4-Point Play: Don't panic with Kentucky

You didn’t think a daily football notebook was coming without a similar basketball update, did you? We wouldn’t do that to you here at KSR HQ. Nick Roush has got you covered with Mark Stoops’ day-to-day operation off Alumni Drive while I’ll be taking care of Coach Cal’s across campus off Lexington Ave.

Let’s call it, hm, 4-Point Play — the ole Rob Dillingham special. It’ll be four quick-hitters in a daily roundup of what’s going on with the Kentucky program and around college basketball. And what a way to start, the Cats experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in a five-day stretch. They were world-beaters in a top-ten win over Miami (FL) in the ACC/SEC Challenge before the sky began falling — in the eyes of social media and message board posters, at least — in a mind-boggling loss to UNC Wilmington.

A few days removed from the bizarre experience inside Rupp Arena, where do things stand entering a new week?

No, it’s not time to panic

Look, it sucked. Kentucky doesn’t lose to mid-majors and certainly not at home. You’ve just got to find ways to close out that game with a win. The NET agreed, slotting the Wildcats at No. 45 overall in Monday’s debut — UNCW was a Quad 3 loss (No. 120) while Miami was only a Quad 2 win (No. 63) and nearly a Quad 3. Their average opponent NET rank is No. 229 and the NET strength of schedule is No. 263. A 2-2 record in Quad 1-3 games just ain’t gonna cut it in the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s eyes.

So it’s a good thing it’s December 4, huh?

Kentucky lost to Evansville in the third game of the season back in 2019-20. The sky was falling then, too, a loss we’d tell our great-grandchildren about one day. And then the Cats won the SEC by three games and were widely seen as one of the hottest teams in college basketball entering postseason play. The world shut down and we’ll never know how it would’ve ended, but they were in the conversation when being in the conversation matters. That’s the only historical context I need in the world’s flukiest, most random sport, personally. Losing to a mid-major in the first week of December has no bearing on a team’s ability to win six straight games ending in the first week of April.

23 regular season games to go is plenty of time to get things figured out.

Nine Quad 1 opportunities

Something else to keep in mind before losing our collective marbles? The NET rewards teams for beating quality opponents, particularly away from home, while also valuing strength of opponent and location across all games played. Quad 1 victories are like gold in the Selection Committee’s eyes, and as things stand right now, the Wildcats have nine coming up on the schedule — ten if Gonzaga (No. 31 overall) slides up a spot between now and Selection Sunday.

12. Alabama — Feb. 24 (home)
15. Texas A&M — Jan. 13 (road)
17. Tennessee — Feb. 3 (home), Mar. 9 (road)
29. South Carolina — Jan. 23 (road)
32. North Carolina — Dec. 16 (neutral)
33. Auburn — Feb. 17 (road)
40. Mississippi State — Feb. 27 (road)
65. Florida — Jan. 6 (road)

College basketball’s national champion a year ago, UConn, had seven Quad 1 wins entering postseason play. The year before that, Kansas had 11. And then in the shortened season in ’20-21, Baylor had eight. Virginia in ’19 — the start of the NET? 12.

Kentucky undoubtedly dug itself an early hole with the UNCW loss, but it’s the quality wins that matter going into March. Let’s focus on that before acting like our pets’ heads are falling off.

A weird week in college basketball for everybody

Kentucky rolled out a new floor, a new 7-footer and a new starting point guard against the Seahawks. It was a weird night of ‘new’ for the Cats. That also came in a weird week in college basketball, as eight ranked teams lost to unranked opponents with ten losses overall.

No. 1 Purdue fell to Northwestern, No. 3 Marquette fell to Wisconsin, No. 7 Duke fell to Arkansas and Georgia Tech, No. 12 Kentucky fell to UNCW, No. 14 Texas A&M fell to Virginia, No. 18 Villanova fell to Saint Joseph’s and Drexel, No. 21 Mississippi State fell to Georgia Tech and Southern and No. 22 Alabama fell to Clemson.

Needless to say, the rankings were a complete mess on Monday. Each of the top 22 teams shifted up or down in the AP, some moving up as many as eight spots, others down as many as 15 (hello, Duke).

What’s clear: there are no true juggernauts in college basketball, certainly not one you look at as a team Kentucky has little-to-no shot to beat. If anything, the Cats were trending as one of those teams before the UNCW loss. Everybody is kinda-sorta figuring themselves out right now.

John Calipari hits the recruiting trail

Kentucky earned the No. 1 recruiting class in ’23, the one we’re seeing on the floor now. It’s already working toward top-ranked status in ’24, sitting at No. 2 nationally as of today with more to come. And then things are already looking good for ’25 and beyond.

John Calipari and his staff checked out a few top targets and one signee across several classes this weekend — and they didn’t have to go far.

First, it was ’25 No. 1 AJ Dybantsa and ’26 No. 1 Tyran Stokes vs. ’25 No. 12 Jasper Johnson at Saint Xavier (Louisville) High School on Saturday with Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman in attendance.

Prolific Prep-Link Academy underway with Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman in attendance https://t.co/wD4Q251Lnf pic.twitter.com/vSpMuQ4iRn

— Jacob Polacheck (@PolacheckKSR) December 3, 2023

Then the pair of assistants returned with Coach Cal on Sunday to watch Dybantsa and Stokes in a win for national powerhouse Prolific Prep while also chatting it up with ’24 five-star signee Jayden Quaintance, who was out due to injury.

John Calipari, Chin Coleman and Orlando Antigua here chatting it up with Kentucky signee Jayden Quaintance pic.twitter.com/OKDsTFkHDA

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) December 3, 2023

Not a bad way to respond to a tough loss.