Why is Kentucky ranked #1?

[Peter Gozintite]

Agreed.....

And we will know how great the players are on Kentucky's team as the year goes on.......

They might end up losing to Robert Morris in the 1st round of the NIT again for all we know

They might lose to them next game.

 

[Runeman]

Not sure how many watched the game last night. Michigan St has a great team. Kentucky has bigger and better players plus a bench. This Kentucky team will be blowing out everyone by January and it doesn't matter what their ranking will be. If Kentucky made a few foul shots; they would have won. Had Kentucky made a few 3's; they would have won. Had Kentucky not turned the ball over; they would have won. All this is just because some guys who haven't played enough together. As it turned out, Kentucky had a shot at winning in the end after a miserable start. MSU does not want to see this team again and can count themselves lucky they caught them early. A few more games and that team will dominate.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

I wouldn't rank Kentucky #1 because I would have to watch high school youtube videos of the players to figure out if I think they are good or not...........and you cannot evaluate how a team is going to play at the College level by watching individuals play on different teams at a lower level......

You don't have a vote in the AP or coaches poll. Coaches and AP writers do. So to address you're original point, even if you haven't watched these kids play before, the coaches and AP writers have. Coaches recruit HS players. That means they go to HS games and watch HS players.

And you can't do anything but guess about teams that are returning players. That's all it is in the preseason is a guessing game. The polls adjust after that and you won't have to worry your precious little head about UK being #1 anymore.

I'm curious though... where would you have ranked UK in the preseason? Do you just throw up your hands and cry uncle because you're too lazy to do any research? Do you give them a token spot in the bottom of the Top 25? Would #2 Have been okay? #5? 10? If you don't know anything about them, how do you know they aren't #1 to start the season?

Plain and simple, there are plenty of teams returning players from last season who we know plenty about.....

These teams have proven more than a team of Freshmen.

Well, no they haven't. Except MSU, none of them have. KU maybe. But you're considering last year's results as proof of performance this year, and that isn't necessarily true. Pretty good indicator? Yeah, but it certaily isn't proof. Preseason polls ARE A GUESS.

The day that you can rank a team full of Freshmen #1 is the day that every team is full of Freshmen.

Pretty bold words from a man without an AP or USA Today vote. I always love armchair point guards that think they know it all. You're not even claiming to know more than a specific coach. You're claiming to know more than the collective coaching minds of Division 1 ball.

But don't let me stop ya. By all means, do go on. It is so entertaining.

 

[jonvi]

Not sure how many watched the game last night. Michigan St has a great team. Kentucky has bigger and better players plus a bench. This Kentucky team will be blowing out everyone by January and it doesn't matter what their ranking will be. If Kentucky made a few foul shots; they would have won. Had Kentucky made a few 3's; they would have won. Had Kentucky not turned the ball over; they would have won. All this is just because some guys who haven't played enough together. As it turned out, Kentucky had a shot at winning in the end after a miserable start. MSU does not want to see this team again and can count themselves lucky they caught them early. A few more games and that team will dominate.

^^^^This^^^^ I agree that by the end of the season, they are going to be more then a hand full. But I said that last year too.

Which is why I don't agree with ranking UK 1 preason. The question comes down to do you rank a team on potential or how you believe they can perform today.

I've settled in on how you believe they can perform today. And IMO, UK should not have been ranked one due to no one really knowing if they were going to come together as a team.

 

[jonvi]

But as already pointed out....I'm not going to lose any sleep over it because in cbb...rankings mean little. Good to see UK was 1 for a few weeks. They'll still be top 5...no big deal either.

 

[Runeman]

IMO, Kentucky has 5 first round picks on this team: Poythres, Colley-Stein, Randal, and the Harrison boys. This is not last year's team...by a mile.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

^^^^This^^^^ I agree that by the end of the season, they are going to be more then a hand full. But I said that last year too.

Which is why I don't agree with ranking UK 1 preason. The question comes down to do you rank a team on potential or how you believe they can perform today.

I've settled in on how you believe they can perform today. And IMO, UK should not have been ranked one due to no one really knowing if they were going to come together as a team.

So what you're saying is, this isn't a practical argument against ranking UK #1 in the preseason, it's a philosophical argument.

MSU will be the new #1 team on Monday. UK played nearly a worst case scenario game, and took the number 2/1 team in the country to the wire, and lost by 4 points on a neutral court. (and aside from a nightmarish start, outscored the Spartans in the last 35 minutes of the game) That game showed UK is clearly a top 5 team. Right now. Not end of the season. Last night. And if they're a top 5 team right now then you're just splitting hairs over where they were in the preseason.

If you're philosophically opposed to ranking a young team #1 preseason I get that. If you're philosophically opposed to ranking a team that was unranked and lost in the 1st round of the NIT last year, I get that. But understand that your opposition, isn't actually rational. And that's fine, but don't try to pass it off as something it's not.

How'd the offseason treat ya jonvi?

 

[7Samurai13]

I am not liking the idea of Michigan State being number one. It has not turned out very well for many teams the last couple of seasons. There were a TON of teams that were #1 or were about to be ranked #1 that took a loss. Plus I like Michigan State better when they are underestimated and have a chip on their shoulders. Now they might start believing the hype and lose a stupid game.

 

[Toucanbird]

Not sure how many watched the game last night. Michigan St has a great team. Kentucky has bigger and better players plus a bench. This Kentucky team will be blowing out everyone by January and it doesn't matter what their ranking will be. If Kentucky made a few foul shots; they would have won. Had Kentucky made a few 3's; they would have won. Had Kentucky not turned the ball over; they would have won. All this is just because some guys who haven't played enough together. As it turned out, Kentucky had a shot at winning in the end after a miserable start. MSU does not want to see this team again and can count themselves lucky they caught them early. A few more games and that team will dominate.

Actually, I have to agree with that, but almost mostly due in part to playing in a weak SEC.

I watched Florida play last night and I didn't see a whole lot that showed me they could beat Kentucky. I'm actually a little embarrassed they made it as close against Wisconsin as they did (Badgers committed some really stupid turnovers and underperformed at the free throw line).

Tennessee didn't exactly wow anyone with their opening game loss to Xavier. Much like Florida, they played a good team and a good team tough, but still I'd say Kentucky is farther ahead than Tennessee.

With LSU losing to UMass too, I really don't think there is going to be anyone that is going to compete neck-and-neck with Kentucky in the SEC. Of course, I'm just going off of a final score here since I only saw the first half of the MSU/Kentucky game and I wasn't that impressed by Kentucky, but they apparently did something right in the second half to make it a game against a very talented Michigan State team.

 

[jonvi]

So what you're saying is, this isn't a practical argument against ranking UK #1 in the preseason, it's a philosophical argument.

MSU will be the new #1 team on Monday. UK played nearly a worst case scenario game, and took the number 2/1 team in the country to the wire, and lost by 4 points on a neutral court. (and aside from a nightmarish start, outscored the Spartans in the last 35 minutes of the game) That game showed UK is clearly a top 5 team. Right now. Not end of the season. Last night. And if they're a top 5 team right now then you're just splitting hairs over where they were in the preseason.

If you're philosophically opposed to ranking a young team #1 preseason I get that. If you're philosophically opposed to ranking a team that was unranked and lost in the 1st round of the NIT last year, I get that. But understand that your opposition, isn't actually rational. And that's fine, but don't try to pass it off as something it's not.

How'd the offseason treat ya jonvi?

1st bold...And is one reason I backed off my original views going back to the "way too early polls" that had UK one. UK is coming together very nicely. I do think MSU is a good f'n ball team and UK took it to em. Plus they just blew out the no-names...NKY and NC Ashville they've already played. But prior to that, UK was a first round out from the NIT.

2nd bold....Here we differ. Both those things you've said you're good with on my rational lend credibility to my ultimate decision to rank them somewhere 10 - 20 preseason. They were a huge unknown, but definately had a hell of an incoming class. Now after seeing them a bit, they look like they can become a very, very good team.

3rd bold....It's been busy, some up's and downs...but overall it's been good. SU in the ACC for football has been a lot of fun. Getting top 10 teams to the dome for football is a bit different than seeing Rutgers and UConn. I can't wait to get into the regular season ACC games in bball....I think.
The top of the ACC is going to be stiff and hope my boys can take it to em.

How's your summer been? And what got you to SportsHoopla? I've seen very little bball chatter since being here. I'm glad you found your way though. It's always good having smart bball minds to learn me some stuff. This place is about to get real.

 

[Runeman]

Actually, I have to agree with that, but almost mostly due in part to playing in a weak SEC.

I watched Florida play last night and I didn't see a whole lot that showed me they could beat Kentucky. I'm actually a little embarrassed they made it as close against Wisconsin as they did (Badgers committed some really stupid turnovers and underperformed at the free throw line).

Tennessee didn't exactly wow anyone with their opening game loss to Xavier. Much like Florida, they played a good team and a good team tough, but still I'd say Kentucky is farther ahead than Tennessee.

With LSU losing to UMass too, I really don't think there is going to be anyone that is going to compete neck-and-neck with Kentucky in the SEC. Of course, I'm just going off of a final score here since I only saw the first half of the MSU/Kentucky game and I wasn't that impressed by Kentucky, but they apparently did something right in the second half to make it a game against a very talented Michigan State team.

I agree that the SEC is down this year and this Kentucky team is huge and talented. They might lose to Kansas, Duke; maybe Syracuse on a bad night. Those are the only teams I have seen play other than Michigan State which is also an excellent team.

Florida showed up last night missing 3 starters because Billy Donovan was doing some discipline work. IMO, Florida wins last night with everyone playing. That said, Florida is too small to deal with the above mentioned teams, however will still end up playing deep in the NCAA.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

Not much new in my world. I made a quick pop in to see some of the old MKTF crowd, and they mentioned that smithfan was scared I would end up here... so I felt I had to oblige.

 

[rmilia1]

Honestly UK will probably be number 1 by seasons end for sure. The SEC is pretty yuck except for the Cats and with what I saw last night I have a hard time seeing them losing for than 4-6 games this year. I wasnt surprised MSU won but I was surprised by how well UK played especially this early. The good part about CBB is it doesnt matter and we get to play it out on the court and not have to guess about which teams are better.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

The good part about CBB is it doesnt matter and we get to play it out on the court and not have to guess about which teams are better.

There's something we can all agree on.

 

[tshirt]

I think OP started the thread when it looked like UK was vastly overrated...it looked like MSU was blowing them out last night (it was 40-25 with 2 min left to the half, for ex). obviously, now that the game is over nobody thinks UK is vastly overrated anymore

also, I don't think people realize UK still has to play Louisville (#3), @UNC (#11), @Baylor (#23) in their OCC schedule

 

[jonvi]

I think OP started the thread when it looked like UK was vastly overrated...it looked like MSU was blowing them out last night (it was 40-25 with 2 min left to the half, for ex). obviously, now that the game is over nobody thinks UK is vastly overrated anymore

also, I don't think people realize UK still has to play Louisville (#3), @UNC (#11), @Baylor (#23) in their OCC schedule

you throw in MSU and that's one hell of an OOC.

 

[H2S]

you throw in MSU and that's one hell of an OOC.

smart.
get the 'challenges' in early..>>..run through the conference..>>..dance.

 

[jonvi]

smart.
get the 'challenges' in early..>>..run through the conference..>>..dance.

That's something Tom Izzo has done a lot of and it's worked well. With a few losses, MSU tended to end up higher seeded fooling a lot of people into thinking they were not as good.

 

[rmilia1]

With such a young team it is great for UK to be playing such a tough OOC schedule. They may lose 2 or 3 OOC but the SEC is poretty shitastic this year aside from the Cats and maybe a full roster Gators teams so if you dont play a tough OOC you really arent preparing these kids for the tourney by playing Vanderbilt, Suth Carolina and Georgia.

 

[UK Cowboy]

Whe UK is cutting the nets down as National Champs it will be easier for ya to grasp