Technically NIL was made legal in 2021 but we all know it didn't really turn into the wild west it is now until 2023. Since then Duke is the only traditional blue blood to make a final four.
You know things have gone south when...
- Thread starter nicky
- Start date
What coach that isn't already at a top 25 program, isn't retired or coaching in the NBA meets your qualifications?
You are right, there is no parity across the landscape. The €uck was I thinking?
I posted the same and was told by many that Pope inherited the best program in basketball??? What? NIL, Calipari and Mitch destroyed that. Kentucky is not what it was. I also believe the SEC doesn’t want a dominant UK. You mentioned the other schools didn’t care back then. They would not care now if UK was dominant. That would definitely explain our horrible officiating year after year. UK by far gets the worst whistle is college basketball. We even get hosed at home. It’s all designed to grow interest from the other SEC football schools.
saying UK is the best program in college basketball is crazy. Yet, people still believe it.
Mitch allowed that all to erode under his 21 years.
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All time and historically we are. That's where that comes from.
I get that. I believe Pope is a good coach. He has so many things working against him .
He is working for the worst AD in college sports.
Calipari took every player and recruit on our roster. I will never remember him fondly for that reason. People forget Pope had 6 weeks and zero players. Too late for HS. All portal veterans mostly seniors first year. Giant hole to crawl out of.
He was saddled with working with JMI in a way no other school has done. Media and marketing yes, completely turning over NIL. No one else has done that.
He gets the worst officiating in college basketball and it isn’t close. Go watch a home game for Duke or Kansas. We used to get a home advantage. That stopped a long time ago.
He has a lot working against him. Honestly, without solving some of these issues. No coach can be successful here.
Barnhart and Eli need to move on, They don’t care about winning in sports. They care about making money. The JMI mess proves that.
The relationship with Nike needs repaired. Calipari thought he didn’t need them. He was wrong.
The root cause of our biased officiating needs to be found. Whether it was Higgins, Sankey, Gambling??? It needs to be located and fixed.
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Pope’s strategy- over pay for the players still available after Duke, Michigan, “insert 10 other teams here” have signed their top choices.
That's such BS. Sorry. We've talked about all the impacts Pope has faced with injuries and recruiting headwinds etc.
He is a very good coach and despite all the gnashing of teeth he's gonna get some good players and take us back to prominence. He says he has guys lined up for next year. I tend to believe him. I don't blame him for keeping a lid on it.
If he can't deliver next year with a good team and run, let's find someone else but for now, I'm gonna enjoy this ride and trust he will.
We are not Indiana by any stretch.
Lets see how it plays out. Reality is lost on a lot o diehard fans. Sports are not life and death they are meant to entertain. If you are a UK fan you have been spoiled by a lot of championships and wins. I think there are plenty of wins coming and some more championships. If you have no belief in your team, why follow them in the first place?In a position to win?
Play with anyone?
Sw16 with shot at elite 8?
Top 4 SEC finish?
Lord, the lengths some of you will go to lie to yourselves is truly shocking.
I don't have blind faith or belief in anything. There is nothing to suggest Pope will be successful here. So why would I just accept it?
Yeah. I know this isn't what any of us hoped for but man I just can't give up hope Pope will get this done.
If he can't get some additional elite players I think we will struggle some and not bring home any banners. I can't abide that either.
But honestly Im not ready to eat one of our own until we're sure he can't deliver.
I really do believe he will get high end talent either through Stokes or the portal.
Some of you seem to think enough time has gone by that we should bash Pope in really his first year. I'm not ready to pull the plug.
Let's just WIN!
I would never speak for you or anyone else, so do you. I love blind faith. If we had to know the outcome of everything before buying in, we would never enjoy the ride along with the challenges and opportunities. The 92 and 98 teams are two of my favorites who overcame the odds. Heck we might not win our first game in the dance, but I am excited about the possibility to going far.
So you blindly believe what makes you feel good?
Lol, what odds did we overcome in 1998?
THIS! The schedules are NEVER balanced in the SEC. UK always has the toughest schedule, every year. The SEC wants to get as many teams in the tournament as they possibly can. They like to use UK to prop other programs up. Hence, the unbalanced scheduling and terrible officiating.
We were coming 2 F4s, with a lot returning. We were a 2 seed with like 4 losses. What teams had better odds?
Wow. That is exactly what I believe. The SEC doesn’t want a strong UK. Most other Football schools will completely check out if we become dominant again. Twelve years ago when Sankey took over a Saturday game at Ole Miss against Miss St. would have 150 people. A weak UK keeps balance and interest.
The ACC is not the SEC.
The ACC makes more money with Duke being the premier program. Clemson is the money cow in Football. They try desperately to prop both up. Most other teams in that conference can’t compete in either on the national stage.
Sankey and the SEC want a balanced conference. They could not be happier Alabama and Georgia have fallen off in football. They do not want a strong UK in basketball.
Just go watch the officiating the last 3 weeks of the season in basketball. Every SEC team that was on the bubble won. The Arkansas/ Georgia game was a crime. Georgia was up 18 at halftime but had no shot at a bid. The officials called a foul on Georgia every time down court. Arkansas was even and had made 2 FG the entire second half. Oklahoma also got similar calls to get in. It’s fixed for money boys. Why let a team that has no shot at getting in win?
It’s mostly the league offices that influence the officiating. Not Gamblers. The ACC wants to get Duke the highest seed possible in basketball. They are their only hope at a title run.
Great example of AI hallucination there. UNC, Arizona, Duke, and Kansas all had better odds than UK entering the tournament. If UK was ever +140, then it was immediately after Utah beat UNC.
Do you have any proof of this?
Based off the above, it looks like we had the 2nd best odds entering the tournament. That sure doesn't seem like we had to overcome a lot or defy much.
One search I did mentioned UK as the favorite and then mentioned other top contenders like S Carolina and Michigan. Didn’t even mention Duke, Arizona, UNC or Kansas.
hallucination is right.I mean, we were the 5th choice at the start of the tournament and 2nd choice by F4. Yet, we had to overcome being the 5th choice in a 64 team event?One search I did mentioned UK as the favorite and then mentioned other top contenders like S Carolina and Michigan. Didn’t even mention Duke, Arizona, UNC or Kansas.
My first post was just me simply stating the odds. Then you post a ridiculous AI result and the I made fun of another ridiculous AI result shown below.
In the 1997-1998 college basketball season, the Kentucky Wildcats were favorites to win the national championship with odds around +1000 prior to the tournament. Other top contenders for the 1998 NCAA tournament included Michigan (+2500), South Carolina (+3000), and Maryland (+4000). Kentucky ultimately won the 1998 championship against
But I didn't really didn't post a ridiculous AI result. It simply said their odds were 140 entering the tournament vs entering the F4. The latter was actually correct in relation to the -140 odds. The other stuff it said was all accurate, correct?
However, this was all in response to anothet poster claiming we have to overcome our odds. Which, the odds had us as the 5th choice in a field of 64. I don't really consider that as having to overcome our odds.
Yea, considering I was born in the 80s and am still alive in 2026.
So no proof of having to overcome these crazy odds?
if 10-1 doesn’t do it for you, what does? It was more than that on February 15, 1998 after we got spanked by Ole Miss at home.
5th place odds in a field of 64 puts you among the favorites. 10-1 in a field of 64 teams isn't bad. Hell, those would be good odds for a 29 horse field in the KY derby. Pretending it was something we really had to overcome is a bit pathetic honestly. Be honest with yourself.
What were they then?
I agree with this in principle but with the roster as it currently stands a top 3 finish would be an amazing coaching job.
Agreed, 2020 was the date from which we have struggled. Even then we had solid regular seasons, but postseason and not winning the SEC isn’t at our level of success.