SEC standings

[B.B.H.]

I get what you're saying, and as a baseline I would agree. 8th place SEC finishes are generally not an acceptable finish at UK.

However, there are nuances and extenuating circumstances that have to be accounted for on occasion. This year is one of those years.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course. I just don't think it's realistic, and you'll be setting yourself up for disappointment and consternation instead of just being able to enjoy the ride this season.

Man, I haven’t been wildly swinging in my predictions like most of this site. I’m still about the same as I was after the first two exhibitions. I feel I have a pretty based take. No offense, but people got carried away both ways, based on wins or losses. Regardless of the difficulty of the SEC, plenty of people will see finishing eighth in the SEC as a bad season. We have enough talent and the parts fit to finish somewhere between 2nd and 6th. Anything worse than that is bad to me. I’m not a “final four or bust” type. I’m not demanding to win 13 SEC games. My expectations are extremely tame. If people are harmed by the opinion of someone who thinks 8th place finish in the SEC is bad, you’re the one gonna have trouble with the average Kentucky fan. Pope knows the assignment—apparently some of the fans do not. I still believe we win 10 or 11 anyway, which will make a moot point.

 

[bucsrule8872]

8th place this year is like 4th place the last few years.

That’s acceptable in year one for a coach.

But under normal circumstances, considering our history, really only first place is truly acceptable.

 

[B.B.H.]

8th place this year is like 4th place the last few years.

That’s acceptable in year one for a coach.

But under normal circumstances, considering our history, really only first place is truly acceptable.

Bookmark this conversation. If we finish 8th or worse in the SEC, we will revisit how the fanbase looks back on this season.

 

[JFCats22]

8th place this year is like 4th place the last few years.

That’s acceptable in year one for a coach.

But under normal circumstances, considering our history, really only first place is truly acceptable.

This is beyond ridiculous. There is no scenario where an 8th place finish is in any way acceptable or can be considered a success. It would be a complete failure.

 

[B.B.H.]

This is beyond ridiculous. There is no scenario where an 8th place finish is in any way acceptable or can be considered a success. It would be a complete failure.

Obviously it would. I don’t know where in the world this stuff came from. People have lost their damn minds after we lost three games this season against good teams on the road already. These people think seven teams performing better in the conference will make fans happy. Good grief, it’s a beyond hysterical idea. Those Jedi mind tricks won’t work when people have already seen this is a capable team.

 

[bucsrule8872]

This is beyond ridiculous. There is no scenario where an 8th place finish is in any way acceptable or can be considered a success. It would be a complete failure.

Year One.

A roster built from scratch.

This summer we were bracing for a rough season.

We beat some teams nobody thought we should and elevated expectations.

So, some of us are realistic and know this is going to take time to get back to our glory days.

Meanwhile, you guys can lose sleep over not being as good as UK should be.

To be fair, unless we finish first, is it “acceptable?”

And the whole “acceptable” thing is silly.

What are you going to do, live in denial?

You guys already said it wasn’t about trying to get rid of Pope or anything drastic.

So just deal with it. Rant about it. But if it happens, you have no choice but to “accept” it and hope next year is better.

 

[B.B.H.]

Year One.

A roster built from scratch.

This summer we were bracing for a rough season.

We beat some teams nobody thought we should and elevated expectations.

So, some of us are realistic and know this is going to take time to get back to our glory days.

Meanwhile, you guys can lose sleep over not being as good as UK should be.

To be fair, unless we finish first, is it “acceptable?”

And the whole “acceptable” thing is silly.

What are you going to do, live in denial?

You guys already said it wasn’t about trying to get rid of Pope or anything drastic.

So just deal with it. Rant about it. But if it happens, you have no choice but to “accept” it and hope next year is better.

Keep telling yourself the fans will be happy if we finish 8th. Just remember to keep telling everyone that it’s completely acceptable when people start to lose faith. That would, be when I’d begin to have cracks in my trust that Pope is the right guy. However, i still don’t see it happening. We aren’t as good as this board thought when we won the big games and we aren’t as bad as yall think we are due to the last loss either.

 

[aikenite4uk]

I’m not accepting 8th place in the SEC regardless of how tough the SEC is. You can put on candy striped pants and cheer for Indiana at that point

What an asinine comment

 

[B.B.H.]

What an asinine comment

There’s nothing unfair about expecting better than 8th in conference.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Bottom line:

The only truly “acceptable” outcome this year or ANY year is a national title.

End. Of. Thread.

 

[B.B.H.]

Bottom line:

The only truly “acceptable” outcome this year or ANY year is a national title.

End. Of. Thread.

Nice strawman. No realistic fan says that. Eight titles in 122 years says THAT is too far. Anywho done trying to explain the obvious. Let’s see how the season goes

 

[The_Answer1313]

I think people are too hung up with this.

Say we finish 8th in the SEC but we also receive say a 5 seed and make a Sweet 16.

There's no scenario where people would not have signed up for that at the beginning of the year.

Ultimately where we finish in the SEC will have zero bearing on how this season is viewed. It will always be viewed in the prism of the NCAA tournament. Like basically every single other year in the history of UK.

 

[ukcatz12]

What do you mean not accepting? What are you gonna do?

He'll throw on a wildcat mascot head, storm the SEC headquarters, and force Greg Sankey not to certify the standings.

 

[crawfords corner]

8th is in essence middle of the pack... yea, that's not good even under the circumstances Pope inherited. An 8th place finish would mean the Cats underperformed. Even in this version of the SEC.

 

[B.B.H.]

8th is in essence middle of the pack... yea, that's not good even under the circumstances Pope inherited. An 8th place finish would mean the Cats underperformed. Even in this version of the SEC.

Obviously.

 

[aikenite4uk]

There’s nothing unfair about expecting better than 8th in conference.

So let me see if I've got this straight. We hire a coach at the last minute, whose best returning player is a walk on, he cobbles together a bunch of mid major guys who have already beaten Duke, Gonzaga, and arguably the best team in the SEC...which is probably the best conference in the history of the NCAA, and YOU think he's a failure if we go 9-9 and gets a nice seed in the NCAA tourney?

LMAO, it's hard to come up with a take that incredibly bad.

 

[B.B.H.]

So let me see if I've got this straight. We hire a coach at the last minute, whose best returning player is a walk on, he cobbles together a bunch of mid major guys who have already beaten Duke, Gonzaga, and arguably the best team in the SEC...which is probably the best conference in the history of the NCAA, and YOU think he's a failure if we go 9-9 and gets a nice seed in the NCAA tourney?

LMAO, it's hard to come up with a take that incredibly bad.

Well, when you make caricatures of specific elements to make it sounds more extreme, then sure. Something tells me that your mischaracterizing summary of my view tells me it benefits me zero to clarify.

 

[aikenite4uk]

Well, when you make caricatures of specific elements to make it sounds more extreme, then sure. Something tells me that your mischaracterizing summary of my view tells me it benefits me zero to clarify.

Hilarious.

 

[B.B.H.]

Hilarious.

What’s hilarious? I didn’t think you made a good faith attempt to understand my point and just obliterated an exaggerated version of what I said. Seek first to understand then to be understood

 

[aikenite4uk]

What’s hilarious? I didn’t think you made a good faith attempt to understand my point and just obliterated an exaggerated version of what I said. Seek first to understand then to be understood

I have no idea what you're trying to see. You can have the last word homie.

 

[B.B.H.]

I have no idea what you're trying to see. You can have the last word homie.

Also understand that to me, the whole thing is arbitrary. We ain’t finishing 8th. Pope is going to have this team ready to go. I still believe in this group and I believe we can improve. We haven’t seen the best of this team

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Again, learn the difference between accepting and not being happy.

And whether we finish 8th or 5th or 4th, this team doesn't have the high end talent needed to make a deep March run. I'd be thrilled with 1 or 2 wins n ncaa and 1 win n sec tourney.

 

[B.B.H.]

Again, learn the difference between accepting and not being happy.

And whether we finish 8th or 5th or 4th, this team doesn't have the high end talent needed to make a deep March run. I'd be thrilled with 1 or 2 wins n ncaa and 1 win n sec tourney.

My rating guidelines for this season:

Outstanding = Win a National Title

Great = Win an SEC regular season title, SEC Tournament title or advance to a Final Four

Very Good = Top 4 SEC finish, Maintain all-time wins lead, Make Second weekend in NCAAT

Good/Acceptable = Top 6 SEC Finish, Win at least one NCAAT game

Not Good/Not Acceptable = Finish 8-10 SEC, Make tournament 6-9 Seed

Very Bad = 11th or worse SEC finish, Make tournament as bubble team or 10-12 seed

Abysmal = Miss tournament





^ Those are my standards, given the situation Pope inherited. I see it as very reasonable

 

[Wildcats1st]

Not even for a 1st year coach who had to put together an entire roster in a month playing in probably the strongest SEC top to bottom in history?

That’s a terrible excuse. Pope was in place in plenty of time to be able to bring the transfers. He has a good group of players that have ff potential. So yeah an 8 seed would be terrible. We need to win some road games. That’s gonna be the difference on the season

 

[UKWildcats1987]

My rating guidelines for this season:

Outstanding = Win a National Title

Great = Win an SEC regular season title, SEC Tournament title or advance to a Final Four

Very Good = Top 4 SEC finish, Maintain all-time wins lead, Make Second weekend in NCAAT

Good/Acceptable = Top 6 SEC Finish, Win at least one NCAAT game

Not Good/Not Acceptable = Finish 8-10 SEC, Make tournament 6-9 Seed

Very Bad = 11th or worse SEC finish, Make tournament as bubble team or 10-12 seed

Abysmal = Miss tournament





^ Those are my standards, given the situation Pope inherited. I see it as very reasonable

Well what you gonna so about it if we finish 8th n the sec? Boycott the program? Walk around with a pitchfork in front of Popes home?

 

[B.B.H.]

That’s a terrible excuse. Pope was in place in plenty of time to be able to bring the transfers. He has a good group of players that have ff potential. So yeah an 8 seed would be terrible. We need to win some road games. That’s gonna be the difference on the season

I’d bet you money Pope would say Amen himself to that. I really don’t get the Eeyore mindset of aw shucks guys if we win a game here or there that’s good enough. Pope knows the assignment.

 

[B.B.H.]

Well what you gonna so about it if we finish 8th n the sec? Boycott the program? Walk around with a pitchfork in front of Popes home?

Yep, sounds like you quoted me verbatim. Well done. Would be about the same as me asking if you’re going to throw a celebration party for 8th place in the SEC. It’s a dumb irrelevant strawman

 

[UK90]

What’s hilarious? I didn’t think you made a good faith attempt to understand my point and just obliterated an exaggerated version of what I said. Seek first to understand then to be understood

Actually I think he a gave a fair and accurate summation of your position in this thread.

And, btw, aren’t you the guy who started that recent thread asking how to delete your account because you’re quitting the board forever?

 

[B.B.H.]

Actually I think he a gave a fair and accurate summation of your position in this thread.

And, btw, aren’t you the guy who started that recent thread asking how to delete your account because you’re quitting the board forever?

Yep that’s me

As far as the summary, no it clearly wasn’t.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Yep, sounds like you quoted me verbatim. Well done. Would be about the same as me asking if you’re going to throw a celebration party for 8th place in the SEC. It’s a dumb irrelevant strawman

No. I'll be fine because I accept it regardless.

You are the one saying you won't accept it.

 

[B.B.H.]

No. I'll be fine because I accept it regardless.

You are the one saying you won't accept it.

And that’s ok isn’t it? I gave you a literal chart explaining what I consider as fair expectations and those are MY opinion. You’re welcome to yours and I am by no means telling you what to accept

My rating guidelines for this season:

Outstanding = Win a National Title

Great = Win an SEC regular season title, SEC Tournament title or advance to a Final Four

Very Good = Top 4 SEC finish, Maintain all-time wins lead, Make Second weekend in NCAAT

Good/Acceptable = Top 6 SEC Finish, Win at least one NCAAT game

Not Good/Not Acceptable = Finish 8-10 SEC, Make tournament 6-9 Seed

Very Bad = 11th or worse SEC finish, Make tournament as bubble team or 10-12 seed

Abysmal = Miss tournament





^ Those are my standards, given the situation Pope inherited. I see it as very reasonable

 

[UKWildcats1987]

And that’s ok isn’t it? I gave you a literal chart explaining what I consider as fair expectations and those are MY opinion. You’re welcome to yours and I am by no means telling you what to accept

The point is you have to accept it.

We are meaningless message board fans.

You accepted 9 and 16. Didn't mean you were happy.

You accepted some of Tubbys years and the 2 G years. Didn't mean you were happy.

 

[B.B.H.]

The point is you have to accept it.

We are meaningless message board fans.

You accepted 9 and 16. Didn't mean you were happy.

You accepted some of Tubbys years and the 2 G years. Didn't mean you were happy.

Yeah fans accepted those very well. Lol. Clearly. Excellent point

 

[UK90]

Yep that’s me

As far as the summary, no it clearly wasn’t.

So that thread was just you being full of shit and seeking attention. Got it.

And, yes, his summation was 100% consistent with your position here.

 

[B.B.H.]

So you were just full of shit seeking attention when you started that thread. Got it.

And, yes, his summation was 100% consistent with your position here.

First off, it seems your point was to derail this conversation with an ad hominem attack that is off topic but I’ll address it. No, people are more complex and dynamic than you’re making out to be. I got very over the top triggered over the football thread and my frustration mounted. I made an uncharacteristically bad decision — I regret doing it if you care to know. I left the board for a few days and came back when I was feeling better. It wasn’t my finer moment and I could definitely understand why you took the view of it that you did. I have every right to post an opinion on here, however, and if you want to engage my points you are welcome to. I do believe I am entitled to my own, very fair standards of what an acceptable season looks like. Btw you are too and I’m not infringing on your opinion or view at all here

 

[JFCats22]

I think people are too hung up with this.

Say we finish 8th in the SEC but we also receive say a 5 seed and make a Sweet 16.

There's no scenario where people would not have signed up for that at the beginning of the year.

Ultimately where we finish in the SEC will have zero bearing on how this season is viewed. It will always be viewed in the prism of the NCAA tournament. Like basically every single other year in the history of UK.

If we finish 8th there is no chance we are a 5 seed. We are already a 4 seed in all the latest projections. If we lose 7-8 more games before the SECT we would be in the 7-9 seed range

 

[The_Answer1313]

If we finish 8th there is no chance we are a 5 seed. We are already a 4 seed in all the latest projections. If we lose 7-8 more games before the SECT we would be in the 7-9 seed range

This is a weird year.

On the bracket matrix project right now SEVEN SEC teams are seeded 3 or better.

The 8th team? Currently a 6 seed.

It's not a stretch. The resume will be outstanding based on the sheer number of opportunities. If UK gets to 9-9 that resume will have included not only 3 top 10 wins but a large portion of those other 8 wins (plus any wins in the SEC tournament) will be massive. Us (and any other SEC team) will get a massive bump on the sheer number of Q1 wins they will have.

So it's very possible.