Do you expect early losses?

UK’98UK’00

All-Conference
Mar 29, 2014
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If Oweh comes back I got us number one. We should be able to beat everyone in the country.Maybe I’m biased. I just look at what Pope did last year with a team short on athleticism so a team full of athletes I can’t wait to see. Pope has never had these kind of horses to work with and he’s just getting started. Hope it’s run and gun this year. Kentucky needs to get its respect back and make teams fear us again. It’s time.
Yes you’re biased. Doesn’t make you wrong though.
 

UK’98UK’00

All-Conference
Mar 29, 2014
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I do not expect a loss. Could a loss happen, no doubt!!!!

Louisville at Yum Nov 11, plus the rest of the hard schedule. Counting the 2 exhibitions, depending on how much fine tuning Pope has to do with the team, each learning how to play with 13 other guys that are just all about as good as yourself, can be hard.

Will be fun and anxiety ridden early season for me as a fan. You want the best for the guys, but it is all up to them. They have to come together. They have to lift one another up, pull each other along. Pope and coaches will be there to push them but it will be those 14 to 15 guys when coaches are not there that make or break the season. They come together and all things are possible with the number of W's the manifest. Just look at Kansas, the players there did not mesh, did not play for one another.

Again I expect this team to be one of the great ones, at least on paper right now.
I played 4 years of a college sport, not intramural. Getting to play with other top players, I’ll admit I was very good, wasn’t hard at all. It was very refreshing to be able to trust other guys to do what they should do, to be where they should be, to know they supported you. Unless you’re just some jackhole who has to shine no matter what, playing with other good and great players is just freaking awesome.
 
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anon1751545683

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Dec 14, 2020
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I played 4 years of a college sport, not intramural. Getting to play with other top players, I’ll admit I was very good, wasn’t hard at all. It was very refreshing to be able to trust other guys to do what they should do, to be where they should be, to know they supported you. Unless you’re just some jackhole who has to shine no matter what, playing with other good and great players is just freaking awesome.
True. I wasn’t a star. I was a role player. But the better the players I played with the better I played.
 

Digger-Cat

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Oct 31, 2024
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I think there are only a few teams with a roster that can see eye to eye with this roster and I don't see anyone else out there as deep, so if we do lose games, it will be because the opponents played out of their minds.
Yes, the schedule is hard, but Pope proved last year that he can coach a David over a Goliath. Now he has talent, size and depth, so I can't see more than a couple losses entering SEC play.
 

CastleRubric

All-American
Nov 11, 2011
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I’ve seen a lot of great UK teams over the years. In 1978 the Cats just imposed their will upon teams. I think our current team may duplicate this and we are F-ing loaded from top to bottom, and I have a man crush on CMP💙GBB🏀


Didn't know they only had two losses
Alabama beat them by like 16
LSU beat them by 1 in OT

UK 1978 Team
 
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Broker

All-Conference
Aug 29, 2012
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I think there are only a few teams with a roster that can see eye to eye with this roster and I don't see anyone else out there as deep, so if we do lose games, it will be because the opponents played out of their minds.
Yes, the schedule is hard, but Pope proved last year that he can coach a David over a Goliath. Now he has talent, size and depth, so I can't see more than a couple losses entering SEC play.
OOC schedule is not my concern. The SEC will be brutal and do expect three or four SEC teams that will have enough talent to beat us if we don't bring our A game. "A" games don't show up every night so losses are certainly possible. Post season is a gauntlet and to win it all takes talent but also pure luck.
 

CastleRubric

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I played 4 years of a college sport, not intramural. Getting to play with other top players, I’ll admit I was very good, wasn’t hard at all. It was very refreshing to be able to trust other guys to do what they should do, to be where they should be, to know they supported you. Unless you’re just some jackhole who has to shine no matter what, playing with other good and great players is just freaking awesome.


Sounds a lot like being a professional level musician and the joy of finding a groove/pocket with other talented players

Add in the appreciation fm an audience and stage + "friends" -->>

And it sounds REALLY similar

Not sure which sides has more drugs though :D
 

sk73

All-Conference
Feb 16, 2013
3,092
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Having the experience and talent, on paper, that we have, I think we lose very few all year. I am working under the premise that Quaintance will not be 100% and that Moreno will play better and more than most expect. I think we drop a few in the first few games and then go, on a run .
 
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Blueisbest

All-American
Mar 22, 2003
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If Oweh comes back, I think we will be one of the 5 best teams in the nation. I expected early season losses last season but we didn't lose until mid-December. The schedule is going to be tough again this year, but I think we should be favored in almost every non-conference game. Will we win them all? Doubtful. But I wouldn't expect us to lose many.
 

UK’98UK’00

All-Conference
Mar 29, 2014
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We are always playing. We are the 6th man, haven’t you heard? On a serious note I’d love to welcome back the days people are expecting a loss when they come to Rupp.
I believe those days are upon us. The Pope has blown my friggin mind with what he brought together as a team last year. Consider that had several of our top players and in fact, maybe our best player had not been out or limited by injuries , UK could have been a ff team. What he’s done to assemble this year’s squad is simply amazing. Remember all of the naysayers to his hire and he silenced them all. Even the most optimistic could not have pictured what he’s done in his short term. Losses will be expected against UK at home and away too.
 

Digger-Cat

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Oct 31, 2024
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OOC schedule is not my concern. The SEC will be brutal and do expect three or four SEC teams that will have enough talent to beat us if we don't bring our A game. "A" games don't show up every night so losses are certainly possible. Post season is a gauntlet and to win it all takes talent but also pure luck.
I don't think the SEC is going to he anywhere close to as tough as it was last year. Auburn, Alabama, UT and Florida are all in a bit of a rebuild mode after losing guys like Sears, Ziegler, Lanier, Clayton, Richards, Martin, Broome, Mazara, Miles Kelly, Denver Jones and many others (Auburn and Florida lost a lot).

Our non con schedule is where this team needs to prove themselves. If they win all but one or two, then come in first or 2nd in the SEC, we're a 1 seed.

The SEC is still going to be tough, so most league losses won't hurt us, but where we would get stung, is if we lose most of our tough non con games.
 

Skyguyb27

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Feb 12, 2008
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I don't think the SEC is going to he anywhere close to as tough as it was last year. Auburn, Alabama, UT and Florida are all in a bit of a rebuild mode after losing guys like Sears, Ziegler, Lanier, Clayton, Richards, Martin, Broome, Mazara, Miles Kelly, Denver Jones and many others (Auburn and Florida lost a lot).

Our non con schedule is where this team needs to prove themselves. If they win all but one or two, then come in first or 2nd in the SEC, we're a 1 seed.

The SEC is still going to be tough, so most league losses won't hurt us, but where we would get stung, is if we lose most of our tough non con games.
I agree with you but I think we just have to much talent and athleticism to lose most of the tough OOC games. I would argue I expect to us to win them all and accept if they have an off day.
 
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Digger-Cat

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I agree with you but I think we just have to much talent and athleticism to lose most of the tough OOC games. I would argue I expect to is to win them all and accept if they have an off day.
We should be favored in most of our non conference games (dogs @ UofL most likely), but based on what CMP showed us last year and the tools he now has to work with, I believe 2 pre-con losses should be the over.
 
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THE_HOOK

All-Conference
Dec 19, 2003
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Does a bear sh** in the woods?

Kidding aside the schedule is tough and barring this team being all-worldly I absolutely expect it.
With this battle tested talent they may be ready from the get go. We'll have to wait and see. Everyone else has added pieces. Should be an exciting year.
 
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With this level of talent but a new batch of players do you expect to drop some games at the beginning of the year that they shouldn’t? Seems like everyone has the same problem of gelling together at the beginning of the year now.
EVERY team will have a "new batch of players". So I don't think that will be a factor any longer.
 

trueblujr

Heisman
Dec 14, 2005
30,649
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We're gonna find out real fast who we are by playing exhibitions against Purdue and Georgetown instead of Kentucky Wesleyan and Montana Bible College. I think that will force them to gel rather quickly. But we also have some veteran leadership who have played a season for Pope now and that should help as well. It's a tough schedule, and yeah I think we can lose a handful, but they shouldn't be those kind of head scratching losses like we had a few of last year. If we're going to lose it's going to be to someone good.
 
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Swimcat20

All-Conference
Dec 27, 2014
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Let’s just make sure we beat UL. It may be years before we beat them in football again.