From the sounds of things, Kentucky will start next year out of the top 10 preseason unless they get Stokes. We know Mark Pope’s next postseason is crucial but we are leaving that out of this discussion. Purely from the standpoint of the regular season, I expect to be in the top 10 of the AP poll for about 10 weeks out of the 20 weeks that poll is open next year before id consider that a “good” season by Kentucky standards. Am I being fair or too harsh?
Top 10 Regular Season - Hypothetical
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I'd say it depends on which 10 weeks. First 10 weeks and we slide? No. Climb into the top 10 and stay throughout SEC play? Probably.
2022 had that and more. When all was said and done they didn’t win the SEC or the SEC Tournament and then got bounced by St Peter’s.
was that a good season?
was that a good season?
To me how we perform in the conference is more important to me than rankings and the tournament is the best indicator of a team’s overall success for that year.
Matter of importance:
Tournament success
Conference success
Conference tournament success
Overall ranking
Pre-conference success
Matter of importance:
Tournament success
Conference success
Conference tournament success
Overall ranking
Pre-conference success
I’d be shocked if we finish top 10 in sec.
You are out of your mind. There is no way we are in the top 10 at all next year. That is the funniest thing I have read on this board all spring!!!
Why not? Pope did it in year 1. Spent half the year as a top ten team. I’m hoping for at least those results in the regular season and an elite eight. I don’t think that’s that crazy
Not even gonna wait until you see the roster huh? Jeez.
Are you insane? Even if we got Stokes this will not be considered a top 25 team. They take into account who the coach is too.
No single metric will suffice here. Ideally, from the perspective of justifying the retention of Pope, you’d want see some combination of
•player and team development
•persistent competitiveness and mental toughness
•few losses and hardly any bad losses (which implies a strong finish in the SEC)
•tournament competitiveness
•encouraging recruitment
If you had all or most of those things, Then you might make an argument that Pope righted the ship. The rankings would follow.
•player and team development
•persistent competitiveness and mental toughness
•few losses and hardly any bad losses (which implies a strong finish in the SEC)
•tournament competitiveness
•encouraging recruitment
If you had all or most of those things, Then you might make an argument that Pope righted the ship. The rankings would follow.
8 weeks consisting of a solid preseason ranking and the Duke win that propelled them into the top ten. By Christmas and when conference play started it was gone and not been seen again other than a misinformed 2025 preseason ranking of 9th. So in two years we’ve been there 8 weeks.
False. Started the year 23rd. Ended 12th. You really make up stuff far too often, even when the truth is a click away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_NCAA_Division_I_men%27s_basketball_rankings
You clearly said top 10, now do that! You said he spent half the year in the top TEN! We did not spend half the year in the top ten. I’ll take you apology in the form of a gift card.
Like the many Pope nutt huggers on here they wouldn’t know when to admit they are wrong or the truth if it slapped them in the face.
They were top 10 for half the season. Literally half of the season. Only fell out after serious injuries. You can go look at it yourself. What bothers me about you is you seem like a smart guy, but you’ll make up or twist whatever facts you think you need to to fit an agenda.
8-10 weeks isn’t half the season, a college basketball season is 22 weeks. I am a smart guy, Centre college proud.
They have 20 weeks of official polls then a final poll. (Again you can go look rather than making things up.) They were top 10 for ten of twenty weeks.
Stop making up stuff when facts exist.
Well he isn’t far off but had the season is half the season which would be 11 weeks. UK also spent 4 of those weeks barely hanging on with a 10th place ranking. Like I said, when conference play got rolling it was over and hasn’t been there again.
that link you proudly shared shows they AP through April 8th which is the conclusion of the season. The rankings continue through the NCAA. This particular year it was 21. Some years it’s 22. None of this matters, Pope sucks, probably the 3rd to last worst coach in the conference and longer you support him, your arguments and gonna get smaller and smaller. I honestly have no idea what you think this guy is going to actually accomplish. Win a national championship? Lol
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Even if he is 100 correct ( which he isn’t) through 42 weeks we have been in the top 10 for 10 of them. Thats asssss.
FALSE: 10 Weeks, not 8
FALSE: Preseason ranked 23rd, nowhere near top 10
Correct
FALSE: On December 30th, they were 10th
FALSE: they were not ranked preseason 9th. Also, they were top 10 as of January 20th.
FALSE again. See earlier posts.
I’ll again provide the link. It’s sad how wrong you were and still stand on lies like you are.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_NCAA_Division_I_men%27s_basketball_rankings
Also, for bonus points, you can also see that, like I said the poll records week 1-20. Preseason is the same as Week 1. They also have a final poll after. I’m done responding to you because this was very pathetic and I lost respect for you for not admitting you’re wrong and doubling down. Everyone is wrong sometimes but failure to just own up is pathetic.
Well I can see why you have your screen name. You messed up about what half I said. I said they were ranked preseason 9th for this year. Feel free to block me, I’ll do the same, your post are garbage anyways.
When I’m wrong — I admit I’m wrong.
I’ve been wrong many times. You can tell what kind of person someone is in moments like that.
Even with Stokes, we may not be top 15. Without Stokes, we might be unranked.. in order for Pope. Keep his job. He should be top five.. if we don’t have a top five program this year, we’re never going to and that’s what this is about final fours. He knew it when he took the job.. so no 10 weeks in the top 10 is meaningless. Other than from the fact that if it’s to end the season, it will mean we’re possibly a top two seed which would give us a nice leg up and trying to make a run in the tournament.. I mean I wouldn’t have any expectation right now. It’s basically final four or bounce for Mark Pope. The worst thing that could happen is that he would make a sweet 16.. even though his résumé is awful the idiots at the university. They need to see a resounding failure. I feel like to move on from Pope. We’re at a point where the people that are moving into the newer jobs. They may not even remember when Kentucky won the last title so it’s gonna be less likely that they try to re-program.
I wasn’t asking about Pope’s future in the original post. I think the postseason will largely decide that no matter what happens in the regular season, unless you’re a 1 seed, super dominant force.
Do you think this team will be as talented as the first year? I do not. Look at what he did with the Ferrari he had last year. We are going to be rolling in a Pinto this year.
Do not get me wrong. I hope you are right, but I have seen enough of Pope's coaching to convince me that there is a better chance of us having a new coach by SEC play than us being in top 10 for 10 weeks.
Stop with the serious injury crap. That is part of the game and that is why you have a bench. Truth is we got hot (everything went our way) early in his 1st year and won some games we probably shouldn't have, but I give Pope credit because he won those. Everyone got video of Pope and we have went down hill from there and we are continuing to get worse as time goes by.
We are in Indiana land and we better get out quick before we become permanent neighbors with UCLA and Indiana.
Genuinely, have no idea if this team will be better than year one. I’d lean towards probably not. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was better though.
Clear victory - as the top 5-7 teams are practically minted already.
Duke
Uconn
Michigan
Michigan St
Illinois
Florida
It's the same friggin teams.
10 weeks would be 2.5 months, and since it's not going to be the first few weeks, would mean spending a good chunk of the season there and a good sign.
UNC may be very good this year, as might Louisville.
Duke
Uconn
Michigan
Michigan St
Illinois
Florida
It's the same friggin teams.
10 weeks would be 2.5 months, and since it's not going to be the first few weeks, would mean spending a good chunk of the season there and a good sign.
UNC may be very good this year, as might Louisville.