't at least a 10-seed, even if you assume that we only beat teams who are currently unranked.

.500 with no more wins over ranked teams means nine losses to: #6 Alabama x2, #1 Tennessee x2, #7 Florida, #17 Ole Miss, #2 Auburn, #12 Texas A&M, and #14 Oklahoma.

Currently, the lowest ranked SEC team in KenPom's (KP) rankings is South Carolina at #68. For more perspective, Arkansas is ranked 12th of 16 SEC teams at #40, meaning that 30% of KenPom's top 40 is from the SEC. I'll run through the teams below and their current KenPom rank is noted in parenthesis.

Assuming Kentucky goes .500, the team finishes the regular season 20-11 with neutral site wins against Duke & Gonzaga, no bad losses, a road win against Texas (KP #38), Miss. St (KP #30), Georgia (KP #39), & Missouri (KP #49) and home wins against LSU (KP #59), South Carolina (KP #68), and Arkansas (KP #40). With that resume and the Kentucky brand, an eight seed is around what I'd expect.


Suffice to say, it looks like we're going to meet or at least exceed the majority of expectations from a few months ago. With that said, now that we've been spoiled, what do you consider a successful season from this point forward? What is acceptable and what is unacceptable? Short of losing out and missing the tournament while getting embroiled in a scandal, I think it's fair to say that Pope has at least met a good portion of the fan base's Year 1 expectations.

[-STAT-]

Revisiting The Above Conversation:

Kentucky now stands 10-1 with wins against Duke, Gonzaga, and Louisville and a loss against Clemson. We have two non-conference games remaining: this Saturday against Ohio State then Brown on New Year's Eve. Barring a huge upset, the worst that happens is 11-2 with an additional neutral site loss to Ohio State.

Some of the above responses to what we'd consider a successful season were: "10 wins, 15 wins, putting a system in place, going to the NCAA Tournament, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament".

We've exceed the 10 wins, and it looks like 15 or more wins is a formality. We're #4 in the country and on pace to make the NCAA Tournament with the type of seed that would at least lead you to believe that we'd be favored (or at worst a slight underdog) in the first round. Suffice to say that we're on pace to meet or surpass everyone's expectations.



The SEC Schedule:

The SEC slate will be rough and I honestly think we have at least a handful of losses in store. The 18-games we know of are listed below, and we'll have at least one game in the SEC Tournament.

There's a Home and Home with:
Alabama, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt

Away games at:
Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri

Home games against:
Florida, Texas A&M, Arkansas, South Carolina, Auburn, and LSU



Moving Forward:

Short of us taking some huge losses during SEC play and the wheels falling off for everyone who'll matter in our metrics (i.e., we know Duke, Gonzaga, and Clemson), I don't know how you keep this team out of the tournament.

Realistically, we could go .500 in the SEC and I don't see any way that we aren't at least a 10-seed, even if you assume that we only beat teams who are currently unranked.

.500 with no more wins over ranked teams means nine losses to: #6 Alabama x2, #1 Tennessee x2, #7 Florida, #17 Ole Miss, #2 Auburn, #12 Texas A&M, and #14 Oklahoma.

Currently, the lowest ranked SEC team in KenPom's (KP) rankings is South Carolina at #68. For more perspective, Arkansas is ranked 12th of 16 SEC teams at #40, meaning that 30% of KenPom's top 40 is from the SEC. I'll run through the teams below and their current KenPom rank is noted in parenthesis.

Assuming Kentucky goes .500, the team finishes the regular season 20-11 with neutral site wins against Duke & Gonzaga, no bad losses, a road win against Texas (KP #38), Miss. St (KP #30), Georgia (KP #39), & Missouri (KP #49) and home wins against LSU (KP #59), South Carolina (KP #68), and Arkansas (KP #40). With that resume and the Kentucky brand, an eighth seed is around what I'd expect.


Suffice to say, it looks like we're going to meet or at least exceed the majority of expectations from a few months ago. With that said, now that we've been spoiled, what do you consider a successful season from this point forward? What is acceptable and what is unacceptable? Short of losing out and missing the tournament while getting embroiled in a scandal, I think it's fair to say that Pope has at least met a good portion of the fan base's Year 1 expectations.

At this point, just surviving conference play and getting/staying healthy. Knew it wasn't going to be a 40-0 and win it all type season but still had high hopes & expectations entering the season, even with a roster that had ever played together in a meaningful game, to say after 11 games we're 10-1, with 2 top 5 victories, win over your rival. Only loss at this point was to a good Clemson team in their first true road game, the adjustments that have been made in game, and at half have been great to see, something that hasn't been seen in a long time. They learned a lot at Clemson, what life on the road is going to be like in the SEC, those small hostile environments where the fans are right on top of you. 

.500 would be a pipedream in this league, but I could honestly see them going 10-8 or even 11-7, which I think would get a first-round bye, maybe even a double bye. This will be a gauntlet of a schedule going forward, never understood these NET rankings or even KenPom for that matter, all that crap is irreverent to me. I guess I am just old fashioned, but I look at strength of schedule, and when it comes to Tournament time it all boils down to matchups. I have a good feeling we get in the dance, and anything can happen from there, being the first season under a new regime and rebuilt roster, that would be a huge success moving forward. The key now is just staying/getting healthy and being prepared.