2017 SEC East

[bigbluewildcat84]

UK will go as far as its interior defensive line and ILB position will allow it. At NT, Pringle, Elam and Hyde are not stand out type players and could be a major weakness on our defensive line. DE and DT positions should be on par with the other parts of our defense. There are many players at the DE and DT positions that could be impact players. Adrian Middleton and Kordell Looney looked really good during the spring game. Alvonte Bell is in rehab after a knee injury and TJ Carter could be a name we all need to be on the look out for.

The ILB position was very weak last year. Love racked up a great number of tackles but he often looked slow and out of place a majority of time. If Kash Daniels can make the leap, he could bolster a position that has been a weakness under Courtney Love.

 

[STUCKNBIG10]

lol UK may fancy itself whatever it wants but a condender is a fantasy. Only folks with blue contacs in think we somehow skipped step 2-9 to get to 10 and conder status. Ut is a conder, UF is a contender, UGA is a contender. If you think we are on that level you are dreaming.

You're way off base, as usual. Also, I will caveat that I am not saying that UK will win the east. I said "If UK fancies itself a contender" in prefacing my comments about UK's schedule. Even if UK is NOT a contender, this is still the easiest SEC schedule imaginable. The SEC is the nation's toughest conference, so there is no such thing as an easy SEC slate; so, relatively speaking, this is as easy as it gets.

With that said, here is why I think your "you're dreaming" and "fantasy" comments are off base:

1. Many will label UK as a sleeper "along with MSU in the west. Here is the first such article. http://collegefootballnews.com/2017/can-kentucky-win-east-preview-2017

2. Several recent teams have come out of the woodwork to win the east in recent years. South Carolina won its East title in 2010 with three conference losses. Mizzou won the east twice, THE FIRST OF WHICH FOLLOWED A 5-7 CAMPAIGN. So, yes, it is possible to have a seismic jump in one year even if you're not a college football powerhouse.

3. The teams that have won the east in recent years have not exactly been juggernauts. UK probably should have beaten florida 2 times in the last 3-4 years and those UF teams have gone on to win the east.

4. The talent gap has shrunk. This isn't debatable.

5. Most division races are determined by schedule. UT has to play @Bama, @UF, @UK, and has LSU at home. That's brutal. UF has a favorable schedule with UT, LSU at home, but a road trip to Lexington and the cocktail party will be key factors. UGA has @Auburn, @UT, Cocktail party, and gets the good fortune of drawing MSU at home. So, in relative terms, UK has the most favorable schedule of the bunch.

Again, I am not saying that UK will win the east. But, whether you believe we are contenders (or not), the schedule is kind.

 

[jauk11]

lol UK may fancy itself whatever it wants but a condender is a fantasy. Only folks with blue contacs in think we somehow skipped step 2-9 to get to 10 and conder status. Ut is a conder, UF is a contender, UGA is a contender. If you think we are on that level you are dreaming.

Better to dream than to have nightmares like you.

Have you ever played any sport, or were you afraid to try?

 

[Jbapp1978]

Better to dream than to have nightmares like you.

Have you ever played any sport, or were you afraid to try?

I played free safety on the 92-96 Hopkinsville high school team with miguel merrit, fatman, deontey kenner, artose pinner. Crushed Tim couch at home 63-0. Played free safety semi pro for the Colordao flamess 99-2000. im not saying im an expert. But i know we are not there yet as far as 8-9-10 wins and competing for the East. Had we occasionally competed for the east, won it every blue moon....Ok, but you cant take a program that almost never wins away and hasnt had a winning SEC record in decades and just say ok, we are ready. Nope. Nice talking with you again. One of us will be right and if i am, im gonna hate it but i gotta realistic.

 

[Jbapp1978]

You're way off base, as usual. Also, I will caveat that I am not saying that UK will win the east. I said "If UK fancies itself a contender" in prefacing my comments about UK's schedule. Even if UK is NOT a contender, this is still the easiest SEC schedule imaginable. The SEC is the nation's toughest conference, so there is no such thing as an easy SEC slate; so, relatively speaking, this is as easy as it gets.

With that said, here is why I think your "you're dreaming" and "fantasy" comments are off base:

1. Many will label UK as a sleeper "along with MSU in the west. Here is the first such article. http://collegefootballnews.com/2017/can-kentucky-win-east-preview-2017

2. Several recent teams have come out of the woodwork to win the east in recent years. South Carolina won its East title in 2010 with three conference losses. Mizzou won the east twice, THE FIRST OF WHICH FOLLOWED A 5-7 CAMPAIGN. So, yes, it is possible to have a seismic jump in one year even if you're not a college football powerhouse.

3. The teams that have won the east in recent years have not exactly been juggernauts. UK probably should have beaten florida 2 times in the last 3-4 years and those UF teams have gone on to win the east.

4. The talent gap has shrunk. This isn't debatable.

5. Most division races are determined by schedule. UT has to play @Bama, @UF, @UK, and has LSU at home. That's brutal. UF has a favorable schedule with UT, LSU at home, but a road trip to Lexington and the cocktail party will be key factors. UGA has @Auburn, @UT, Cocktail party, and gets the good fortune of drawing MSU at home. So, in relative terms, UK has the most favorable schedule of the bunch.

Again, I am not saying that UK will win the east. But, whether you believe we are contenders (or not), the schedule is kind.

I hope you are right but saying the talent gap has shrunk is a myth. Well it depends on what team youre talking about. SCar, vandy, UL, Miss st, ole miss, yes. Everybody else...Not even close. Lets take UF, UT, AU, UA....They get All 5* And 4* players. We get 2* 3* and maybe a few lower teir 4* Kids. Common sense tells you its no contest.
But i hope youre right. Good day

 

[Blue Decade]

UK will go as far as its interior defensive line and ILB position will allow it. At NT, Pringle, Elam and Hyde are not stand out type players and could be a major weakness on our defensive line. DE and DT positions should be on par with the other parts of our defense. There are many players at the DE and DT positions that could be impact players. Adrian Middleton and Kordell Looney looked really good during the spring game. Alvonte Bell is in rehab after a knee injury and TJ Carter could be a name we all need to be on the look out for.

The ILB position was very weak last year. Love racked up a great number of tackles but he often looked slow and out of place a majority of time. If Kash Daniels can make the leap, he could bolster a position that has been a weakness under Courtney Love.

I think this is a pretty fair assessment. I am not prepared to say Kentucky will go as far as the defensive tackles and inside linebackers take us, but those positions will definitely be crucial factors in our season. On the positive side, most players at those positions were/are at stages of development that can allow for significant improvement in 2017. Improving quality depth at those positions is another important plus. But I still don't think those positions are our team's only decisive issues. For instance, Stephen Johnson can play much better than he played in the spring game, and that will be necessary to win SEC games. Benny and Rose must stay healthy. And the punting problem must be addressed.

 

[jauk11]

I hope you are right but saying the talent gap has shrunk is a myth. Well it depends on what team youre talking about. SCar, vandy, UL, Miss st, ole miss, yes. Everybody else...Not even close. Lets take UF, UT, AU, UA....They get All 5* And 4* players. We get 2* 3* and maybe a few lower teir 4* Kids. Common sense tells you its no contest.
But i hope youre right. Good day

You need to read STUCKNBIG10's post again, an excellent post.

You might need to start wondering why almost no one on here agrees with any of your posts.

 

[Jbapp1978]

You need to read STUCKNBIG10's post again, an excellent post.

You might need to start wondering why almost no one on here agrees with any of your posts.

well bud im not a follower, and im not trying to gather a following. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know only sunshine and candy canes get likes. Judging by my post you can see i dont care and wont change unless our team goes out there and earns it im gonna always be real. But most posters on here if we win will think il be mad, and it will just mean it went over there head. Il be cheering us on. But i wont be one of the hyprocrits that pump unrealistic views pre season and then have a total meltdown when we do like 90% of this board always does. You wont here me say oh thats so Kentucky football when we do things to hurt ourselves only UK football does. I wont say a word but i will be cheering.

 

[jauk11]

well bud im not a follower, and im trying to gather a following. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know only sunshine and candy canes get likes. Judging by my post you can see i dont care and wont change unless our team goes out there and earns it im gonna always be real. But most posters on here if we win will think il be mad, and it will just mean it went over there head. Il be cheering us on. But i wont be one of the hyprocrits that pump unrealistic views pre season and then have a total meltdown when we do like 90% of this board always does. u wont here me say oh thats so Kentucky football when we do things to hurt ourselves only UK football does. I wont say a word but i will be cheering.

I guess I must enjoy talking to a wall, but this is ridiculous.

How many followers for your FOUR WIN predictions and general negativity have you gathered so far-------looks like it is pretty close to zero to me.

Oh, by the way, I guess I could be classified as a Rocket Engineer since I worked for GE on the space program at Huntsville and a Nuclear Rocket Engineer since I went from there to the Kiwi NRDS program at Jackass Flats Nv where we had two successful firings of a nuclear rocket before they dismantled the program in 1969. LOL

So if we win five games this year you will be back on board? We overachieved?

So I will be a hypocrite (correct spelling) if we don't win what I think should be a minimum expectation, seven wins plus a 50/50 chance to win a bowl game? And if we do only win four games I doubt if you will ever see me jumping on the coaches or any of the players, still OUR coaches and players--------but I can't imagine ANY circumstance where we only win four games, three OOC that should be gimmes, three we should be favored or very close, and five games where an upset is possible in every one of them-------what was the talent gap like when we upset TOBC in 10 or Thug U with a WR at QB in 11, or even the Transfer U upset this past year?

"so Kentucky football when we do things to hurt ourselves only UK football does"---------There are NO situations like that, there are always dozens of teams every year where the coaches blow decisions, players fumble, throw interceptions, drop interceptions in their gut, blow big leads, etc etc, although we have had a habit of doing that a lot more than we should------but I attribute a lot of that to the HUGE disparity in talent

I hope I can ignore your negativity and-------not sure I can say that, but your posts are hard to ignore. I know you keep repeating that you are a huge follower, but your posts sure don't back that up.

 

[STUCKNBIG10]

I hope you are right but saying the talent gap has shrunk is a myth. Well it depends on what team youre talking about. SCar, vandy, UL, Miss st, ole miss, yes. Everybody else...Not even close. Lets take UF, UT, AU, UA....They get All 5* And 4* players. We get 2* 3* and maybe a few lower teir 4* Kids. Common sense tells you its no contest.
But i hope youre right. Good day

Shrunk = Smaller gap than there used to be. There is zero doubt that the gap has shrunk. There is still a gap, but it's smaller than it used to be from a talent perspective.

 

[BigBoyBlueMMA]

Kentucky 7-5

Florida: 8-4

Mizzou: 6-6

South Carolina: 7-5

Vandy: 5-7

Georgia: 9-3

Tennessee: 7-5

Another ho-hum year regardless of any preseason hype that might come. I just did the eye test game by game from the OP so it might not add up, just a gut instinct on each game considering things like USC plays UGA well, UT plays UGA well, who loses a lot, who returns a lot. I think Georgia's the best team on paper but wouldn't get quite as bullish on them as some apparently are.

UK's most likely scenario is between 5-8 wins. Yes, a big gap there, but there is not one game on UK's schedule you look at and say, "They're losing that, no doubt." OTOH, I think the most optimistic UK fans are going to make the mistake of counting games against Vandy, Mizzou, USC and Mississippi State as all "likely" wins when their margin for error is still slim. They probably go 2-2 in those games IMO; I think wins over Mizzou and Vandy, losses at South Carolina and MSU. Should win at least 3 non-conference and either 3-4 SEC. Lot of winnable games, lot of returning players. Big questions are run defense, punt game and whether the offense will have enough explosive plays with their two most explosive players from last year gone.

UK catches a break with Ole Miss, they really need to capitalize and win that one.

Uhm...could you please pump more sunshine rectally for me - it keeps me going in the summer - no more realist pragmatist stuff please - JUST SUNSHINE PLEASE!!!!

 

[RV2]

Here's some more 'sunshine' for those so inclined.

You don't have to have All-SEC talent at each position to have a very good defense but look where we actually are. Going into the season, UK arguably has likely All-SEC level talent at the majority of the LB positions and DB positions. Those guys are Jones, Ware, Allen, Edwards, Baity and Westry. Given that, if they can get adequate line play the defense could be good to very good. Does anyone here really think that Middleton, Pringle and Carter won't at least be adequate to better than adequate?

 

[Jbapp1978]

I guess I must enjoy talking to a wall, but this is ridiculous.

How many followers for your FOUR WIN predictions and general negativity have you gathered so far-------looks like it is pretty close to zero to me.

Oh, by the way, I guess I could be classified as a Rocket Engineer since I worked for GE on the space program at Huntsville and a Nuclear Rocket Engineer since I went from there to the Kiwi NRDS program at Jackass Flats Nv where we had two successful firings of a nuclear rocket before they dismantled the program in 1969. LOL

So if we win five games this year you will be back on board? We overachieved?

So I will be a hypocrite (correct spelling) if we don't win what I think should be a minimum expectation, seven wins plus a 50/50 chance to win a bowl game? And if we do only win four games I doubt if you will ever see me jumping on the coaches or any of the players, still OUR coaches and players--------but I can't imagine ANY circumstance where we only win four games, three OOC that should be gimmes, three we should be favored or very close, and five games where an upset is possible in every one of them-------what was the talent gap like when we upset TOBC in 10 or Thug U with a WR at QB in 11, or even the Transfer U upset this past year?

"so Kentucky football when we do things to hurt ourselves only UK football does"---------There are NO situations like that, there are always dozens of teams every year where the coaches blow decisions, players fumble, throw interceptions, drop interceptions in their gut, blow big leads, etc etc, although we have had a habit of doing that a lot more than we should------but I attribute a lot of that to the HUGE disparity in talent

I hope I can ignore your negativity and-------not sure I can say that, but your posts are hard to ignore. I know you keep repeating that you are a huge follower, but your posts sure don't back that up.

il be honest, i read a few senteces before it was clear you didnt read my post. If its possible, you do you, ima do me. Is that ok? Can you live with that? You dont have to convince me, but maybe reread my post, and it will address your concerns that is completly opposite of what i said. Enjoy your day.

 

[jauk11]

il be honest, i read a few senteces before it was clear you didnt read my post. If its possible, you do you, ima do me. Is that ok? Can you live with that? You dont have to convince me, but maybe reread my post, and it will address your concerns that is completly opposite of what i said. Enjoy your day.

LOL

I replied to every point you made in your post and I didn't read it? Pretty sure I am wasting my time trying to communicate with you, but your blather is so irritating. And I always try to combat the gloom and doom posters on here, I think you are harmful to the program in your small way.

LOL

 

[Jbapp1978]

LOL

I replied to every point you made in your post and I didn't read it?

LOL

so you keep asking me how many followers i have but if you truly read my post you would see in plain english that i dont care about gathering a following, im not a follower myself, im not trying to convince anyone.
There are a few things but il end it with this, you asked if we win would i jump back on board, but if you truly read my post you would see i said many poster think im mad, but it will go ver there heads.just.Like.Yours. I said il be CHEERING US ON!
either youre drunk mid day, trolling me, or reading comprehension is definitely not your friend. Either way knock it off, go bother someone else.

 

[jauk11]

so you keep asking me how many followers i have but if you truly read my post you would see in plain english that i dont care about gathering a following, im not a follower myself, im not trying to convince anyone.
There are a few things but il end it with this, you asked if we win would i jump back on board, but if you truly read my post you would see i said many poster think im mad, but it will go ver there heads.just.Like.Yours. I said il be CHEERING US ON!
either youre drunk mid day, trolling me, or reading comprehension is definitely not your friend. Either way knock it off, go bother someone else.

I only bother those that bother me, and like I said, your ridiculous predictions and negativity are bothersome, and from the posts it seems obvious they are out of line.

But like I said, I'm tired of talking to a wall. Oh, and spellcheck could hide a lot of your errors, not that I think it would help your posts that much.

With "fans" like you we don't need trolls.

 

[Jbapp1978]

I only bother those that bother me, and like I said, your ridiculous predictions and negativity are bothersome, and from the posts it seems obvious they are out of line.

But like I said, I'm tired of talking to a wall. Oh, and spellcheck could hide a lot of your errors, not that I think it would help your posts that much.

With "fans" like you we don't need trolls.

Geez, all this over having a different opinion. Youre in the wrong country. I feel for those that deal with you daily, youre a difficult person. Its your way, or the highway. Now take that bully mentality and move around, go play in traffic.

 

[jauk11]

Sorry, but even if I believed the moon was made of blue cheese I wouldn't go around telling everyone about it.