Andy Katz's 10 Final Four Dark Horse Teams

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,355
60,011
113
It's gonna be a sad sad year if Arkansas makes the final four and UK doesn't.

Now, if BOTH made it.....on the other hand......can you imagine the fireworks!?!?!?!

If Cal won the title, Yeah. But if he makes a Final4 and we don't.. meh. He did basically take a good percentage of his UK roster/recruits with him, and no one is going to care about beating Arkansas like they do UK. Cal is alleviating pressure, while Pope is stepping into it. So I can't be too upset if Pope's first year throws him a few gut checks and he falls A game short of Cal.
 

JimboBBN

Heisman
Jan 26, 2016
14,281
27,528
113
We are really number one on his list, to be honest. Indiana and Cal don’t count, we know the chances of either of them making the final four hover right around 0.
 

NerlensCat

All-Conference
Feb 12, 2013
1,122
1,941
0
I'll hit the first hole in one on Mars before John Calipari goes back to a FF.
I personally think he is reinvigorated and will be as invested in Winning as he has been in a long time.

The pressure of winning at the most storied program in College Basketball finally got to him after 2015 and especially after 2021. He coached not to lose rather than to win in tournament games. I think that he will coach way more to win than he has in a long time and it will show in his players attitude.

If he flops again though, he is likely to start losing his swag with the players as well. Then, he might as well hang it up. He is not one to win without a decisive talent advantage.
 

SemperFiCat

Heisman
Mar 2, 2009
14,566
30,005
0
I personally think he is reinvigorated and will be as invested in Winning as he has been in a long time.

The pressure of winning at the most storied program in College Basketball finally got to him after 2015 and especially after 2021. He coached not to lose rather than to win in tournament games. I think that he will coach way more to win than he has in a long time and it will show in his players attitude.

If he flops again though, he is likely to start losing his swag with the players as well. Then, he might as well hang it up. He is not one to win without a decisive talent advantage.
Have you learned nothing? Cal has told us and shown us that winning doesn't matter to him. Is he going to just magically change what he's been doing for almost a decade now? He got his championship, and now he prioritizes what really matterrs to him. Plus, if he couldn't win at Kentucky, what makes you think he can win at Arkansas?? Now, MAYBE his ego is in defense mode, and MAYBE he actually starts doing what every other coach does in terms of game prep and simple in-game things... Maybe he has a little fire, but by mid season, his promises and priorities will come home to roost and he will revert back to the same old Cal he's been. Don't let the man fool you again. Players first, winning is an inconvenient hassle.
 

NerlensCat

All-Conference
Feb 12, 2013
1,122
1,941
0
Have you learned nothing? Cal has told us and shown us that winning doesn't matter to him. Is he going to just magically change what he's been doing for almost a decade now? He got his championship, and now he prioritizes what really matterrs to him. Plus, if he couldn't win at Kentucky, what makes you think he can win at Arkansas?? Now, MAYBE his ego is in defense mode, and MAYBE he actually starts doing what every other coach does in terms of game prep and simple in-game things... Maybe he has a little fire, but by mid season, his promises and priorities will come home to roost and he will revert back to the same old Cal he's been. Don't let the man fool you again. Players first, winning is an inconvenient hassle.
You could be right and you could be wrong. We will see. Either way, I am happy with who we got..
 

UKAlum84

All-Conference
Aug 4, 2022
1,468
1,094
66
Cal would seldom call a timeout to adjust, and then with a matter of minutes to play, let's the team unravel into something crappy.

Why did Katz think that Cal has some upperhand over UK right now? The guy did win some games while here but man, he also lost several too.

I think we deserve more credit for making a change in our program.

You hope he does not lose games at Arkansas, just to prove that he can coach. Which it's very debatable right now whether he can or not.
 
May 31, 2018
15,275
30,681
98
If Indiana makes the Final Four it’ll be proof, once and for all, that coaching is irrelevant in college basketball.
I think Kevin Ollie has already proven that. You just need a path on the road to the championship where you are paired up against a less competent coach than you are.
 

yoshukai

Heisman
Dec 21, 2002
28,520
39,685
102
It's gonna be a sad sad year if Arkansas makes the final four and UK doesn't.

Now, if BOTH made it.....on the other hand......can you imagine the fireworks!?!?!?!
Even if the former were to happen, getting rid of Cal would still be well worth it.
 

yoshukai

Heisman
Dec 21, 2002
28,520
39,685
102
I personally think he is reinvigorated and will be as invested in Winning as he has been in a long time.

The pressure of winning at the most storied program in College Basketball finally got to him after 2015 and especially after 2021. He coached not to lose rather than to win in tournament games. I think that he will coach way more to win than he has in a long time and it will show in his players attitude.

If he flops again though, he is likely to start losing his swag with the players as well. Then, he might as well hang it up. He is not one to win without a decisive talent advantage.
Invigorated is one thing . Playing modern day basketball and bench coaching is something else . Cal needs SUPERIOR talent to overcome those two deficiencies. He doesn’t have/get that kind of talent .
 

Slowwalker

All-Conference
Nov 10, 2015
2,555
3,974
0
Have you learned nothing? Cal has told us and shown us that winning doesn't matter to him. Is he going to just magically change what he's been doing for almost a decade now? He got his championship, and now he prioritizes what really matterrs to him. Plus, if he couldn't win at Kentucky, what makes you think he can win at Arkansas?? Now, MAYBE his ego is in defense mode, and MAYBE he actually starts doing what every other coach does in terms of game prep and simple in-game things... Maybe he has a little fire, but by mid season, his promises and priorities will come home to roost and he will revert back to the same old Cal he's been. Don't let the man fool you again. Players first, winning is an inconvenient hassle.
I’m sorry, but you don’t have the winning percentage Cal has, you don’t become a hall of fame coach, hell, you don’t coach period if you don’t care about winning. Does he care about other things and prioritize them near the top of the list, absolutely, but saying he doesn’t care about winning is just not true.

Since the Pitino BBM event, everyone is back to talking about how great of a coach he is, and what was his record against Cal while at UK?

Cal absolutely cares about winning.
 
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SemperFiCat

Heisman
Mar 2, 2009
14,566
30,005
0
I’m sorry, but you don’t have the winning percentage Cal has, you don’t become a hall of fame coach, hell, you don’t coach period if you don’t care about winning. Does he care about other things and prioritize them near the top of the list, absolutely, but saying he doesn’t care about winning is just not true.

Since the Pitino BBM event, everyone is back to talking about how great of a coach he is, and what was his record against Cal while at UK?

Cal absolutely cares about winning.
Cal used to care about winning. Look at last year alone and tell me I'm wrong. Cal got what his resume needed, then became a talent promoter.
 
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Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
44,471
94,864
113
I feel like this season will feature a ton of first-weekend upsets. There's no elite team. Kentucky has as good a shot as making the second weekend as anyone.
 

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
29,352
0
1-3 all have big question marks on the bench.

IU- Woodson has done absolutely nothing so far and it’s been four seasons.
Ark- Cal hasn’t really done much coaching in the past decade.
UK- Pope is obviously unproven.

The Rutgers duo could get hot and take them to a Final Four if they are as good as advertised.