Ive had chances to watch every top 5 team multiple times. I have watched nearly every other team that E.S.P.N tries to hype as contenders. I know that anything can happen in the tournament, but I honestly feel that we would destroy any of these teams. During the 2012 season I had fear of playing U.N.C and even Syracuse. Looking back It wouldnt have mattered who we played we would have won. This season has the same feel. Its not very often teams come along that are actually this good.
Top 5 teams...
- Thread starter Abomb502Cat
- Start date
The gap is larger this year.
That UNC team in 2012 (when healthy) was a lot better than any team this year IMO.
I agree with your post though, only UK can beat UK.
1. UK
2. Duke (by March)
3. UVA
4. Gonzaga
5. The rest of the field of teams like UNCheat, UL, Arizona, Wisc
2. Duke (by March)
3. UVA
4. Gonzaga
5. The rest of the field of teams like UNCheat, UL, Arizona, Wisc
Agree on the Zags... they are a nice team but in tournament play, once legs start to go and you are playing quality athletes every night, not sure if they will be able to rely on those jumpers falling.
Cats have started moving against the zones again but now that there is 2 games of film on that... the next set of teams will make adjustments to their zones I would guess. Next chess move.....
Really though... this season is so much fun
Cats have started moving against the zones again but now that there is 2 games of film on that... the next set of teams will make adjustments to their zones I would guess. Next chess move.....
Really though... this season is so much fun
Kind of agree here. Gonzaga is good but their schedule hasn't been too taxing. Lost to Arizona in OT and we've now seen that Arizona isn't the team everyone thought they were going to be from the start (may get there by March but weren't a great team when they beat Gonzaga). Other than that game who have the Zags really played? And, Pepperdine (Pepperdine, the team who has lost to such juggernauts as IUPUI and Richmond) gave them a tough game the other night losing by just 2 points. Their conference is far weaker than the SEC, that many on here continue to put down, and should allow Gonzaga to have a very high seed come tournament time. But, I haven't been way impressed with them and their schedule so far. How tested will they be before the tournament begins?
frankly, UK is in a class by itself.
there is a second tier of teams who will be playing for the runner-up position in the NCAAT, about a dozen
there is a second tier of teams who will be playing for the runner-up position in the NCAAT, about a dozen
Agreed W2R.. Now people are piling on I.S.U bandwagon. Im not saying that these teams arent good, but they arent top tier.
UK has by far the biggest margin for error as was proven in the TaM game where we shot 28% and WON!! Duke has Okafor , a great college player, and they have a number of good three point shooters BUT, they are painfully thin in the front court. If Okafor gets into foul trouble ,they are toast. If their three point shooters aren't hitting at a 50% rate, they cannot defeat the Cats. They have a small margin for error. Similar reasoning applies to every other top 10 team. Each has a small margin for error to beat UK. Of course ,the worst can happen (see Wall/Cousins team). UVA looks solid and has a style of play (slow down, good shooters, good defense) that could make for a nail biting low scoring wrestling match but teams like Iowa State, UNC, Gonzaga all have some flaw which makes them 10 point dogs against the Cats.
I take comfort in knowing that if Kentucky plays well, nobody in America can beat us.
March/April is a funny thing and weird stuff can happen, but I'm really hoping this tournament plays out much like the 1996 and 2012 tournaments where college basketball's best team that year won the NCAA without much of a scare.
This post was edited on 1/18 12:52 PM by K-Town Kat
March/April is a funny thing and weird stuff can happen, but I'm really hoping this tournament plays out much like the 1996 and 2012 tournaments where college basketball's best team that year won the NCAA without much of a scare.
This post was edited on 1/18 12:52 PM by K-Town Kat
I still think the top 5 teams (by march) will be :
1) UK
2) Virginia
3) Duke
4) Arizona
5) Wisconsin
Case could be made to switch Wisky and Zona', I'd be ok with that, either way.
Gonzaga just hasn't shown me enough to warrant their high ranking. That's just my opinion, of course. But making them a #1 seed (even if they run the table) will be making the same mistake as was made in 2013. Same results will follow if they do that, mark my words.
I still think Kansas will win the big 12 and be a solid 2 seed. ISU is good with the uptempo and pace of the game, but they're undersized and it shows on defense. Transition is their whole game. They'll get exposed against a good, big team like UK.
the second tier of teams ? :
6) Kansas
7) Gonzaga
8) Villanova
9) Iowa State
10) Utah
Third tier :
11) Notre Dame
12) Maryland
13) Louisville
14) North Carolina
15) Texas
again, all of that is my own opinion/take, but there it is.
1) UK
2) Virginia
3) Duke
4) Arizona
5) Wisconsin
Case could be made to switch Wisky and Zona', I'd be ok with that, either way.
Gonzaga just hasn't shown me enough to warrant their high ranking. That's just my opinion, of course. But making them a #1 seed (even if they run the table) will be making the same mistake as was made in 2013. Same results will follow if they do that, mark my words.
I still think Kansas will win the big 12 and be a solid 2 seed. ISU is good with the uptempo and pace of the game, but they're undersized and it shows on defense. Transition is their whole game. They'll get exposed against a good, big team like UK.
the second tier of teams ? :
6) Kansas
7) Gonzaga
8) Villanova
9) Iowa State
10) Utah
Third tier :
11) Notre Dame
12) Maryland
13) Louisville
14) North Carolina
15) Texas
again, all of that is my own opinion/take, but there it is.
Watching Duke play UofL yesterday showed me alot. I felt that if Louisville would have helped themselves they would have won. Harrell mostly stayed out of the lane and UofL's guards cant shoot. Dukes front court is way too thin to compete with Uk's. We can double Okafor and still have a 6'10 guy on Their foward that looks like Pooky from Newjack city. Forgive me I cant remember his name.
UK Blue platoonUK White platoonVirginiaArizonaDuke Gonzaga or Whisky
Virginia is still my pick to win the ACC. Duke is for real playing UL. I still think they will be exposed further in future games. If UK shows up ready to play defense and offense, it is over. GBB
Virginia is still my pick to win the ACC. Duke is for real playing UL. I still think they will be exposed further in future games. If UK shows up ready to play defense and offense, it is over. GBB
This is true now and the gulf between UK and everyone else will only widen as the season progresses and this uber young squad matures.
Scary isn't it?
Re: Top 5 teams...
W2R posted on 1/18/2015...
What I find funny is the hype machine on teams like wichita st and VCu
*************************
funny you should mention vcu. i was just looking at the A10 conf standings, since i have always followed the ud flyers, and i don't see why vcu is ranked #17 and ud is unranked. if anything i think an argument could be made that neither should be ranked, but i sure don't buy vcu as the 17th best team in the country.
W2R posted on 1/18/2015...
What I find funny is the hype machine on teams like wichita st and VCu
*************************
funny you should mention vcu. i was just looking at the A10 conf standings, since i have always followed the ud flyers, and i don't see why vcu is ranked #17 and ud is unranked. if anything i think an argument could be made that neither should be ranked, but i sure don't buy vcu as the 17th best team in the country.
I think Virginia is a better team than Duke and I think they will win the ACC.
1. UK
2. Virginia
duke, badgers, zona, zags, = jumble the order on which team is hot at the time.
next up in no order = nova, texas, kansas, louisville, utah
1. UK
2. Virginia
duke, badgers, zona, zags, = jumble the order on which team is hot at the time.
next up in no order = nova, texas, kansas, louisville, utah
Yes and the 2003 team went undefeated in the SEC and had an amazing run like Virginia is now. UK= Ball Line. Virginia = Pack Line. Both good at controlling tempo. Virginia will end up like the Tubby teams. Great season but only a decent tourney run. Duke has more talent but Virginia is playing better basketball right now.
Watching the Cat's play like they did against Alabama is just sheer joy to me. Everyone of us should be thankful for all of these games. This is a great team. When they play their best I really don't think anyone can beat them. The gal calling the game obviously thought so. It seems like some of the people who've done our games are often amused at times at how well the team plays when they are ticking. They almost find what they are seeing hard to believe. I do to at times. I think a lot of us were stunned when they led UCLA 24-0. Because they don't play extended minutes it allows them to play defense with great intensity most of the game, and the numbers speak for themselves. If they are hot on the offensive end, then just forget it. It's over. 8 guys with NBA bodies and skills, and a 5'9" guy with world class heart. Guts to. They've got a long way to go to be mentioned with 8 other teams, but if they get there we may look back and realize we are seeing the best team UK has ever had.
Exactly what I was wondering. That UNC team was good and probably would've played (and lost to) UK for the title in 2012 if not for the injury to KM. But let's not pretend they were better than this year's UK team. They got rolled by Fla St by 33 points and also lost to them in the ACC tourney. They also had to go to overtime to beat the Ohio U Bobcats in the tourney (although that was after the Marshall injury.)
No, I meant better than any potential opponent for this year's UK team in the tourney. They were certainly better than Duke this year and sure as hell better than Virginia and Gonzaga and the like.
Okay, thanks for clarifying. Agree totally about VA and Gonzaga, but not 100% convinced on Duke this year. Ask me in two months.
By the time we got to the NCAAT in 2010, I thought UK was clearly the best team in the country, and had put some distance between itself and the rest of the field. Already one of the better teams all year, it really came on late, most notably in the 29 point win over the UT team that gave it one of its 2 losses during the season. Then they beat a decent Wake team to death, and Wake's coach said that was the best team he's seen in the 10 years he's been in the ACC, which obviously covers the Duke '01, Maryland '02, and UNC '05 and '09 title teams and several other pretty good clubs. Flying high. Wall and Cousins self-evidently great pros to be and among the most talented Cats ever. Then KU gets bounced. Then Syracuse, the only other team we might want to avoid, goes out. We. Are. Set.
Only, no. It's a one game deal. I agree, we're the best. Hope that's enough.....
Only, no. It's a one game deal. I agree, we're the best. Hope that's enough.....
That WV loss remains the most painful in Cal's tenure in this UK fans heart. They won, but UK was the better team. Happens in the NCAA. Quite a bit actually. I didn't think UConn or even UK was the best team in the country last year. Yet they played for the title.
UK was better than every team they beat last year in the tourney.
UCONN did beat MSU, FL and UK to win the title. FL was the best team in the nation.
The 2010 team had that one great flaw however that was their downfall: the 3 point shot.
They simply were not a good 3-point shooting team. Streaky, yes. They had guys like Bledsoe who could hit three Inca row then miss 6 in a row. The sophomore Darius Miller wasn't the reliable outside shooter he would later become as a junior and senior. They also had zero NCAA tournament experience. Even Patrick didn't know what an Elite Eight felt like.
This UK team shoots better from the outside and has 3 guys who started in a national championship game in the Harrisons and Johnson. They don't have that one glaring flaw.
I know March is weird and the best team doesn't always win it, but I was not shocked when the 2010 team lost that game shooting 1-20 from three as we all knew that could bite them. I would be shocked if this UK team has a similar ending.
They simply were not a good 3-point shooting team. Streaky, yes. They had guys like Bledsoe who could hit three Inca row then miss 6 in a row. The sophomore Darius Miller wasn't the reliable outside shooter he would later become as a junior and senior. They also had zero NCAA tournament experience. Even Patrick didn't know what an Elite Eight felt like.
This UK team shoots better from the outside and has 3 guys who started in a national championship game in the Harrisons and Johnson. They don't have that one glaring flaw.
I know March is weird and the best team doesn't always win it, but I was not shocked when the 2010 team lost that game shooting 1-20 from three as we all knew that could bite them. I would be shocked if this UK team has a similar ending.
Little more salt for the wound.
Bledsoe holds the single game tournament record with 8 made 3s vs East Tenn State.
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