Talent is currenly beating experience

It comes as no surprise that Kentucky is one of the youngest teams in the country. Take one look at a few of the starting lineups John Calipari has run out this season consisting of five freshmen and you can see the Wildcats are all-in on the “talent” side of the age-old “talent versus experience” debate. It is Cal’s modus operandi and all of Big Blue Nation has become accustomed to having young teams year after year. Despite all the fresh faces, the Wildcats already seem to be clicking — and that is vital to having a successful non-conference schedule and gaining a big boost on the RPI for March. Just how well are the other young teams playing? Not too shabby. Take a look at the ten youngest teams and how they fair compared to the 12 oldest teams. Joining the Cats on the list of youngest teams out of the power-six conferences is Kansas, Michigan, and Texas. Each team boasts a strong record, but the strength of schedule between the teams is across the board. In total, the lot of ten has a winning record of 4.2 — 3.3 (.560). Three teams are tied as the tenth-oldest team, making this list 12 teams long. No major-conference teams are among the top-ten oldest in the nation, but a handful of legit mid-majors and March Madness hopefuls are here, including Norfolk State, Pacific, and Eastern Kentucky. Through the first month of the season the young guns are winning out, as the oldest teams are just barely above .500 on the season with an average record of 3.8 — 3.6 (.514). What makes this comparison hold water is the average RPI which is off by just two points between the two sets of data. It’s not by much, but as of now, talent is better than experience, and that news comes just in time for the holidays when the Cats will play through one of the toughest stretches of games out of anybody. Stats provided by StatSheet.com @StuartHammerKSR