Champions Classic - What's it mean?

[CatsFanIL]

In an effort to prevent some of you from unnecessarily drowning in your own tears and hatred of this team...

There's been 12 full seasons played since the first Champions Classic. Only 3 times has a Champions Classic team won the NCAA Tournament in those 12 seasons. Only 3 times.

In one of those years, that being 2015-16 season, Duke won the NCAA Championship, but guess what - KENTUCKY BEAT THEM IN THE CHAMPIONS CLASSIC!!!! Yayyyyyy Champions Classic!!!

Like any early season major matchup, the more veteran team is at an advantage. But by the end of the year, teams progress and improve and only one team is named champion.

The Champions Classic isn't some kind of mandatory measuring stick for the state of a program. It's mid-November. Let's get a grip on reality here

 

[UK90]

In one of those years, that being 2015-16 season, Duke won the NCAA Championship, but guess what - KENTUCKY BEAT THEM IN THE CHAMPIONS CLASSIC!!!! Yayyyyyy Champions Classic!!!

These posts tend to go better if you get your facts straight before blabbering.

Villanova won the national title for the 2015-16 season, not Duke. Duke won it the prior year (2014-15) and also easily won its Champions Classic game that season over Michigan State.

And I don't really get the point of the rest of your post. Regardless of the national title implications, it's still embarrassing to get our butts beat in this year after year. We're 1-6 in this event over the last seven years. That's unacceptable. No self-respecting UK fan should think it's OK for UK to become the Champions Classic's designated bitch.

 

[track42]

It also means nothing that UK is 28-35 against ranked teams since 2015 I'm sure.

 

[CatsFanIL]

These posts tend to go better if you get your facts straight before blabbering.

Villanova won the national title for the 2015-16 season, not Duke. Duke won it the prior year (2014-15) and also easily won its Champions Classic game that season over Michigan State.

And I don't really get the point of the rest of your post. Regardless of the national title implications, it's still embarrassing to get our butts beat in this year after year. We're 1-6 in this event over the last seven years. That's unacceptable. No self-respecting UK fan should think it's OK for UK to become the Champions Classic's designated bitch.

"butts beat"?? Right.

We lost a close game last night missing three 7-footers. Butts beat? Get real
We lost last year in doublt OT, right? Butts beat, yeah ok
Almost every single year, it's been highly competitive, close games. Those are the games you want. You want us to lower our strength of schedule, play worse opponents? That's the real loser mentality

Enough of your blabbering. I'd hate to have your low basketball IQ. I'd also hate to celebrate some Champions Classic victory like it means anything.

 

[Mike-McD]

"butts beat"?? Right.

We lost a close game last night missing three 7-footers. Butts beat? Get real
We lost last year in doublt OT, right? Butts beat, yeah ok
Almost every single year, it's been highly competitive, close games. Those are the games you want. You want us to lower our strength of schedule, play worse opponents? That's the real loser mentality

Enough of your blabbering. I'd hate to have your low basketball IQ. I'd also hate to celebrate some Champions Classic victory like it means anything.

HOORAY FOR MORAL VICTORIES!!!

Also, you used the word "hate" more than once in that reply. Maybe you should take the day off. Go dunk your head in cold water, buckaroo.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

0nly 25 percent of the last 12 National Titleist won a game in a four team classic isn't a very good argument.

 

[CatsFanIL]

0nly 25 percent of the last 12 National Titleist won a game in a four team classic isn't a very good argument.

This guy doesn't even undestand the argument...

 

[the nail at the foul line]

This guy doesn't even undestand the argument...

I am still celebrating the victory over the Dook Championship team in 2016.

 

[BlueSince92]

Even if you’d been right, your one data point would have looked kind of lonely there trying to justify your tirade all by itself. Maybe consider letting other people have different opinions than you.

 

[Woodsmoke]

The OP trying to convince UK fans that losing isn’t really losing. It’s all in our imagination.

 

[CatPhight]

 

[Woodsmoke]

"butts beat"?? Right.

We lost a close game last night missing three 7-footers. Butts beat? Get real
We lost last year in doublt OT, right? Butts beat, yeah ok
Almost every single year, it's been highly competitive, close games. Those are the games you want. You want us to lower our strength of schedule, play worse opponents? That's the real loser mentality

Enough of your blabbering. I'd hate to have your low basketball IQ. I'd also hate to celebrate some Champions Classic victory like it means anything.

It’s clear you don’t understand the concept behind competitive sports and how success is measured. In simple terms, there is this thing called a scoreboard. During the course of the game, the scoreboard keeps track of when each team scores. At the conclusion of each contest, the team that has the most points between the two is declared the winner. The team that has the lesser points between the two is declared the loser. There is no reward for either team if they “could have” scored more or “was close to scoring” more points. I hope this helps.

 

[WeWant9]

I took some positives from the game, but it’s old losing to rivals. It also impacts seeding, which impacts a tournament run. I don’t get acting like losing is a-okay. Yeah, some take it overboard but this seems just as bad to me.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

It means KU gained a game on the all-time wins lead.

 

[Wildcats1st]

In an effort to prevent some of you from unnecessarily drowning in your own tears and hatred of this team...

There's been 12 full seasons played since the first Champions Classic. Only 3 times has a Champions Classic team won the NCAA Tournament in those 12 seasons. Only 3 times.

In one of those years, that being 2015-16 season, Duke won the NCAA Championship, but guess what - KENTUCKY BEAT THEM IN THE CHAMPIONS CLASSIC!!!! Yayyyyyy Champions Classic!!!

Like any early season major matchup, the more veteran team is at an advantage. But by the end of the year, teams progress and improve and only one team is named champion.

The Champions Classic isn't some kind of mandatory measuring stick for the state of a program. It's mid-November. Let's get a grip on reality here

Kansas has a high ceiling. They have new players too. Doesn’t matter the age it takes time for a team to click and at times KU looked horrid. That’s the problem now with NIL and the portal the “we will grow and get better” argument is used by everyone now.

And the measuring stick is the consistent losing. The lack of respect now, can’t be a top 5 team with the highest paid coach. I mean do you recall the past time we had a 1 seed in the tournament? Wait a few more years bc that game last night was our ticket. Choke job after choke job and you guys must be the genz crowd growing up with uk sucking and beginning to accept it. Cal has done irreversible damage to our program when it comes to expectations. The moral victors in all these threads are proof positive. You know losing last night is no big deal if we hadn’t gone 4 years with 1 tournament win. It’s time to win but cal will tool around in the 10-15 range all year get bounced in the sweet sixteen or sooner and we will be another season stuck this is what kills programs. See IU. Cals knight like arrogance is killing the program. It’s all about Cals goals not the program not the fans

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

These posts tend to go better if you get your facts straight before blabbering.

Villanova won the national title for the 2015-16 season, not Duke. Duke won it the prior year (2014-15) and also easily won its Champions Classic game that season over Michigan State.

And I don't really get the point of the rest of your post. Regardless of the national title implications, it's still embarrassing to get our butts beat in this year after year. We're 1-6 in this event over the last seven years. That's unacceptable. No self-respecting UK fan should think it's OK for UK to become the Champions Classic's designated bitch.

@UK90 toying with @CatsFanIL 's weak argument like:

 

[Jamal Mercer]

The lengths some of our fans go to to basically say “just get used to losing”. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Mental gymnastics at its finest.

I tend to just call it how I see it. We are an average to slightly above average basketball program right now.

And our coach pissed down his leg more often than not in big games since the magical 2014 run.

 

[struggler]

"In an effort to prevent some of you from unnecessarily drowning in your own tears and hatred of this team..."

Enter straw man argument. No one "hates" the team. Many "hate" losing, be it the Champions Classic - or any other game against ranked competition. As already pointed out - the past 5 years of that have been abysmal vs ranked teams.

Have people gotten annoyed at certain players? Sure (example - quit on your team with a mid-season tail bone injury that HAS to be repaired over break - never come back to play, skip senior night). Have people gotten over Cal for MANY justified reasons - of course. But no one is hating on or quitting on the team after this loss... Maybe you equate criticism of Cal/losing with hating players and the team... that's just wrong on many fronts.

Sheesh - the hyperbole and false narrative arguments... Politician much?

 

[CatsFanIL]

It’s clear you don’t understand the concept behind competitive sports and how success is measured. In simple terms, there is this thing called a scoreboard. During the course of the game, the scoreboard keeps track of when each team scores. At the conclusion of each contest, the team that has the most points between the two is declared the winner. The team that has the lesser points between the two is declared the loser. There is no reward for either team if they “could have” scored more or “was close to scoring” more points. I hope this helps.

Did you learn that as the waterboy on your HS girls basketball team?

 

[CatsFanIL]

The OP trying to convince UK fans that losing isn’t really losing. It’s all in our imagination.

You are without a doubt the dumbest person on this message board, and trust me, that's saying something...

 

[CatsFanIL]

"In an effort to prevent some of you from unnecessarily drowning in your own tears and hatred of this team..."

Enter straw man argument. No one "hates" the team. Many "hate" losing, be it the Champions Classic - or any other game against ranked competition. As already pointed out - the past 5 years of that have been abysmal vs ranked teams.

Have people gotten annoyed at certain players? Sure (example - quit on your team with a mid-season tail bone injury that HAS to be repaired over break - never come back to play, skip senior night). Have people gotten over Cal for MANY justified reasons - of course. But no one is hating on or quitting on the team after this loss... Maybe you equate criticism of Cal/losing with hating players and the team... that's just wrong on many fronts.

Sheesh - the hyperbole and false narrative arguments... Politician much?

No one? Maybe you need to read some more the threads and comments posted in the last couple days, then get back to me.

 

[CatsFanIL]

Kansas has a high ceiling. They have new players too. Doesn’t matter the age it takes time for a team to click and at times KU looked horrid. That’s the problem now with NIL and the portal the “we will grow and get better” argument is used by everyone now.

And the measuring stick is the consistent losing. The lack of respect now, can’t be a top 5 team with the highest paid coach. I mean do you recall the past time we had a 1 seed in the tournament? Wait a few more years bc that game last night was our ticket. Choke job after choke job and you guys must be the genz crowd growing up with uk sucking and beginning to accept it. Cal has done irreversible damage to our program when it comes to expectations. The moral victors in all these threads are proof positive. You know losing last night is no big deal if we hadn’t gone 4 years with 1 tournament win. It’s time to win but cal will tool around in the 10-15 range all year get bounced in the sweet sixteen or sooner and we will be another season stuck this is what kills programs. See IU. Cals knight like arrogance is killing the program. It’s all about Cals goals not the program not the fans

Maybe I've just actually coached basketball for too long to remember what it's like to know nothing at all, but what is the hangup on a 1-seed? Did San Diego St and FAU give 2 shits about a 1-seed? There wasn't a single team in the Final 4 last year that was seeded better than 4

How'd that 1-seed work out for Purdue? I mean seriously guys, it's like we just complain to complain. Ain't no one talking about moral victories, except for the guys on here TRYING to make it look like that's what I'm saying. I'm talking about perspective. Which most on here are totally lacking

 

[Cats192]

It also means nothing that UK is 28-35 against ranked teams since 2015 I'm sure.

I think it means we've been in a bad place. And that due to Calipari's stubbornness, the program suffered.

I think he's given in. I think he's changed. We're playing modern basketball. We have guys that can make 3's. Against Kansas, we took the most 3's in the Cal era.

We're going to lose games. We're more likely to lose games against the best teams in the country. As is everyone else. But I think we're losing 4 or 5 this year, not 8 or 9.

If we flame out similar to the last 3 years, run the guy out of town.

 

[SmorgusKilos96er]

So I take it you’ve never participated in an into statistics course? Listen guy, we’re not going to accept losing regardless of how badly you’re in love with Calipari. The quicker you accept that, the quicker you’ll understand the fanbase.

Didn’t you used to have Dirk in your avatar? Maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

 

[kybassfan]

These posts tend to go better if you get your facts straight before blabbering.

Villanova won the national title for the 2015-16 season, not Duke. Duke won it the prior year (2014-15) and also easily won its Champions Classic game that season over Michigan State.

And I don't really get the point of the rest of your post. Regardless of the national title implications, it's still embarrassing to get our butts beat in this year after year. We're 1-6 in this event over the last seven years. That's unacceptable. No self-respecting UK fan should think it's OK for UK to become the Champions Classic's designated bitch.

Did you honestly expect to win that game with no front line? Really? We’ve been beat with the injury stick more than our share recently. But still, they happened. UK is not to blame for not handling athlete clearances? Just because people invent outrageous conspiracy theories under tinfoil hats don’t make them true.

It is what it is. Use some common sense and suck it up, I got more bad news for you. With NIL and the Portal, this isn’t going to get better in this decade. If winning was the only reason you are a cats fan, it’s probably time you left and find another bandwagon.

 

[CatsFanIL]

I think it means we've been in a bad place. And that due to Calipari's stubbornness, the program suffered.

I think he's given in. I think he's changed. We're playing modern basketball. We have guys that can make 3's. Against Kansas, we took the most 3's in the Cal era.

We're going to lose games. We're more likely to lose games against the best teams in the country. As is everyone else. But I think we're losing 4 or 5 this year, not 8 or 9.

If we flame out similar to the last 3 years, run the guy out of town.

Oh noooooo, you posted something totally rational and full of relevant perspective. Here's what's coming your way...
CAL LOVER!!!!
LOSER!!!!
WE HATE MORAL VICTORIES!!!
LOSER!!!
TAKE A STATS CLASS!

 

[CatsFanIL]

So I take it you’ve never participated in an into statistics course? Listen guy, we’re not going to accept losing regardless of how badly you’re in love with Calipari. The quicker you accept that, the quicker you’ll understand the fanbase.

Didn’t you used to have Dirk in your avatar? Maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

I'm not sure if this is directed at me, but no I've never had a Dirk avatar. Must be someone else

Yep, took a stats class - again, if it's directed at me. Standard deviation is nonsense

"We're not going to accept losing" - so 40-0 or it's a waste of a season? So out 3 7-footers against #1 team in nation, no true post presence available against one of the top post players in the nation - let's just fire Cal and bench everyone?

I'm in love with Cal? How? explain that to me. You know, with actual facts to back up your claim. You have no idea what my opinion of Cal is - ZERO IDEA.

 

[UK90]

I'm in love with Cal? How? explain that to me. You know, with actual facts to back up your claim. You have no idea what my opinion of Cal is - ZERO IDEA.

I must say, I find it amusing that the same guy who made up an imaginary 2016 Duke national title is now ripping others for a lack of “actual facts.”

Is it OK if he just makes up fake facts like you did?

 

[CatsFanIL]

I must say, I find it amusing that the same guy who made up an imaginary 2016 Duke national title is now ripping others for a lack of “actual facts.”

Is it OK if he just makes up fake facts like you did?

Right, I posted the wrong year....little different than completely not providing any facts at all.

I'll say it again, I posted the wrong year. But you're simply one step above grammar police

 

[Aike]

So I take it you’ve never participated in an into statistics course? Listen guy, we’re not going to accept losing regardless of how badly you’re in love with Calipari. The quicker you accept that, the quicker you’ll understand the fanbase.

Didn’t you used to have Dirk in your avatar? Maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

My man lol