Would you consider Wisconsin beating Kentucky an upset??

[rmilia1]

I know that Kentucky is favored but would YOU, as a basketball fan, really consider it an upset?? Seems like the matchup is pretty even and the 2 teams have both largely dominated their competition this year. Do you think this is a 50/50 type game or would you be surprised if Wisconsin won?? Honestly, for me, Id be more surprised if MSU beats Duke than I would be if the Badgers beat UK

 

[jonvi]

If Wisconsin wins...it will be one hell of an upset. If any team beats UK....it will be one hell of an upset and would be discussed well into next season.

 

[rmilia1]

If Wisconsin wins...it will be one hell of an upset. If any team beats UK....it will be one hell of an upset and would be discussed well into next season.

Why so J?? I feel like a lot of people will agree with you but I dont get that thought. Is it solely because UK is unbeaten or is it because you really think UK is that much better than everyone else??

 

[BUD]

I don't think it would be an upset if Wisky beat KY

 

[jonvi]

Because Wisky has 3 reliable scorers being Decker, Kam and Hayes and play only 6 much of the game.

UK has 9 players that have played in 35 or more games this year with 6 of them averaging 8.7 points per game or better. When you play 9 players every game and still have that kind of production spread through out the team...I'm impressed.

Uk's 9 is better than Wisky's 6.

 

[rmilia1]

Because Wisky has 3 reliable scorers being Decker, Kam and Hayes and play only 6 much of the game.

UK has 9 players that have played in 35 or more games this year with 6 of them averaging 8.7 points per game or better. When you play 9 players every game and still have that kind of production spread through out the team...I'm impressed.

Uk's 9 is better than Wisky's 6.

UK is deeper for sure, itll be interesting to see if that matters with the week layoff between games.

 

[Cobrabit]

At this stage, I wouldn't consider anything an "upset". Each team has already played through a gauntlet to get here and proven they belong. I may give a slight edge to UK, but also have Wisconsin beating them in my bracket (then losing to Duke in the final).

 

[jonvi]

Not just deeper, but better rounded with many more offensive options. I dont' say this just about Wisconsin...it's any team that has to play them this year.

 

[rmilia1]

I would disagree with UK being more rounded ( at least as I define rounded ), to me rounded means versatile as in players that can play multiple positions and players that can move inside and outside and not lose effectiveness. I think Wisconsin is far more versatile in their sets and the wya they can run an offense. To me thats the most interesting facet to this game. Can the UK bigs come out of the floor and defend the Badgers bigs and still be able to prevent the Wisconsin guards ferom getting to the basket.With 3 guys like Kamensky, Hayes and Dekker Wisconsin is able to pick matchups they like and run their sets accordingly based on where they think they can best take advantage. UK is awesome and supremely talented but their bigs cant do that. Of course UK is also FARRR more adept and getting to the basket with their guards and they may be able to get the Badger bigs in foul trouble thus negating that advantage for Wisconsin. While I would have won my work pool ( 600 bucks ) if ND had beaten UK I am excited they didnt because this is the game Ive wanted to see all year. The matchups here are just so great.

 

[tducey]

Probably, Kentucky's been the best team this year.

 

[jonvi]

Can the UK bigs come out of the floor and defend the Badgers bigs and still be able to prevent the Wisconsin guards ferom getting to the basket.With 3 guys like Kamensky, Hayes and Dekker Wisconsin is able to pick matchups they like and run their sets accordingly based on where they think they can best take advantage. .

UK's bigs don't have to go out and guard the 3. The UK guards and wings will cover that. The 5 spot will never leave the paint except when plays break down.

But I do agree the Wisconsin offense is much smoother and prettier to watch. UK is more about getting the ball on the glass and crashing the boards. And hope the occaisional 3 falls for harrison.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I guess it's based on record. 38-0 should be favored over 35-3, but not by much

 

[gordontrue]

If I'm looking at the game solely... with no context of a season around it... its not much of an upset.

But add in the historical implications of the game and the context of Kentucky's season... and its a pretty big upset, IMO.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

You're never going to get a consensus on a question like this.

"Is it an Upset" always boils down to two questions...

Do you gamble? If you gamble then point spread is almost always going to be the deciding factor, if not it's almost always team rankings or seeds.

How big of an underdog? For some people the #25 team beating the #24 team is an upset, just like a .5pt dog winning is an upset. For others it needs to be a bigger disparity like 10 points or 10 AP spots.

 

[Smart]

They are 5.5-6.5 point favorites, so the answer is yes. Should it be an upset? I don't think so. They are a tiny bit more efficient than we are, but when you take out the Rutgers debacle (where Frank didn't play), the gap is around .01. It's pretty miniscule, and I don't think it would be enough to be considered an "upset" if not for the undefeated context.

 

[rmilia1]

They are 5.5-6.5 point favorites, so the answer is yes. Should it be an upset? I don't think so. They are a tiny bit more efficient than we are, but when you take out the Rutgers debacle (where Frank didn't play), the gap is around .01. It's pretty miniscule, and I don't think it would be enough to be considered an "upset" if not for the undefeated context.

Thats pretty much how I feel. If UK were say 36-2 and Wisconsin was 33-5 I think itd be much less of an upset in peoples eyes but the undeferated narrative is a HUGE one obviously. That said I think the fact its Kentucky makes it a bigger story. Im not sure if the Badgers were playing a 38-0 Tennessee that it would be classified as an upset ( even if everything else: talent, SOS etc ) was the same.

 

[jontaejones]

In context?

I would consider it an upset of the magnitude of UConn beating a 1-loss Duke juggernaut in 1999, but lesser than Duke beating UNLV in 1991.

 

[Codaxx]

I would disagree with UK being more rounded ( at least as I define rounded ), to me rounded means versatile as in players that can play multiple positions and players that can move inside and outside and not lose effectiveness. I think Wisconsin is far more versatile in their sets and the wya they can run an offense. To me thats the most interesting facet to this game. Can the UK bigs come out of the floor and defend the Badgers bigs and still be able to prevent the Wisconsin guards ferom getting to the basket.With 3 guys like Kamensky, Hayes and Dekker Wisconsin is able to pick matchups they like and run their sets accordingly based on where they think they can best take advantage. UK is awesome and supremely talented but their bigs cant do that. Of course UK is also FARRR more adept and getting to the basket with their guards and they may be able to get the Badger bigs in foul trouble thus negating that advantage for Wisconsin. While I would have won my work pool ( 600 bucks ) if ND had beaten UK I am excited they didnt because this is the game Ive wanted to see all year. The matchups here are just so great.

Cauley-Stein is the most athletic big on the court. Not sure why you would question his ability to go out on the perimeter to defend. Wisconsin is more versatile? They run a nice offense, but not sure how versatile they are. They can not win in an uptempo game. Reason it would be an upset, is because UK is undefeated. The talent level is not particularly close. UK beat virtually the same Wisky team last year with an inferior UK team compared to this year.

 

[rmilia1]

Cauley-Stein is the most athletic big on the court. Not sure why you would question his ability to go out on the perimeter to defend. Wisconsin is more versatile? They run a nice offense, but not sure how versatile they are. They can not win in an uptempo game. Reason it would be an upset, is because UK is undefeated. The talent level is not particularly close. UK beat virtually the same Wisky team last year with an inferior UK team compared to this year.

I dont dispute UK being more talented, that said the best player on the court will be playing for Wisconsin. I dont doubt Cauley-Steins ability to defend on the perimeter as much as I do the other UK bigs BUT my question isnt only about that. Its whether the drawing out of thE UK bigs will effect their defense as a whole and more especially their rebounding. The ideal situation will be if the UK guards can use their length and quickness to guard the Wisky bigs but that didnt work out particularly well for Arizona and the Zona bigs couldnt deal with Kamensky and Dekker either. While I think the UK team has more talent and far more depth I also value experience which gives a slight edge to the badgers ( although not by as much as people tend to think ). The other thing is that Wisconsin values the ball much more than any team UK has played this year and a large part of the Cats offense is derived from using their athleticism for easy scores via turnovers which they likely will not get in anywhere close to the abundance they usually do which is going to require them running way more half court offense than they are accustomed to. This MAY mean that they will need to shoot it better than they normally do from outside.

 

[Smart]

UK beat virtually the same Wisky team last year with an inferior UK team compared to this year.

There is a lot to criticize about this post, but this part takes the cake. It's the same team...with a year under Bo Ryan. It's like arguing Kaminsky must have been bad last year since he stunk in 2013. By all indications, we are MUCH better this year. Let's not kid ourselves.

Kentucky is as well, but the two players who presented major matchup problems (Randle and Young) are gone.