The SEC was stacked last season but someone has to be first and there’s absolutely no reason that isn’t UK, the blue blood of the conference. Duke had no trouble locking down the ACC and Kansas had no trouble locking down the BIG12 when they were stacked. Hasn’t Duke won 4 or 5 of the last 10 ACC titles?
These are just excuses especially given our booster contributions. Nobody is going to pay like UK for basketball and they aren’t. Oats is doing better than us without those resources.
Kentucky should not be a middle of the pack SEC program, we should be no worse than 3rd in most years, we should be 1st much of those years. If we aren’t on those marks we need a new coach. It’s that simple. This corresponds with our lack of final fours, we simply aren’t hiring correctly. That’s all it is, nothing to do with the conference. Held Calipari too long, average follow up hire to this point.
The SEC isn’t actually that great, definitely not to the point where we can’t do this.
I’m a UK die hard, I’m not going to negotiate UK basketball. That’s something that should be non-negotiable. Every single booster and fan at this point should be calling for a change and hoping for the best. When Mark proves he’s UK quality that can change. He’s getting next year, but it’s elite 8/ final four, win the SEC (or very close) or bust for me. Anything else and we’re lowering standards. I’m rooting for him to figure it out.
I have a question for you using your standard of no less than 3rd in conference. Why do injuries get dismissed so easily? Take 2024-2025 season, the Cats finished 3 games out of 3rd place, 4 out of 2nd, and 5 games out of 1st.
Butler & Jaxson Robinson were both out for the regular season losses to
@Bama (13pt loss),
@Texas (4pt loss). Butler was also out in the losses
@ole Miss and home against Arkansas.
Do you really think Bama finishes 3rd with Mark Sears missing as much as Bulter AND Philon missing as much as Jaxson Robinson?
How about Florida? You think they don't drop more games if Clayton missed as much as Butler and Elijah Martin missing the games Jax missed...and playing injured when they did play?
I have no problem stating UK has been and should be the standard in SEC basketball, and I agree recruiting has been rough, and this current roster wasn't as well-assembled as last year. However, it's also ingenuine to use the conference standing last year and ignore data like the significant amount of injuries Pope has been dealt the last 2 seasons... I'm not even counting JQ as he was a risk.
But when hammering Pope for the lack of success, these MUST be taken into consideration...I mean, how do you not?