This board is underrating our bracket

[ukcatz12]

Gonzaga beat San Fran by double digits every time they met including even the tournament. More worried about Murray St even so Auburn beat them by 13 so not really a game and looking at their schedule it’s just full of cupcakes. If we had they’re schedule at most we would’ve had 1 loss with a whole ton of 30 point blowouts instead of them having close games.

Realistically speaking we shouldn't have a problem with either San Francisco or Murray State, but realistic things don't always happen in the tournament.

 

[ukcatz12]

I didn't read all the post but in case nobody has mentioned it St Peter's has the 34th ranked defense according to KenPom's adjusted defense matrix. That may be a game that is closer than we want.

I said this in another thread about St. Peter's: Before the brackets came out I thought St. Peter’s has a real chance to frustrate a high seed, ultimately lose in a closer than it should be grind it out game, and throw off the high seed enough where they get upset next round. San Francisco is substantially underseeded as a 10 seed. Really hoping my initial thoughts on St. Peter’s are incorrect.

 

[Cats192]

Everything people are worried about will be bottlenecked.

SF being #21 and MSU being #27 doesn't concern me. 1 of them will knock out the other. We don't have to beat both. And we should be able to easily beat both. You can do the whole "Murray State is better than people realize." I promise you, I've watched them a lot. They're not beating UK. SF hung with Gonzaga? Cool. They're not going to beat Kentucky.

The 11 seed being #23 is inconsequential. They have to get through Texas and Purdue to ever see us. I'll welcome Va Tach over Purdue and probably over Texas. Lots of tough teams in the top half of the bracket. We only have to worry about 1 of them.

 

[kybassfan]

I would love to play SF in the 2nd rd but noway they get past Murray. Murray st is a really good team I would have liked to cheer for some. But ofcourse they are with us.

Yeah, true dat. Actually I’m getting WKU/UK vibes when we took on Jim McDaniels and Co. Ugh.

 

[kybassfan]

Everything people are worried about will be bottlenecked.

SF being #21 and MSU being #27 doesn't concern me. 1 of them will knock out the other. We don't have to beat both. And we should be able to easily beat both. You can do the whole "Murray State is better than people realize." I promise you, I've watched them a lot. They're not beating UK. SF hung with Gonzaga? Cool. They're not going to beat Kentucky.

The 11 seed being #23 is inconsequential. They have to get through Texas and Purdue to ever see us. I'll welcome Va Tach over Purdue and probably over Texas. Lots of tough teams in the top half of the bracket. We only have to worry about 1 of them.

I’m glad the team won’t have your flippant attitude about Murray.

 

[Cats192]

I’m glad the team won’t have your flippant attitude about Murray.

Ah, another post from you with such thoughtful input.

I respect Murray. I live in Paducah and go root for Murray. They aren't on UK's level. And what I say has NOTHING to do with how the team does. They need to take every team seriously. But if they do, they should advance past the 2nd round.

 

[kybassfan]

Ah, another post from you with such thoughtful input.

I respect Murray. I live in Paducah and go root for Murray. They aren't on UK's level. And what I say has NOTHING to do with how the team does. They need to take every team seriously. But if they do, they should advance past the 2nd round.

That’s what they said about WKU when McDaniels played. They kicked our ***. Can we beat Murray shooting 10% from 3? That just happened They we’re taking UT seriously at the time. There is a range of performance with every team. Murray’s best is better than our worst.

 

[Kingslayer07]

And the argument that big guys for purdue wil give oscar headaches, well what about when we played Auburn? The 7 footer for auburn gave him headaches..

Good news is Oscar can pull him away from the rim and drive on him. He's pretty slow defensively. And he splits time evenly with Williams. Who is no slouch either..but not a shot blocker.

 

[Cats192]

That’s what they said about WKU when McDaniels played. They kicked our ***. Can we beat Murray shooting 10% from 3? That just happened They we’re taking UT seriously at the time. There is a range of performance with every team. Murray’s best is better than our worst.

I just don't think we're going to shoot 10% from 3 again.
I also don't know how many 3's we need. Murray had a hard time with the big man from Morehead State. Now you're gong to go up against Oscar? Feels like a game Collins can make some noise too.

You keep worrying about it for both of us.

 

[Cats192]

And the argument that big guys for purdue wil give oscar headaches, well what about when we played Auburn? The 7 footer for auburn gave him headaches..

Sure. The 7 footer may give Oscar headaches.

But Purdue is like #100 in adjusted defensive efficiency. We should score a lot. I don't think it's a situation where we're going to constantly be trying to post Oscar up. Our guards should be able to get into the paint and create some here.

Can we slow down Ivey and Stefonavic enough? I certainly think so.

But truthfully--there's a real chance we never see Purdue.

 

[kybassfan]

I just don't think we're going to shoot 10% from 3 again.
I also don't know how many 3's we need. Murray had a hard time with the big man from Morehead State. Now you're gong to go up against Oscar? Feels like a game Collins can make some noise too.

You keep worrying about it for both of us.

I guess the positive side, if Murray did slip up on us the board would be good entertainment.

 

[HagginHall1999]

I think OP is correct. After reading more info and digesting stuff our road isn't all that appealing. Maybe the matchups are good? Kind of? You have to win, I get it but...

AP
#20 Murray
#10 Purdue
#4 Baylor

Gonna be hard to sleep this week.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

From Sports Illustrated's analysis of the East region:

Toughest draw: No. 2 Kentucky​

Remember last year’s Big Dance, when No. 1 seed Illinois drew a Loyola Chicago team in the second round that was significantly underseeded based on quality metrics like KenPom? The Wildcats got a similar draw in this tournament, facing the winner of San Francisco and Murray State should they advance past Saint Peter’s in the first round. San Francisco ranks No. 21 in KenPom and is battle-tested, having faced Gonzaga three times and hung in during all three matchups. Meanwhile, Murray State is 30–2 and hasn’t lost since December 22 against Auburn. The Racers have tremendous guards and a dangerous inside-out big man in KJ Williams.

Plus, even if the Wildcats do advance past two potential Cinderellas in the second round, they could have quite the test incoming in the Sweet 16 against Purdue. If anyone has the bodies to throw at Oscar Tshiebwe down low, it’s the Boilermakers.

That's almost verbatim what I said as soon as I saw the brackets yesterday.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

Still the best draw for any 2 seed to get to the final 4.

Nope...Auburn got that honor in the midwest

 

[Trinity45]

Nope...Auburn got that honor in the midwest

Disagree

 

[Padsfs07]

I think Kansas is the weakest 1, but if they aren’t then Baylor is.

Texas in the Sweet 16 is a bad matchup for us, but if we can’t beat them we deserve nothing.

Texas' big man (Mitchell) left the team in February. They are starting 3 guards and 2 wings. They were counting on Disu and Mitchell to anchor the frontcourt and they've obviously fallen short. Beard adjusted by tightening up the defense, but good teams give them trouble every time, only 1 bad loss (KSU). Oscar would have a field day, but they'll probably lose to Virginia Tech, who's been really hot down the stretch.

 

[Padsfs07]

However, the Zags and KU have a walk to the FF.

I don't have either of them making the final four. I think UConn or Arkansas would do very well against the Zags, and I'd put both Texas Tech (my pick) and Duke over them as well. The last two are teams we would really struggle with. Texas Tech has long guards that would crowd our three wings, as does Duke.

Then Kansas will have a rather easy first two games (imo) and likely meet Iowa and Keegan Murray in the Sweet 16 or Auburn/Wisconsin, with Davis or Smith looming. I also really like South Dakota St., but that's probably not happening. They are just as good as Murray St. Neither team has lost in 2022. I do think UK would pull it out in this region though.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Throw all the analytics and such out the window when it’s tourney time. It doesn’t matter. Forget who’s hot and who’s not, it can change like the Kentucky weather in the Spring.

 

[JC CATS]

Our bracket has six Kenpom top 16 teams, more than any other bracket. The 10 seed is KP #21, 11 seed is KP #23, and 7 seed is KP #27. Those are all highest of their seed. Purdue and Baylor are good hypothetical opponents for us at those stages in the tournament, but there are some really good teams in this bracket relative to their seed line.

Still the best bracket

 

[CatsIndy2010]

im just happy we are the only sec team in this region.