[Cactus Jack]

Most projections I'm seeing and hearing are in the range of "20 win, 10 loss" season. This one is a tough one because you don't know how well so many new pieces will gel. Without the schedule being released yet, I honestly think it's going to be next to impossible to get a good gauge on nailing down where we'll be within a 2-3 game margin of error that you'll probably get from just peeking at the eventual Vegas line.

With the way Pope plays so uptempo and shoots so many threes, there are going to be games where we shoot well and beat a team that we probably wouldn't crush in a same game series, but will be prone to nights where that works in reverse. With that said:

Think they probably split with Tennessee-- historically, that's a very safe bet. Have always felt the league has a bit of a "give and take" in that series. Remember the Vols getting some nice home cooking against the Wall & Cousins team (which helped the league's overall profile and the seed lines since Kentucky could take the L and still not drop out of the number one overall slot), but then the next meeting was just lopsided? Those two games each year always seem to have a way of helping the league's profile and seed lines.

Historically, the Florida game has been a bit of a toss-up. Feel the same about this year's Louisville game (which is the only non-conference game I could really speak to right now).

Think we get Texas A&M and LSU at home after the losses last year (even though the only parties involved who'll really remember those games are the fans). Same for South Carolina (unless it's just one of those games where they play well and/or we play poorly).

The Away schedule is manageable, but I would suspect that predicting we go 1-1 on the trips to Texas and Ole Miss is probably safest. Think we'd be favored against Mississippi State and Missouri, but losing at either of their places isn't out of the question. Feel good about Oklahoma's talent, but the Sooners and Horns also have more experience and familiarity with Pope's system from their Big XII days-- those games may be decided by film study and taking a chance on putting in a wrinkle.

As for the other teams we play twice, I would think we'd be favored in both games against Vanderbilt and the underdog in each game against Alabama. Won't be shocked if we drop both the Tide-- two similar systems, but one team has a big head start on the other coming into the year.

A favorable home slate where we can come off a Georgia or Vanderbilt during the week and stealing a game as the underdog against an Auburn or Arkansas in the Saturday College GameDay marquee in Rupp is much easier than going to Florida in the late game Tuesday night and having to go to a revenge-minded Tuscaloosa (for what may be one of their first ever GameDays) that weekend. For that type of analysis, we'll just need more information.