With the season over, looking ahead to the next meaningful game.
November 10. The Champions Classic. Kentucky vs. Kansas.
Talk about two programs, coaches and fanbases who need something good to happen that night.
In one corner, Kansas. Many of their fans were happy and relieved when it looked like Self was retiring. He won a championship in 2022 but that year aside, hasn't been to the Sweet 16 in what will be a decade next March - and meanwhile has been heavily sanctioned by the NCAA with forfeitures and heavily criticized for signing too many players who get in trouble with the law. He's got the feel of 2024 John Calipari to him.
The roster: Right now, they are looking to replace all five starters, including a #1 recruit in Peterson, and virtually all their scoring. Stokes will help, if he's not a head case auditioning for the NBA full time, which I think is a real question. But that would still leave a lot of question marks in early November -- I'm sure Self will sign talent out of the portal, but until tested, who knows how portal guys will perform.
In the other corner, Kentucky. I have to believe Mark Pope is fighting for his job already, and by November the pressure will be intense. A new AD will have one job, as far as the vast majority of Kentucky fans are concerned: FIX THE BASKETBALL PROGRAM. Pope will desperately need a fast start next year or firing him is the easiest path for the AD.
The roster: Moreno, Chandler, Kam Williams. Not a ton to build on, but possibly a continuity edge early in the year over s team with no significant returnees. Kentucky needs to win the portal and keep everybody healthy -- and then hope Pope's ability to evaluate talent is more like what it seemed to be two years ago when he pulled together a Sweet 16 roster under duress, and not like last year, when he wasted more money than any coach in the country.
Oh yeah, the All-Time Wins lead is also at stake. Incredibly, Pope is plus-one over Self in the past two years - 46 total wins to 45. Kentucky right now is Plus 6.
Lose this game, and Pope will be close to a dead man walking, given how brutal I expect the rest of the early schedule to be. Let's hope true Kentucky fans are celebrating that night instead.
November 10. The Champions Classic. Kentucky vs. Kansas.
Talk about two programs, coaches and fanbases who need something good to happen that night.
In one corner, Kansas. Many of their fans were happy and relieved when it looked like Self was retiring. He won a championship in 2022 but that year aside, hasn't been to the Sweet 16 in what will be a decade next March - and meanwhile has been heavily sanctioned by the NCAA with forfeitures and heavily criticized for signing too many players who get in trouble with the law. He's got the feel of 2024 John Calipari to him.
The roster: Right now, they are looking to replace all five starters, including a #1 recruit in Peterson, and virtually all their scoring. Stokes will help, if he's not a head case auditioning for the NBA full time, which I think is a real question. But that would still leave a lot of question marks in early November -- I'm sure Self will sign talent out of the portal, but until tested, who knows how portal guys will perform.
In the other corner, Kentucky. I have to believe Mark Pope is fighting for his job already, and by November the pressure will be intense. A new AD will have one job, as far as the vast majority of Kentucky fans are concerned: FIX THE BASKETBALL PROGRAM. Pope will desperately need a fast start next year or firing him is the easiest path for the AD.
The roster: Moreno, Chandler, Kam Williams. Not a ton to build on, but possibly a continuity edge early in the year over s team with no significant returnees. Kentucky needs to win the portal and keep everybody healthy -- and then hope Pope's ability to evaluate talent is more like what it seemed to be two years ago when he pulled together a Sweet 16 roster under duress, and not like last year, when he wasted more money than any coach in the country.
Oh yeah, the All-Time Wins lead is also at stake. Incredibly, Pope is plus-one over Self in the past two years - 46 total wins to 45. Kentucky right now is Plus 6.
Lose this game, and Pope will be close to a dead man walking, given how brutal I expect the rest of the early schedule to be. Let's hope true Kentucky fans are celebrating that night instead.
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