leave me alone and let me engage him, would ya?
these dumbass arguments are the only ones i can win. can you not give me this one thing? i don't ask for much...
OCC schedule needs a significant upgrade
- Thread starter WeepNoMore
- Start date
leave me alone and let me engage him, would ya?
these dumbass arguments are the only ones i can win. can you not give me this one thing? i don't ask for much...
We could upgrade some. Try to get some of the better mid majors. Play Belmont in Nashville. Play Butler.
There are some games I am not wild about.
There are some games I am not wild about.
While the SEC has been down quite a bit the last few years, considering the recent hires, I'm optimistic the league will at least be respectable. Not saying the league will be the best in the country, but...
Bama - Avery Johnson had them looking much improved
MSU - Howland won't have them competing for national titles like UCLA, but he's a solid coach
Tenn - again, won't be a national power, but I think they will be an annual NCAA tourney team
aTm - likely similar to Tenn
USC - hard to say as I think Martin is a decent coach, but I am not so sure he can recruit well enough to get over the hump
Florida - TBD, no idea what to expect from White, but Donovan was going to be a tough act to follow there
UGA - really thought Fox was a good hire initially, but now I'm not sure he will ever get them above the NIT, which is surprising considering the talent available in ATL
Auburn - TBD, Pearl has brought some excitement there, but I'm not so optimistic, especially now competing with Avery Johnson for top in state talent
Mizzou - dumpster fire in the near future
Ole Miss - prob continue to be annual NIT team at best
Vandy - see Ole Miss
Again, I'm not saying it will be the most dominant conference, but I think it's reasonable to expect 5-6 NCAA tourney teams annually, which means the OOC schedule as it is now will be fine
Are you serious? So we're not prepared? 4 out of the last 6 years in the Final Four. WTF? By the way, we DO have more titles than Duke, UNC, Louisville and Kansas. Last time I checked we had 8.
To critics of our OOC schedule, please read the above post and compare to the OOC schedule of any other major school.
i like it.
i mean... that's kind of what Xception was getting at. but don't let that stop you, friend.
Do you ever add anything intelligent to a conversation? Or, do you live and breathe t simply insult people hidden behind a computer screen? I bet you are not so smug in real life.
Not saying we shouldn't have a couple of warmup type games or that all of the OOC games should be against top 15 competition. But, if we are indeed the "gold standard" we proclaim to be, we should not be playing half of our OCC against teams we should beat by 30 or more. We get way too many of those when the conference schedule gets underway.
I played too. Congrats to me?
If you have to break out credentials, you are usually losing or have already lost the argument.
Anyways, happy trolling.
Thank you!!!! Intelligent, serious posters like yourself do not have to resort to name calling and cute (at least in their simple minds) put downs.
No one cares what you have to say. You might as well change your account again since the only people here who can stand you are the trolls.
LOL... Carry on good Sir! Just make sure you smash him into troll batter.
Breaking out the creds, as you put it, was simply a response to "OP knows nothing about basketball. Check this coming season's schedule you goof."
I guess you missed the point of my original post as well. So I'll repeat it for you:
"Because (1) we play in such a weak conference dominated by FB schools that care little about BB, (2) our goal is to win, not just make, the NCAA tournament, and (3) we are the self-proclaimed "gold standard" of college BB, we should have an OOC schedule that is the by far the toughest in college BB."
OOC schedule and conference strength seemed to be ok in 4 of 6 seasons where uk went to the final four. almost no difference in scheduling between those years and this past one.
either (A) the op is just trolling or (B) typical monday morning quarterbacking by an old timer who has an opinion with nothing substantial to support their claim
either (A) the op is just trolling or (B) typical monday morning quarterbacking by an old timer who has an opinion with nothing substantial to support their claim
Next seasons OOC is no joke. We play most like 5 top 10 teams.
Michigan State
UofL (barring no sanctions and everyone returns)
UNC
UCLA
Kansas
Thanks for a mostly intelligent post. (You could have omitted the last two lines. :sunglasses::sunglasses
Have read Coach Cal's OOC philosophy before. Unfortunately, last year must have been an off-year for Coach Cal's skill as a prognosticator. Don't recall seeing any of the non-marquee teams in this year's NCAA.
IMHO, replacing 4 of the 7 Popcorn States with mid-major or Big 4 teams that consistently play at a relatively high level would better serve Coach Cal, his team and the BBN.
Thanks for a mostly intelligent post. (You could have omitted the last two lines. :sunglasses::sunglasses
Have read Coach Cal's OOC philosophy before. Unfortunately, last year must have been an off-year for Coach Cal's skill as a prognosticator. Don't recall seeing any of the non-marquee teams in this year's NCAA.
IMHO, replacing 4 of the 7 Popcorn States with mid-major or Big 4 teams that consistently play at a relatively high level would better serve Coach Cal, his team and the BBN.
you are assuming we win those games though? why? if we could lose to auburn or tenn on the road...we can lose to psu or nebraska on the road. so what if we lose them...go from a 4 seed to an 6, 7, or 8 seed. play a #1 seeded team in the 2nd round.
then what?
Which still leaves 18 SEC games, and 8 OOC games that will range from partial to complete joke.
I understand the arguments that people make against the OP, and I understand that power conference schools have completely suckered the general public into believing that it's absolutely necessary to play 10 OOC home games, mainly against sh** competition, but the OP does have a point (even if he's stretching it).
Does UK recruit like every other school?
Does UK have facilities like every other school?
Does UK have fan interest like every other school?
No, no, and no. So why should UK schedule like every other school? UK's OOC schedule is generally good, but good only by the incredibly God-awful standard set by other power conference schools. If Cal really wants to prepare guys for the NBA, isn't there something to be said for doing so by not worrying about how the schedule compares to everyone else's, but by making it as competitive as it can realistically get? There are no directional schools in the NBA (though the Sixers have been trying pretty hard to get like that). Use the 2 actual exhibition games and the 4 extras for the Keightley Classic as your low-pressure warmups, maybe throw in a woofer around the midterms. Other than that? Go for it. Maybe a few extra losses, but more excitement, and I would guess a better team in the long run.
BostonCat2001 et. al. , I admit to being an old-timer but am no troll, as you all like to call anyone who refuses to share your elitist opinions.
Your name-calling consists of wasted keystrokes.
You and your ilk could never be convinced, no matter how strong the argument, that college basketball, in general, and UK basketball, in particular, would be vastly improved if half or more of the the non-marquee OOC opponents were replaced with consistently competitive teams.
Unlike you chest-puffers that get your kicks out of beating a no-name team into submission, I simply enjoy much more watching a competitive game of BB or, better yet, watching us blow-out a Top 10 team.
Will be back later, after I find my cane (It keeps getting harder and harder to remember where I put it.) and go watch my grandsons play some competitive high school tennis, now that their basketball season is over. :sunglasses::sunglasses::sunglasses:
Your name-calling consists of wasted keystrokes.
You and your ilk could never be convinced, no matter how strong the argument, that college basketball, in general, and UK basketball, in particular, would be vastly improved if half or more of the the non-marquee OOC opponents were replaced with consistently competitive teams.
Unlike you chest-puffers that get your kicks out of beating a no-name team into submission, I simply enjoy much more watching a competitive game of BB or, better yet, watching us blow-out a Top 10 team.
Will be back later, after I find my cane (It keeps getting harder and harder to remember where I put it.) and go watch my grandsons play some competitive high school tennis, now that their basketball season is over. :sunglasses::sunglasses::sunglasses:
Last edited:
call me elitist all you want (i actually like it) but its your ego driving this. you presented an opinion with nothing to support it. and when challenged by others you cant respond. this is more about you needing to be scene as an "expert" than anything else. your ego just cant handle being wrong.
also have to take into consideration that some of the big games scheduled are done well in advance, not just before the season starts. Some of other teams are projected to be much better when scheduled than they end up being.
We can't always control how good/bad the other teams end up being and can only go by what they're projected to be
Thanks for a mostly intelligent post. (You could have omitted the last two lines. :sunglasses::sunglasses
Have read Coach Cal's OOC philosophy before. Unfortunately, last year must have been an off-year for Coach Cal's skill as a prognosticator. Don't recall seeing any of the non-marquee teams in this year's NCAA.
IMHO, replacing 4 of the 7 Popcorn States with mid-major or Big 4 teams that consistently play at a relatively high level would better serve Coach Cal, his team and the BBN.
Those last two lines are my favorite part.
Cal isn't an actual soothsayer. All he can do is take a look at the college landscape and try to piece together a schedule that will challenge his team without crushing morale.
He also doesn't have the benefit of hindsight in scheduling, and often has to put most of the schedule together two or three years in advance, having no idea what his team will look like. The other team's scheduling has to also be taken into account, because few (if any) will wait around to see if Kentucky wants to schedule them.
In today's game, the ideal schedule just isn't feasible. So you do the best you can. As much as we fans would like to think it does, college basketball doesn't actually revolve around UK.
In a perfect world, we could schedule only the top 20 or so teams. In the really real world, you have to balance challenge, confidence building, and availability. I trust that coach Cal is putting together the best he can put together, and the overwhelming evidence says he is succeeding.
Sold out arenas, huge ratings, part of the two biggest early season events, and observable team growth week-to-week.
I'm sorry it's not good enough for you and your expert insight, but you're making unreasonable requests.
My opinion is exactly what I said. That there are 8 other OOC games + 18 SEC games besides the ones you list. Or 6 OOC games, but really- Hofstra???
And I'll add that it's kind of logically absurd to say that playing (maybe) 8-10 games against top 25 teams is somehow an incredible burden if you have a roster where 5-6 guys expect to be playing in the NBA one year later.
Set the bar higher.
Last edited:
I am sensing someone who's does no give two zips about UK.
Just a covert opportunity to bash the SEC.
Just a covert opportunity to bash the SEC.
If you wanna criticize ooc schedules then look no further than Rick Pitino and his team. They played TWO difficult games ooc, us and Michigan St and they had no choice but to play those games. The other 11 games were automatic wins. And this wasn't the only year they did this, they do it every year!! Now I realize they're in the ACC but they don't play a balanced schedule in the ACC either so they're not playing home and home with the top of that league. UofL is supposed to be a top 25 year in and year out but they sure don't schedule that way.
Our schedule is so easy that we lost 9 games this year. Don't know what more to ask of the team than to schedule NBA teams.
LET'S PLAY THE ENTIRE TOP 12 with such young teams and enter SEC play at 7-5!!!
That'll show em.
That'll show em.
Some of the responses in this thread show no understanding of the various things that go into scheduling. It is not a simple matter of just saying "oh, let's play all these good teams". There are so many things that go into it. Whether it will be a one time thing, or a home-home, or neutral site. Whether that would fit in with the other school's plans. What other games you have that season. Trying to give your season ticket holders good home games. Taking into account your own team's makeup and how they can much they can handle early in the season, existing mandatory TV match-ups, tournaments etc.
The only thing the committee seems to put much weight into at the moment is top 50 RPI wins.
Here are the mid-major teams who were top 50 RPI this year (I'll include the Ivy as a mid-major):
Valpo, South Dakota St., Yale, Akron, Princeton.
None of these teams was top 50 last year, so you have the first problem of consistency of schedule.
You schedule them this year, they drop off next. This even happens with Power 5 teams like UCLA and OSU, so of course it happens with mid-majors.
The only teams who could be construed as mid-major who were top 50 back to back in 2015 and 2016 were San Diego St., Wichita St., and Gonzaga.
I think all three of these are high profile enough now that they would expect a home and home. Possibly we could play them on a neutral court.
Basically, it boils down to only a handful of teams (if any) that would:
A. Help us in the eyes of the committee
B. Play us at Rupp without expecting a return
So you say, "go on the road". Well, that is highly likely to be a loss in November, taking a young team into a hostile environment to play a top 50, tournament tested team on their court.
Our SOS is already plenty high. Taking an extra road loss helps us none. If we win that road game, it doesn't matter to the committee much more than beating that team on a neutral court, if it helps at all. Not worth the risk.
Could we squeeze in a couple more tough neutral court games? Fine with me, but I'm also not a ticket holder at Rupp. They have to play some games there.
I'm sure some ticket holders would prefer more marquee matchups at home, but if the price for those is more road games where we are at a disadvantage, is it worth it?
Our OOC SOS is fine. Really good, actually. Our problem is the SEC not holding up their end of the bargain.
Here are the mid-major teams who were top 50 RPI this year (I'll include the Ivy as a mid-major):
Valpo, South Dakota St., Yale, Akron, Princeton.
None of these teams was top 50 last year, so you have the first problem of consistency of schedule.
You schedule them this year, they drop off next. This even happens with Power 5 teams like UCLA and OSU, so of course it happens with mid-majors.
The only teams who could be construed as mid-major who were top 50 back to back in 2015 and 2016 were San Diego St., Wichita St., and Gonzaga.
I think all three of these are high profile enough now that they would expect a home and home. Possibly we could play them on a neutral court.
Basically, it boils down to only a handful of teams (if any) that would:
A. Help us in the eyes of the committee
B. Play us at Rupp without expecting a return
So you say, "go on the road". Well, that is highly likely to be a loss in November, taking a young team into a hostile environment to play a top 50, tournament tested team on their court.
Our SOS is already plenty high. Taking an extra road loss helps us none. If we win that road game, it doesn't matter to the committee much more than beating that team on a neutral court, if it helps at all. Not worth the risk.
Could we squeeze in a couple more tough neutral court games? Fine with me, but I'm also not a ticket holder at Rupp. They have to play some games there.
I'm sure some ticket holders would prefer more marquee matchups at home, but if the price for those is more road games where we are at a disadvantage, is it worth it?
Our OOC SOS is fine. Really good, actually. Our problem is the SEC not holding up their end of the bargain.
Would that be such a horrible thing?
One of my issues with college sports, football and basketball, is the idea that you should play X number of games where you have about .0000000001% chance of losing. WHY? Why is that the natural order of things? (most realistic answer being that people like wins, even if they come against the Southwesterly Northeastern New Mexico school for the blind)
On the professional level, almost any team can lose to any other team if they don't play well. That's the reality of pretty much every single game they play. To me, that's a far more natural thing than devoting 1/4th to 1/3rd of your regular season schedule to automatic wins.
You are such a troll, just another keyboard warrior who only knows how to insult people. You, along with a few others never add anything to any conversation, just ignorance. Now I am putting you on ignore since you want quit stalking me. Your obsession ends now.