W-L prediction from on3

[FurdTerguson]

19-13? 9-9 in the SEC?

Where Kentucky stands in Bart Torvik's 2024-25 Projections

Although the roster may not be complete, Kentucky ranks in the top 30 of Bart Torvik's 2024-25 preseason rankings.

www.on3.com

 

[know1]

Wrong answer.

 

[RunninRichie]

22-11 I say.

 

[JFCats22]

Unknown roster, hard schedule, difficult SEC, no definite elite player = probably a pretty accurate prediction for now.

 

[mcnicKY91]

In reality, who knows?

While Pope did a great job assembling this team from scratch, with many nice pieces, nobody has the slightest of ideas as to how this will all play out.

I personally have no idea how the team chemistry will be, and I have no idea how well Pope will be able to juggle all these transfers and available playing time...

 

[RunninRichie]

Unknown roster, hard schedule, difficult SEC, no definite elite player = probably a pretty accurate prediction for now.

This is a realistic take. You'll get pummeled soon.

 

[ruppsrunt66]

25-11--absolute worst

21-9
secT 2 wins minimum
ncaaT 2 wins minimum

rr

 

[BlueBomb]

Many on here will LOL at that prediction. But a slightly-better-than .500 record will not surprise me. I'd put the over/under on regular season wins at 20.5.

 

[Chimaera717]

Many on here will LOL at that prediction. But a slightly-better-than .500 record will not surprise me. I'd put the over/under on regular season wins at 20.5.

If this is the Vegas line I'll put a few hundred bucks on it and thank them for the money.

 

[true blue1]

Impossible to predict.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

22-9. 19-12 is far to doomsday a approach to looking at it.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

That would be an extremely disappointing season with the NIL funds that were established once Pope was hired.

With the transfer portal and the ability to buy a talented and experienced team asap, I'd be surprised if we lost 13 games with this team.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Pope went 23-11 last year while playing a hard schedule in the best conference in the country.

He brings his best player with him, and managed significant upgrades at every position.

And you guys don't think he can replicate a 23 win season?

Child, please.

 

[ORCAT]

19-12 would be a bit disappointing with all the experience and top notch shooters we have plus what we expect to be a stronger defense than what we've recently had. There are a lot of unknowns, I admit, but I feel we'll be over the 20 win mark by a bit.

 

[catsfanbgky]

31 games (reg. season) I would say 22-9 / 21-10. 23-8 or better I will consider it a very good year.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

Pope went 23-11 last year while playing a hard schedule in the best conference in the country.

He brings his best player with him, and managed significant upgrades at every position.

And you guys don't think he can replicate a 23 win season?

Child, please.

It’s the same ones being pessimistic man.

 

[catsfanbgky]

Pope went 23-11 last year while playing a hard schedule in the best conference in the country.

He brings his best player with him, and managed significant upgrades at every position.

And you guys don't think he can replicate a 23 win season?

Child, please.

34 games last year, only 31 this year. Also, look at pre-conference schedule. Nothing like he will play at UK. So he will have to go 23-8 to win 23 game. For the record, I predicted 22-9 / 21-10, but lets not act like that will be easy to do, 23-8 I will consider a very good year. What do you predict ?

 

[UKWildcats1987]

34 games last year, only 31 this year. Also, look at pre-conference schedule. Nothing like he will play at UK. So he will have to go 23-8 to win 23 game. For the record, I predicted 22-9 / 21-10, but lets not act like that will be easy to do, 23-8 I will consider a very good year. What do you predict ?

UK will play more than 31 games this year. The 34 you mention included post season play for BYU.

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

34 games last year, only 31 this year. Also, look at pre-conference schedule. Nothing like he will play at UK. So he will have to go 23-8 to win 23 game. For the record, I predicted 22-9 / 21-10, but lets not act like that will be easy to do, 23-8 I will consider a very good year. What do you predict ?

They played 31 games to. The extra were because of the conference tourneys, they had to play 2 extra games in the conference tourney.

 

[catsfanbgky]

My bad. But the pre-conference element is still there. They faced ONE decent team (San Diego State) in the pre conference portion. Yes they did play NC State, but they was hot, runny shit before the ACC Tournament.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

My bad. But the pre-conference element is still there. They faced ONE decent team (San Diego State) in the pre conference portion. Yes they did play NC State, but they was hot, runny shit before the ACC Tournament.

It's definitely gonna be a tougher ooc at UK each season.

Big 12 is comparable difficulty wise to sec.

 

[catsfanbgky]

BYU's pre-conference schedule : 2023/24

Houston Christian (home)
SD State (home)
SE Louisiana (home)
Morgan State (home)
Arizona State (neutral)
NC State (neutral)
Fresno State (neutral)
Evansville (home)
@ Utah (loss)
Denver (home)
Georgia State (home)
Bellarmine (home)
Wyoming (home)

13 games, 9 home games. 1 away, and 3 neutral sites. hardly a murderers row.

Went 10-8 in said toughest conference, not exactly dominating the Big 12, merely .500.

beat lowly 17-16 UCF in the 1st round of the Big 12 tournament, loss to Texas Tech in the 2nd game.

Lost to Duquesne in the field of 64.

I say all of this to point out, his 23 wins was not that tough to do. Cupcake pre-conference and went barely OVER .500 in the Big 12, got a win from 16-17 UCF in the Big 12 tournament.

This year Pope will face Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville (greatly improved), Ohio State, and play a tough game in the ACC/SEC challenge. Those are the games we know of.

 

[GoNoles111]

I had us at 20-12 without Jaxson..with him 22-9 sounds about right.

 

[catsfanbgky]

UK will play more than 31 games this year. The 34 you mention included post season play for BYU.

OK, I was wrong on that. But he only increased the win total by 1. (UCF in the first round of Big 12 tournament.) He got 10 of his 23 wins off a very soft OOC schedule (not counting NC State and SD State) as easy wins, the other 10, yes. So 12-1 in OOC games and the two teams they beat was not exactly great. Not like he went 12-6 / 13-5 in the Big 12. 10-8 is actually middle of the round / .500

 

[RunninRichie]

BYU's pre-conference schedule : 2023/24

Houston Christian (home)
SD State (home)
SE Louisiana (home)
Morgan State (home)
Arizona State (neutral)
NC State (neutral)
Fresno State (neutral)
Evansville (home)
@ Utah (loss)
Denver (home)
Georgia State (home)
Bellarmine (home)
Wyoming (home)

13 games, 9 home games. 1 away, and 3 neutral sites. hardly a murderers row.

Went 10-8 in said toughest conference, not exactly dominating the Big 12, merely .500.

beat lowly 17-16 UCF in the 1st round of the Big 12 tournament, loss to Texas Tech in the 2nd game.

Lost to Duquesne in the field of 64.

I say all of this to point out, his 23 wins was not that tough to do. Cupcake pre-conference and went barely OVER .500 in the Big 12, got a win from 16-17 UCF in the Big 12 tournament.

This year Pope will face Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville (greatly improved), Ohio State, and play a tough game in the ACC/SEC challenge. Those are the games we know of.

I believe he will play a tough St John's team as well.

 

[catsfanbgky]

Not to mention, he will not have the luxury of having 9 of his cup cake pre-conference schedule games be at home (BYU last year). The toughest games will be neutral site games in a big time tournament like setting / venue. 23 wins with BYU's schedule (even including playing the Big 12), is a lot easier to obtain than coaching at UK. Very few easy wins, then factor in UK taking everyone's best shot, and he has his work cut out for him. To say "he won 23 at BYU" is not as big of a statement that some think it is. I think he can, which is why I predicted the record I did, but it is not a given just because he did so at BYU.

 

[coolclay63]

I believe he will play a tough St John's team as well.

Not until the 2025-2026 season.

Rick Pitino says Kentucky vs. St. John’s series is set

Pope - Pitino is happening, folks.

www.aseaofblue.com

 

[KAB Cats]

We should temper our expectations year 1 but would be surprised @ 12 losses

 

[Dontworryboutit23]

Not to mention, he will not have the luxury of having 9 of his cup cake pre-conference schedule games be at home (BYU last year). The toughest games will be neutral site games in a big time tournament like setting / venue. 23 wins with BYU's schedule (even including playing the Big 12), is a lot easier to obtain than coaching at UK. Very few easy wins, then factor in UK taking everyone's best shot, and he has his work cut out for him. To say "he won 23 at BYU" is not as big of a statement that some think it is. I think he can, which is why I predicted the record I did, but it is not a given just because he did so at BYU.

But you have to take things into context as well . Whether people want to admit it or not pope has better players at Kentucky than he did at byu, he got his best scorer from byu here.

 

[Fox2monk]

In reality, who knows?

While Pope did a great job assembling this team from scratch, with many nice pieces, nobody has the slightest of ideas as to how this will all play out.

I personally have no idea how the team chemistry will be, and I have no idea how well Pope will be able to juggle all these transfers and available playing time...

Agreed but our roster seems to be made up of the Type players who have won pretty consistently the last 5 years. I hope we don’t go .500.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

OK, I was wrong on that. But he only increased the win total by 1. (UCF in the first round of Big 12 tournament.) He got 10 of his 23 wins off a very soft OOC schedule (not counting NC State and SD State) as easy wins, the other 10, yes. So 12-1 in OOC games and the two teams they beat was not exactly great. Not like he went 12-6 / 13-5 in the Big 12. 10-8 is actually middle of the round / .500

I dont disagree. He has a ton to prove here.

Cal had way more prior success before UK, as did Tubby, as did pitino and even as did coach g. Mitch really went for the unproven option after striking out on his 2 guys.

I think Pope will win a title here and make a few final fours but it's not wrong to state the obvious above.

 

[FurdTerguson]

Pushback: what does his first team lack that would justify so many predicted losses?

 

[FirewithFire]

The USA Olympic team (2004) took some of our best pros and put them on the floor. The individual talent was head and shoulders above everyone else, but they couldn't play as a team to save their lives, and they were summarily embarrassed by less talented players that played as a team.

These guys have never played together before. I hope Pope can get them on the same page quickly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes awhile to smooth out the wrinkles. I just hope the chemistry is there.

Either way, double digit loss total shouldn't really surprise anyone.

 

[Warf2012]

Pope went 23-11 last year while playing a hard schedule in the best conference in the country.

He brings his best player with him, and managed significant upgrades at every position.

And you guys don't think he can replicate a 23 win season?

Child, please.

You should know that Pope winning 23 games at BYU doesn’t translate to him winning the same or more at UK. If the roster was loaded then possibly, but it’s not.

The reason it doesn’t translate is because every single team we play will give 110% and their A game trying to beat us. Nobody gets up to play BYU. Not to mention our OOC schedule is way harder than theirs was.

 

[ruppsrunt66]

Total losses including secT and ncaaT will not exceed 11.

Talent--effort--COACHING will generate outstanding results.

begok is GONE---WINNING now matters

rr

 

[Elliott Tim]

Total losses including secT and ncaaT will not exceed 11.

Talent--effort--COACHING will generate outstanding results.

begok is GONE---WINNING now matters

rr

It's only a guess.

 

[Warf2012]

Pushback: what does his first team lack that would justify so many predicted losses?

Top end, high level talent. Nearly every player was a guy who was the 2nd/3rd/4th/5th options on their teams. They weren’t exactly on loaded powerhouse teams either.

It’ll take having several guys taking pretty big steps up for us to win like we want.

 

[EliteBlue]

If that’s what the Vegas line comes out as…I’m absolutely taking the over

 

[bbncal02]

Pope went 23-11 last year while playing a hard schedule in the best conference in the country.

He brings his best player with him, and managed significant upgrades at every position.

And you guys don't think he can replicate a 23 win season?

Child, please.

No joke.

Cal managed to go 22-12 and 23-10 in the last two years. With very questionable coaching at times- and a checked out staff it seems.

Pope should at least be able to do THAT.

 

[bbncal02]

You should know that Pope winning 23 games at BYU doesn’t translate to him winning the same or more at UK. If the roster was loaded then possibly, but it’s not.

The reason it doesn’t translate is because every single team we play will give 110% and their A game trying to beat us. Nobody gets up to play BYU. Not to mention our OOC schedule is way harder than theirs was.

He beat KU AT KU. You think they don't care? Please. Big12 cares about basketball. Big time.

People act like this will be Pope's first time coaching a team.