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Guess Hog fans think they are gonna be loaded next season

Lol.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When the season began, the biggest question surrounding the Arkansas basketball team was how many first round picks would there be at the end of the season.
The initial thought was four to five with freshmen Boogie Fland, Karter Knox, and Billy Richmond joining veterans Jonas Aidoo and possibly DJ Wagner as first round picks. However, that's not how it's worked out, which makes the construction of next year's team a much different consideration........
.........If all four Hogs slated to go in the draft come back (Thiero #33, Fland #45, Knox #46, Ivisic #59), Arkansas could be set for a super team that would have the ingredients to dominate. The practices alone would be something to behold.
Instead of struggling to have enough warm bodies to practice, Calipari will potentially oversee one of the most competitive five-on-five sessions ever. Grizzled vets in Wagner, Thiero and Ivisic, joining a more mature Knox and Richmond against Fland, Darius Acuff, Isaiah Sealy, Maleek Thomas, and either Nate Ament or Trevon Brazil on the other side would be worth the price of admission......
.......Playing that roster would be an absolute nightmare for SEC teams. Calipari would have the option to sub a full five and see little to no drop-off while running teams ragged.......
........The first round would be historically loaded with Arkansas players next year, plus, it should be a historic season also.
rest of the wishful thinking here

It's to the point where you just have to shrug.

Some of the worst officiated games I've ever seen we've been involved in this year. Go grab 3 average church league refs and would probably do a better job than some of the crap.
Maybe the SEC and NCAA really dont like us 🤣
I really do want to blame Vegas though.

We was like +470 to win and a heavy underdog. Between alt spreads and cover the spread bets and UK ML bets out there they stood to lose a lot of money if UK even kept it in the 6-8 range. Convineint how Alabama just eeked out the cover...
And SEC got to protect their #1 seed who's going to get the absolute best whistle the rest of the year because they're the SECs top tourney team. Alabama and Auburn are gold right now the powers to be will make sure they stay there.

Pope and SEC refs

Could it be that Pope is experiencing a "you need to pay your dues before you get the calls" situation? Coach K went through this, believe it or not, when he started in the ACC. Pitino went through it early on at UK. I think Pope is going through it this year, and he knows it. And by him not going crazy over it, I think it will pay off starting next year.

IU honors Booby Knight chair throwing incident

Today was the 40th anniversary of Bobby Knight throwing his chair across the floor and being ejected.

Classy.

You can't make this sheet up.

They brought out the actual chair and Woodson used it today.... I didn't watch the whole thing, so I don't know if he held Kight's whip or not.

Looking forward to the celebration of Knight choking Neil Reed in practice .... I don't think that's been announced yet.

Link here

Super Important to Stay a 3 Seed

I think this year in particular, it's incredibly important to stay a 3 seed.

The difference between the 1 seeds and 2 seeds this year is noticeable.

Auburn
Alabama
Duke
Florida

Those are almost certainly going to be the 1 seeds.

The 2 seeds will probably be some combination of:

Tennessee
Houston
Wisconsin
Iowa State
Texas A&M
Texas Tech

The talent difference between the potential 1s and potential 2s is pretty large IMO.

Beyond just avoiding a dreaded 12/5 or 13/4 matchup, we could also avoid that batch of 1 seeds for another round, three of which (hell, maybe all FOUR) could be seeking revenge against us. (I'm calling our shot now, we're going to beat Auburn in Rupp).

So it's super, super important to avoid dropping to a 4 seed or lower.

Means we HAVE to beat OU and LSU obviously, and HAVE to win at least one of the other 3 (Mizzou, Bama, Auburn), and HAVE to make it at least to Friday of the SEC tournament.

If we can beat OU, LSU, Auburn, and then beat a team like Miss State or Ole Miss on Thursday of the SEC Tournament, think we would HAVE to stay on that 3 line.

Is it possible?

*** Official CatsIllustrated Kentucky @ Oklahoma SEC Regular Season Prediction Contest ***

Welcome to the Official Kentucky @ Oklahoma SEC Regular Season Prediction Contest!

Follow the rules below and make your prediction. I'll publish the results after the game. You can put any comment you would like below your score prediction (put '***' after your prediction to make it easier to separate the comments) but try not to put anything above as my scripts may not be able to find your prediction. This is the 2nd of three prediction contests this season: the OOC Contest, the SEC Regular Season contest, and the Postseason Contest.

Whoever predicts the score closest to the actual score wins. I take the absolute value of the difference of your guess of the Kentucky score and the actual plus the absolute value of the difference of your guess of the opponent score and the actual. There is a penalty for picking the wrong winner. That penalty is the worst score among those who predicted the correct winner. In case of a tie, the tiebreaker is used. In case of a tie in the tiebreaker, we have more than one winner.

I will be awarding points for the first 10 places, including a 3 point bonus for a perfect prediction. I will track cumulative point totals and the number of games you make the top 10. This contest ends with the end of the SEC Regular Season.

Your post should look something really close to the example below. Remember the ":"s and the word "Tiebreaker:"! Do not!! use a "-" as a separator because some of our tiebreakers will be negative.

This game's tiebreaker is Oklahoma Rebounds.

Kentucky @ Oklahoma game:

--------------------------
Kentucky: 83
Oklahoma: 75

Tiebreaker: 31
--------------------------

Just cut and paste everything between the lines above into your reply and then modify the scores and tiebreaker as you see fit. If you don't know how to do that, type very carefully. Remember to type in the word "Tiebreaker:" so that I can find it. Anything my scripts can't figure out will not count.

Don't edit your post or try to post a score after the game has started.

BTW I really would prefer exact names for the teams, but will try to be accommodating as long as it doesn't create too much work for me. If we are playing Louisville, just about anything not obscene will be OK.

--------------------------
SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Scores - Kentucky @ Alabama (tiebreaker was 25 Alabama FT Attempts):

13 1 . Blueworld_3.0 : 0 points, tiebreaker=33
9 2 . Old_Red : 1 points, tiebreaker=31
8 3 . ThreeHogNight : 2 points, tiebreaker=24
7 4 . yes_takeaside : 2 points, tiebreaker=22
6 5 . number8please : 2 points, tiebreaker=30
5 6 . rivercatinfl : 3 points, tiebreaker=24
4 7 . howercat : 3 points, tiebreaker=21
3 8 . AFSTALLION13 : 3 points, tiebreaker=30
2 9 . YardCat : 4 points, tiebreaker=26
1 10 . ORCAT : 4 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 11 . Chad Rock : 4 points, tiebreaker=29
.. 12 . Rideordiewildcat : 4 points, tiebreaker=30
.. 13 . ukfan041 : 6 points, tiebreaker=25
.. 14 . *CatinIL* : 6 points, tiebreaker=23
.. 14 . the nail at the foul line: 6 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 16 . UKCatWoman : 6 points, tiebreaker=29
.. 16 . jrm693 : 6 points, tiebreaker=29
.. 18 . OneBadCat : 7 points, tiebreaker=25
.. 19 . JFCats22 : 7 points, tiebreaker=24
.. 20 . Hang_Time_2 : 7 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 21 . Bigblueincincy : 7 points, tiebreaker=13
.. 22 . Jazzycat : 8 points, tiebreaker=29
.. 23 . docholiday51 : 8 points, tiebreaker=30
.. 24 . maysvilleky : 9 points, tiebreaker=35
.. 25 . kyfanrob : 11 points, tiebreaker=29
.. 26 . Kycatspaws : 12 points, tiebreaker=30
.. 27 . Smashcat : 14 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 28 . LogicalCat : 14 points, tiebreaker=28
.. 29 . coolfred : 15 points, tiebreaker=28
.. 30 . lakercat : 15 points, tiebreaker=31
.. 31 . Green River : 22 points, tiebreaker=25
.. 32 . WalterTheHippo : 25 points, tiebreaker=30
.. 33 . kywildcat41035 : 25 points, tiebreaker=35
.. 34 . dynastydreamuk : 27 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 35 . GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone: 41 points, tiebreaker=25
.. 36 . BigBlueFanGA : 41 points, tiebreaker=21
.. 37 . BlobUK : 41 points, tiebreaker=17
.. 38 . wfm101981 : 42 points, tiebreaker=26
.. 38 . cat tat2 : 42 points, tiebreaker=26
.. 38 . Blueisbest : 42 points, tiebreaker=26
.. 41 . UK Cats1 : 42 points, tiebreaker=18
.. 42 . Oldbluefart : 43 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 42 . tdjohnsky : 43 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 42 . BlueWorldOrder74 : 43 points, tiebreaker=23
.. 45 . Hargyt13 : 43 points, tiebreaker=22
.. 46 . CBBCrazy : 43 points, tiebreaker=30
.. 47 . onearmedjesus : 44 points, tiebreaker=25
.. 48 . Wildcat_In_Florida: 44 points, tiebreaker=24
.. 48 . $Z71$ : 44 points, tiebreaker=24
.. 50 . Roe07 : 44 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 50 . blubo : 44 points, tiebreaker=27
.. 52 . cat888 : 48 points, tiebreaker=25
.. 53 . GoBIG BLUE : 48 points, tiebreaker=24
.. 54 . runt#69 : 49 points, tiebreaker=20
.. 55 . warrior-cat : 52 points, tiebreaker=25

Those who picked the wrong winner: GoBIG BLUE, $Z71$, tdjohnsky, BigBlueFanGA, onearmedjesus, Wildcat_In_Florida, cat888, Oldbluefart, cat tat2, warrior-cat, wfm101981, UK Cats1, GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone, runt#69, BlobUK, Hargyt13, Blueisbest, Roe07, BlueWorldOrder74, blubo, CBBCrazy

SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Contest Leader Board:

58 : Blueworld_3.0
57 : howercat

30 : docholiday51
28 : Chad Rock
26 : blubo
26 : ThreeHogNight
24 : Blueisbest
23 : UKCatWoman
23 : YardCat
22 : yes_takeaside

21 : coolfred
21 : JFCats22
21 : Old_Red
21 : runt#69
21 : the nail at the foul line
19 : GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone
19 : Green River
19 : number8please
18 : Hargyt13
16 : lakercat
16 : warrior-cat
15 : rivercatinfl
14 : dynastydreamuk
13 : Bigblueincincy
13 : jrm693
12 : ORCAT
11 : wfm101981
10 : BlobUK
10 : CastleRubric
10 : kyfanrob
10 : maysvilleky
9 : kennyskywalker34
9 : Rideordiewildcat
8 : cat tat2
8 : cat888
8 : kywildcatsfannumber1
8 : UKhoopCat
7 : kywildcat41035
7 : Oldbluefart
7 : Smashcat
7 : TOMCATS1990
6 : B.B.H.
6 : Mrwildcats03
6 : OldEvilleCat
6 : pappy52
5 : $Z71$
5 : AFSTALLION13
5 : CBBCrazy
5 : darkshadesofblue
5 : GoBIG BLUE
5 : Wildcat_In_Florida
4 : Hang_Time_2
4 : Jperry1987
3 : onearmedjesus
2 : Jazzycat
2 : Short-Dawg-69
2 : tdjohnsky
1 : BigBlueFanGA
1 : ukfan041


Players Who've Made the Top Ten at Least Once:

8 : Blueworld_3.0
8 : howercat

5 : coolfred
5 : JFCats22
4 : blubo
4 : Chad Rock
4 : docholiday51
4 : Green River
4 : number8please
4 : rivercatinfl

4 : the nail at the foul line
4 : ThreeHogNight
4 : YardCat
3 : AFSTALLION13

3 : Blueisbest
3 : GoAndRunIsGoneAndDone
3 : Hargyt13
3 : Old_Red
3 : ORCAT

3 : runt#69
3 : UKCatWoman
3 : wfm101981
3 : yes_takeaside
2 : $Z71$
2 : Bigblueincincy
2 : BlobUK
2 : cat tat2
2 : cat888
2 : dynastydreamuk
2 : GoBIG BLUE
2 : Hang_Time_2
2 : jrm693
2 : kyfanrob
2 : kywildcatsfannumber1
2 : lakercat
2 : maysvilleky
2 : Oldbluefart
2 : warrior-cat
2 : Wildcat_In_Florida
1 : B.B.H.
1 : BigBlueFanGA
1 : CastleRubric
1 : CBBCrazy
1 : darkshadesofblue
1 : Jazzycat
1 : Jperry1987
1 : kennyskywalker34
1 : kywildcat41035
1 : Mrwildcats03
1 : OldEvilleCat
1 : onearmedjesus
1 : pappy52
1 : Rideordiewildcat
1 : Short-Dawg-69
1 : Smashcat
1 : tdjohnsky
1 : TOMCATS1990
1 : ukfan041
1 : UKhoopCat


Total Players:
Kentucky vs Florida : 62
Kentucky @ Georgia : 58
Kentucky @ Mississippi State : 55
Kentucky vs Texas A&M : 58
Kentucky vs Alabama : 63
Kentucky @ Vanderbilt : 62
Kentucky @ Tennessee : 52
Kentucky vs Arkansas : 58
Kentucky @ Ole Miss : 48
Kentucky vs South Carolina : 45
Kentucky vs Tennessee : 49
Kentucky @ Texas : 50
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt : 49
Kentucky @ Alabama : 55

Season Average for Players: 54.6


SEC Regular Season Basketball Prediction Champs:
Kentucky vs Florida : the nail at the foul line: 3
Kentucky @ Georgia : Blueworld_3.0: 8
Kentucky @ Mississippi State : Blueisbest: 8
Kentucky vs Texas A&M : docholiday51: 5
Kentucky vs Alabama : lakercat: 3
Kentucky @ Vanderbilt : CastleRubric: 13
Kentucky @ Tennessee : warrior-cat: 1
Kentucky vs Arkansas : howercat: 9
Kentucky @ Ole Miss : YardCat: 11
Kentucky vs South Carolina : UKCatWoman: 10
Kentucky vs Tennessee : dynastydreamuk: 6
Kentucky @ Texas : howercat: 1
Kentucky vs Vanderbilt : Chad Rock: 10
Kentucky @ Alabama : Blueworld_3.0: 0


@Deeeefense

Early take on the Pope era

Public relations and program building: A

Player recruitment: B cobbled together a decent collection of talent in a transition year. Closing a fourth player like Ament would position us very well in combination with another good transfer class. Opportunity to move up.

In game coaching/scheme: B+ seems solid, his offense in particular has yielded good results with less than stellar talent. Noticeable adjustments made in game, such as early action inside the paint in the second half of the Vandy game.

Player development: C the freshmen have improved noticeably. But some of the upper classmen seem to be volatile and not delivering consistent production.

Bottom line, he is doing better than I expected (B). However his ability to work with the administration to invest in talent will determine if we contend for Final Fours. I also believe he will need to toughen up a bit and be a bit more demanding of players and with officials. This is just opinion with no inside information.

ps: but I would go with Pitino every time.
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