In particular, show me some more cool Kentucky groups. =)

Kentucky Travels

Kentucky Arches, Waterfalls, and Landscapes

Louisville, Kentucky's Past

Abandoned Kentucky

Kentucky Road Trips

Kentucky Mountains - Old Photos and Stories

Kentucky history

Kentucky History

Early Kentucky History

Kentucky Historical Society

Get off the Couch and See Kentucky

A crew of us are going to Tampa for my Bachelor trip this week. Anybody have recommendations on a good place to watch the game Thursday? Thanks in advance!

Saw someone else mention this guys name last year and I looked him up. 4 of the last 6 d2 titles. 20 combined losses in his last 8 seasons. only 42. D2 or not that’s pretty impressive for a guy that age imo.

Following the D2 tourney…some interesting differences from D1.

Still 64 teams. But there are 8 regions seeded 1-8. I have no idea how the field is determined though. 312 total teams in D2. It looks like teams that make it are paired more with region in mind. So teams from the same conference are in the same part of the bracket. I imagine D2 programs don’t have the same travel budgets as D1.

Also Northwest Missouri got a 2 seed instead of one of the 8 1 seeds despite finishing the season ranked in the top 4. And they now have a matchup against the #2 ranked team in the round of 16. It’s the only 1 vs 2 matchup in any of the 8 regions. Again, i gotta think that’s a geographical thing.

More on McCollum. they’ve exhibitioned Duke twice recently. in 2017-18 they lost by 30 plus. But they played them again 2 years later and only lost by 6. And that was a good Duke team that spent almost the entire season in the top 10. Finished 25-6 and 5th in Kenpom.

Definitely a name to watch.

Okay that’s the last time i’ll mention him i promise

Saying this tournament doesn’t matter. This just goes to show priorities are just different. I want a coach who would run through fire to win the SEC Tourney. I’m still bitter.

I rewatched a lot of our games from this past season this weekend and one thing stood out on the defensive end: We gamble waaaaay too much.

Thiero and reed especially, they leave their men and anticipate passes way too much, leading to open shots. Our bigs also leave their men and cheat to block shots way too much, leading to offensive boards (this has always been a problem under Cal).

Why has the 9 million dollar man not realized that we need to stop helping/switching/cheating so much and just play defense straight up and live with the results? I don’t get it, someone help.

Not many. I love old coaches vs old schools, or mentor vs student. I don't even see the interstate directional school matchups.

Nebraska vs Texas AM
Trev Alberts old job at alma mater vs New One for the money

Possible Tennessee vs Texas round 2
Current job vs one that should've kept him

Possible Wisconsin vs Duke Round 2.
2015 rematch

What is his top priority as the head coach of UK basketball?
Has this ever been said by MB?
Same for Stoops?

What is the very top goal?

WE all know what it should be; but has MB lowered the bar (or let the coaches set their own)?
Hmmmmm

That’s what March is about

QUICK TAKES: CI Staff reacts to UK's NCAA draw​

The third-seeded Cats will open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Pittsburgh against No. 14 seed Oakland, the champion of the Horizon League. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)

Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK

In this edition of Cats Illustrated's Quick Takes, our staff offers first impressions from Kentucky's seed and regional draw for the NCAA Tournament. The third-seeded Cats will open the tourney on Thursday in Pittsburgh against No. 14 seed Oakland, the champion of the Horizon League...​

JUSTIN ROWLAND:

Overall I think it's an OK draw for Kentucky. Going into the day and for a while, I've felt that "mindset" is more important than "matchups" for this team. It's true, physical teams can cause problems for Kentucky but we did see them go into Knoxville and win a game nobody expected them to. If Kentucky makes it out of the first round they get either Texas Tech or NC State and that's when it really gets interesting. Houston is not the one seed you want to see and I'm not sure they're going to lose before a hypothetical Elite Eight matchup with UK. So that's worrisome. But in the bottom half of the bracket, I think things are manageable.

TRAVIS GRAF:

I think it’s a solid draw for Kentucky, and you couldn’t ask for a much fair setup. Playing Oakland in the first round should hypothetically be a non-issue, and if it is there will be problems in Lexington next week. The next matchup would set up with Texas Tech, a tough team that is well-coached and isn’t afraid to play physical, or NC State, a team that’s hot and has some guards that can take over. Historically, Marquette has Kentucky’s number in the tournament and they’ve always been one of the most consistent teams this season. Houston would be an issue, but that’s a topic of discussion a week or two from now if Kentucky makes it that far. The Cougars have a veteran backcourt and are one of the best defensive teams in the country.

JEFF DRUMMOND:

I think we've all learned in recent years not to take anything for granted, but I believe the Cats got a decent draw to begin the Big Dance. A couple of objectives were met: avoid getting sent to the East and delay a potential matchup with top-seeded UConn as long as possible (and away from Boston); and begin the tourney relatively close to home where you'll have decent fan support. I think UK will have a good fan showing in Pittsburgh. They should handle business in the opener against Oakland, who is 0-5 against five teams ranked in KenPom's Top 51 this season, but things get real interesting in a hurry with a second-round matchup against either Texas Tech (6) or NC State (11). Looking further down the line, you have traditional UK tournament kryptonite in the form of Marquette (2) and a Houston (1) team that will be highly motivated to amend for their humbling Big 12 championship loss to Iowa State. That game would be played in Dallas, a tough scenario if the Cougars get there.

DAVID SISK:

Kentucky can’t complain about this draw. It was much better than Auburn who got rewarded with the SEC Tournament title with a possible Sweet 16 date with UCONN. Granted, you have to play the game, but the path to the round of 16 is clear. I think we are all looking at the possibility of a matchup with Marquette to get to the Elite Eight. That will be a battle if it materializes, especially if their point guard, Tyler Kolek is back healthy. Houston originally sounded like a lock on the top end of the bracket, but after watching their offense fizzle Saturday against Iowa State I’m not so sure. The mission is clear and defined. Kentucky has to do a better job of keeping the opponent's backcourt in front of them. This team is talented enough to give hope for a trip to Phoenix, but flawed enough to understand that disappointment could be just around the corner.

Thank God. We can finally end this charade of pretending that is a “loaded” conference.

UConn very well might win it all and is a deserving favorite, but just because they have 5 bubble teams that does not make a good conference

A 3 seed?

How many years has he coached?

Nm

DK has a 64% boost on any single bet. I am trying to find something pretty safe. What spread do you guys feel really great about?

Looking at some gambling sites people have loaded up on Montana St, Howard and Colorado


I would prefer to put it on an early game (Tuesday, Wednesday or early Thursday)

1. Calipari. 57
2. Self. 56
3. Izzo. 55
4. Pitino 54

From Sneaky Hembo on GetUp

Drake over WSU: Drake actually favored by Vegas
NM over clemson: Vegas has NM favored. NM higher in both NET and Kenpom.
Nevada over Dayton: Nevada favored by Vegas. Nevada (and the whole MWC) underseeded.
JMU over Wisconisn: Wisconsin sputtered out to end the regular season. Decent tournament run. I've long felt they were going to lose to whatever 12 seed. James Madison is 52 NET, 59 Kenpom.

McNeese over Gonzaga: All the bracketology guys had Gonzaga as a 7 seed. Seeded two lines too high. 5-12's are always ripe for an upset, now you get what is essentially a 7-12. Mcneese creates a lot of turnovers. Their defense is designed to funnel teams towards the 3 point shot. Gonzaga only shoots 35% from 3 on the season.

Samford over Kansas. Kansas has had a miserable end to the season. I don't buy that HD hurt his shoulder and is 100%. McCullar has looked good, but still isn't 100%. They're just not in a good place.

Oregon over SC. Vegas favors Oregon.

Every year, there’s a portion of posters here who think it’s just a huge mistake not to fill out the roster so that we’re 10, 11, 12 deep with quality players. This year, to me, is a perfect example of why that type of depth is completely overrated. This year we go 10ish deep with “quality” players - ie, guys who could get PT on a fair number of D1 teams:

DJ
Shep
Dilly
Reeves
Edwards
Adou
Bradshaw
Ugo
Z
Mitchell
Burkes

That’s a pretty solid amount of depth. Not a ton of positional shortcomings - ie, we have guards, bigger wings/forwards, and centers.

The problem with the team is we don’t have a group of 6-7 that have shown themselves to be able of playing high level offense AND defense. We’ve got some guys who really excel on offense (dilly), some other guys who are okay on defense (Ugo). But very few who we know are just locks to be major difference makers on both ends of the court.

End of bench depth is overrated and won’t win you anything. An incredibly strong core of 6/7 guys who all fill their roles well and can be trusted to play at a high level consistently on both ends of the court matters much more.

1. Current starting lineup- digging a hole we can’t get out of. We know he isn’t going to change it now. Despite the evidence and proof in play will we have to overcome this in an early round game?

2. Rotations- more random/bad lineups. without reason, Cal just throwing stuff out there. I’m sure there are several threads on this over the last 5 years but this is an issue, has been for a long time. This time of year we should be set and that guys know what to expect. Probably my biggest gripe about Cal.

3. Post player presence- we have one really good (not elite yet) defender in Ugo. Z still lost at times but can gives us offensive sparks. Mitchell- not sure he regains early season form at this point. Bradshaw is a non factor. Do you play Edwards at the 4?

4. Defensively- our woes are well documented. We are who we are I guess but will it be our undoing against a lesser opponent again.

5. Cold shooting night- not sure we have had many, we still put up 80+ in our sleep on an off night. Is that enough to carry us through a clunker in the tourney?

Like many of you I want to be excited and have confidence but I just can’t buy in with this group/Cal. Going down to Nashville and watching that game sucked the air out of me.

Cal claimed this is what we will be going with several weeks ago when a caller called in his show and suggested playing 2 bigs at the same time.

My question is WHY IN THE HELL DO WE START TWO BIGS EACH HALF THEN???

One of Thiero or Ugonna has to come off the bench and let reed or rob start. This is the only chance we have and we all know there is no chance we ever see it lol.

I’m so sick of all the question marks all season long. The tournament starts Thursday and our coach is still too worried about proving the fans wrong than doing the obvious.

Just a reminder that “physical” teams are teams who clutch, grab, bump, shove, set moving screens, and basically get away with fouling and denying freedom of movement all game. Remember this when filling out brackets, they’re one ref actually calling fouls from being upset.

Watching all the guys celebrating their conference win today and yesterday just made me sad. Last time BBN had anything to celebrate was the bowl win over Penn. St. We didn’t win our conference or even make a New Year’s Day bowl but it was a celebration. For me, beating UL this year got me just as excited as a citrus bowl tho. Will BBN ever celebrate anything meaningful again? Not with Calipari as coach in basketball, His one n done system is completely broken and can’t compete with experienced, grown ass men. Mark Stoops is a good coach and I do believe it’s possible for him to get us into the 12 team playoffs. Kentucky will never win a football conference title tho, or National title. I’m just Sad.

Went to today's game. Georgia has a powerful lineup and they got one mistake pitch out of Mason Moore to go up 2-0. Otherwise, he confused and bewildered them all day long.

Meanwhile, our lineup suddenly became the bronx bombers this weekend. Nicholson murdered two different balls for a multi-HR game. Pitre was special today, three hits including a HR.

This is exactly what we needed, though I never expected to sweep an excellent UGA team. Huge opportunity next week going to play a bad Mizzou team in Columbia.

Our team looks good, excellent pitching this weekend, especially from Moore, Niman, Nove, Pooser. Hitting was clutch with almost all of our early runs coming with two outs. We still play a lot of Ming Ball with bunts and base running, but this lineup has more power than last year's team had. Very fun to watch so far.

UK tied with Vandy in the east, and already up multiple games over UT and USC. Let's win next weekend and get a real lead on our rivals.