The "UK effect"

[JonathanW]

Do teams "get up" for UK; do they play the game before us looking toward our game; do they have a let down after playing UK (especially if they beat us)?

Here is the SEC data for this season:

In the game prior to playing UK, SEC teams went 4-13. Wow!! This was not just teams from the bottom half of the league, Alabama lost before playing us BOTH times, UT did once, TAMU, Ole Miss, & Missouri all did as well. And we were Florida's 1st SEC game, so only Auburn and UT (2nd game) won the game before UK.
The 4 who won their prior game, went 1-3 vs UK;
and the 13 who lost their prior game, went 8-5 vs UK.

SEC teams have gone 10-6 in their following game.
SEC teams who beat UK, went 5-3 in their following game;
and SEC teams who lost to UK, also went 5-3 in their following game.
So at first glance, it looks like how they played vs UK did not affect them too much with a carry-over effect.


(A more detailed analysis would also look at the caliber of teams they played before and after.)

 

[TOMCATS1990]

We are everyone’s Super Bowl, especially SEC schools who KY has dominated for decades. Just look at how rival fan bases show out for a KY game versus anyone else.

 

[kats23]

In years past, especially in the SEC, if a team pulled an upset on UK, they would drop their next game especially if that team acted like they had never won a game when they did. Has not really been the case this year but Auburn is a good example of the Kentucky effect this year.

 

[SmyrnaCatFan]

Any data or speculation on "Rupp Arena Heroes" scoring pre and post UK games?

 

[JumperJack]

It’s a thing.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

I absolve Auburn from the UK "effect" for 2 reasons. They had won several games in a row prior to the UK game and by beating UK and with what happened over the weekend, they clinched the SEC regular season title. Went on the road and faced a desperate Texas A&M who had entered losing 4 straight I believe.....and Auburn has Bama upcoming on the weekend. That's a classic set up for a letdown. We saw that from '20 UK team before season ended only it happened at home with Tennessee when Cats had been fantastic in conference on the road...were playing at peak level and then had the 2nd Half from Hell due to Hagans being a prick. Thankfully they figured out a way to rally for the UF win which romanticized their potential for SEC/NCAA but that Vols game left a horrible taste.....going towards Postseason play and UF game was fantastic rally to salvage some things albeit with Hagans suspended due to being a prick.

Also think this year's SEC you'd have to go through and see who/where you were playing as these games have been brutal. I mean Alabama is a damn good team and they ended the SEC play by playing @ Missouri prior to home vs UK, @TN, UF, and @Auburn. Do I think they had UK "letdown"? No. I think they just had a brutal schedule. Past years I absolutely agree with this take and believe a lot more in it--but this year? Think it's the beast of the conference eating each other up and who/when you play and who is/isn't healthy playing huge factors.

 

[JohnnyGreen1975]

It's always a badge of honor to beat us because they are not like us.

 

[BradleyCrawford08]

Gotta love how teams go from looking like the 2017 Warriors against us to playing like they never picked up a basketball in their life the next game.

 

[canebreak]

Do teams "get up" for UK; do they play the game before us looking toward our game; do they have a let down after playing UK (especially if they beat us)?

Here is the SEC data for this season:

In the game prior to playing UK, SEC teams went 4-13. Wow!! This was not just teams from the bottom half of the league, Alabama lost before playing us BOTH times, UT did once, TAMU, Ole Miss, & Missouri all did as well. And we were Florida's 1st SEC game, so only Auburn and UT (2nd game) won the game before UK.
The 4 who won their prior game, went 1-3 vs UK;
and the 13 who lost their prior game, went 8-5 vs UK.

SEC teams have gone 10-6 in their following game.
SEC teams who beat UK, went 5-3 in their following game;
and SEC teams who lost to UK, also went 5-3 in their following game.
So at first glance, it looks like how they played vs UK did not affect them too much with a carry-over effect.


(A more detailed analysis would also look at the caliber of teams they played before and after.)

Yes. Interesting. Glad you posted this. Now we know. I think this is the kind of thing fans talk about when their program is becoming irrelevant. Makes me sad.

 

[JonathanW]

Yes. Interesting. Glad you posted this. Now we know. I think this is the kind of thing fans talk about when their program is becoming irrelevant. Makes me sad.

No, this is the kind of thing an admitted Stats-Geek posts about.
We are far from "becoming irrelevant".

 

[shaudyshaud]

Yes. Interesting. Glad you posted this. Now we know. I think this is the kind of thing fans talk about when their program is becoming irrelevant. Makes me sad.

People on this board have been saying this for a long time . JonathanW just gave us stats for it this year .

 

[shaudyshaud]

I absolve Auburn from the UK "effect" for 2 reasons. They had won several games in a row prior to the UK game and by beating UK and with what happened over the weekend, they clinched the SEC regular season title. Went on the road and faced a desperate Texas A&M who had entered losing 4 straight I believe.....and Auburn has Bama upcoming on the weekend. That's a classic set up for a letdown. We saw that from '20 UK team before season ended only it happened at home with Tennessee when Cats had been fantastic in conference on the road...were playing at peak level and then had the 2nd Half from Hell due to Hagans being a prick. Thankfully they figured out a way to rally for the UF win which romanticized their potential for SEC/NCAA but that Vols game left a horrible taste.....going towards Postseason play and UF game was fantastic rally to salvage some things albeit with Hagans suspended due to being a prick.

Also think this year's SEC you'd have to go through and see who/where you were playing as these games have been brutal. I mean Alabama is a damn good team and they ended the SEC play by playing @ Missouri prior to home vs UK, @TN, UF, and @Auburn. Do I think they had UK "letdown"? No. I think they just had a brutal schedule. Past years I absolutely agree with this take and believe a lot more in it--but this year? Think it's the beast of the conference eating each other up and who/when you play and who is/isn't healthy playing huge factors.

I agree on Auburn . I think the banked 3s made people feel like Auburn played out of their mind when honestly they didn’t . Like you said they were the number 1 seed but us committing a bunch of careless turnovers cost that game to get out of hand more than Auburn just playing great . Also A&M is a tough opponent to face on the road

 

[wmarkedwards]

Here’s my take…although many of these guys play in the SEC and they have big arenas (Thompson Bowling), they usually don’t play in front of a packed house. And as such, for most, this will be the most people that they will ever play in front of..

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

I agree on Auburn . I think the banked 3s made people feel like Auburn played out of their mind when honestly they didn’t . Like you said they were the number 1 seed but us committing a bunch of careless turnovers cost that game to get out of hand more than Auburn just playing great . Also A&M is a tough opponent to face on the road

Kelly is like that too. Most didn't know what a great pickup that was and I was kind of surprised he didn't go Pro last year. He was elite in a win over Duke last year for GA Tech and has that type of streaky component. Started out hot at Duke this year too until Pearl took him out for some reason???

Aggies were desperate which means they just get dirtier and the "whistle" they were getting was typical of any Aggie home game under Buzz. The stretch where Pettiford went on a heater and hit 3 straight 3's and kept cutting it to a 2 possession game and each responding Aggie offensive play was gifted a foul to add to their made shot-now one was a legit foul-but other two were "WTF....." which Buzz gets far too often. The "looks like he's going to miss so I'll call this a foul" and he makes it. Wade Taylor IV, Zakai Ziegler, have now joined my All GTFOH with that BS Team in SEC History. Mainly for the Scotty Pippen JR whistle they all seem to get for no reason.

 

[crestcat]

Yes. Interesting. Glad you posted this. Now we know. I think this is the kind of thing fans talk about when their program is becoming irrelevant. Makes me sad.

UK is not becoming irrelevant, the SEC has discovered basketball. They realize they can make money off basketball. They invested. These teams have gotten use to winning games, the players have been around, the portal is making the coaches national “recruiters” not regional. We still get the “whiteouts, blackouts and tee shirt games, the UK “mystique” may be gone but we are not irrelevant.

 

[ImTheVillageIdiot]

UK is not becoming irrelevant, the SEC has discovered basketball. They realize they can make money off basketball. They invested. These teams have gotten use to winning games, the players have been around, the portal is making the coaches national “recruiters” not regional. We still get the “whiteouts, blackouts and tee shirt games, the UK “mystique” may be gone but we are not irrelevant.

I don’t even think the UK mystique is gone. When you listen to these opposing coaches talk about UK basketball and Rupp Arena the magic is still there. Takes time to get all systems going

 

[Fox2monk]

It’s definitely a thing. This year probably more so quality of conference and who is injured or not playing in games but in years past it absolutely happened with alarming efficiency.

 

[crestcat]

It’s definitely a thing. This year probably more so quality of conference and who is injured or not playing in games but in years past it absolutely happened with alarming efficiency.

We can thank Cal for a lot of the dropoff, he lost a lot of headshakers.

 

[crestcat]

I don’t even think the UK mystique is gone. When you listen to these opposing coaches talk about UK basketball and Rupp Arena the magic is still there. Takes time to get all systems going

Except for some of these “30 yr old covid graduate students” these kids don’t know about the Ky “mystique.

 

[fatguy87]

I agree on Auburn . I think the banked 3s made people feel like Auburn played out of their mind when honestly they didn’t . Like you said they were the number 1 seed but us committing a bunch of careless turnovers cost that game to get out of hand more than Auburn just playing great . Also A&M is a tough opponent to face on the road

Yep. That's maybe 6 bonus points, but we are still way behind them. That's a 10 point margin when taking out the "lucky" shots.

Shooting under 25% from 3 and turning it over more than 10 times than a top 5 opponent will be a loss just about every time.

 

[UKBlueBlood]

I would just like someone to aggregate the statistics for teams with the most banked 3 pointers made by opponent in a season.

I’d probably bet my life savings UK leads the country in this statistic this season.

I guarantee UK is the only team in the country that has had an opposing player make two consecutive banked 3 pointers.

 

[CASblue]

I would just like someone to aggregate the statistics for teams with the most banked 3 pointers made by opponent in a season.

I’d probably bet my life savings UK leads the country in this statistic this season.

I guarantee UK is the only team in the country that has had an opposing player make two consecutive banked 3 pointers.

After the 2nd one went in, that’s when I knew we were in for a long afternoon.

 

[Cleatortoises]

Yes. Interesting. Glad you posted this. Now we know. I think this is the kind of thing fans talk about when their program is becoming irrelevant. Makes me sad.

There are four teams and one tournament that are not irrelevant.
We are one of the 4.
The rest of college bball really is kinda irrelevant. Just ask the networks.
So, cheer up.
GBB!

 

[bthaunert]

Do teams "get up" for UK; do they play the game before us looking toward our game; do they have a let down after playing UK (especially if they beat us)?

Here is the SEC data for this season:

In the game prior to playing UK, SEC teams went 4-13. Wow!! This was not just teams from the bottom half of the league, Alabama lost before playing us BOTH times, UT did once, TAMU, Ole Miss, & Missouri all did as well. And we were Florida's 1st SEC game, so only Auburn and UT (2nd game) won the game before UK.
The 4 who won their prior game, went 1-3 vs UK;
and the 13 who lost their prior game, went 8-5 vs UK.

SEC teams have gone 10-6 in their following game.
SEC teams who beat UK, went 5-3 in their following game;
and SEC teams who lost to UK, also went 5-3 in their following game.
So at first glance, it looks like how they played vs UK did not affect them too much with a carry-over effect.


(A more detailed analysis would also look at the caliber of teams they played before and after.)

Good data..I might look at a couple of the other to trans in the conference and see how they compare.

 

[deputy assistant]

We are everyone’s Super Bowl, especially SEC schools who KY has dominated for decades. Just look at how rival fan bases show out for a KY game versus anyone else.

As a UF alum, I wouldn’t go as far as to say UK is our Super Bowl, but UK and their fanbase is definitely the program I respect the most. UK is the most prestigious program in the SEC and arguably all college basketball. I would consider UK as UF’s biggest basketball rival, since you are #1 and I consider UF #2.

Despite recent successes, I just don’t think Auburn, Tennessee, and Alabama should get elevated to that higher UK or even UF status until they win some NCAA championships and/or make multiple Final Fours and championship games. With the exception of the Nolan Richardson Razorbacks a long time ago, nobody but UK and UF has been consistently good to great in the post season.