Movin On Up

by 58Fan on Oct 17, 2007 5:40 AM EDT Comment 4 comments

Here are four suggestions to help Kentucky football. IMHO

Be a national team
Don't play anyone from your home recruiting area

These two complement one another. Give up playing local teams like Eastern or UofL for that matter. Potential recruits from out of state are generally not impressed by these games. Yes, LSU and Florida play local teams, but they are already established powers and can afford it.
Before UK played UofL the very best recruits in Louisville usually went to a Big Ten school, Alabama, Tennessee, etc., but UK outrecruited UofL for the rest. UK could make the argument that since they were in the SEC theirs was the better program. Once the teams played and UofL started winning that argument was history. Recently UofL has dominated recruiting in Louisville (maybe that will change now) and has made inroads out in the state. Kentucky was the dominant team in the state before they started playing. Never offer your home recruiting area to a local team by letting them beat you, and there is only one way to do that. Don't play them. Get UofL off the schedule ASAP. For all practical matters Cincinnati is a local team. Don't help them recruit in Northern Kentucky by playing them.

Schedule to win
Schedule to recruit

Kentucky is stuck with the SEC schedule leaving four games to play with. Putting these two suggestions together, ideally what we want is to play high profile, beatable teams from within an area where we recruit or want to recruit (not our home area, i.e. Kentucky). What we don't want is low profile teams that can beat us like Appalachian State. Here IMO are some possible matchups which could help the program.
A) NOTRE DAME
This year they are both very high profile and very beatable. The name still has magic, and any team playing them is fortunate indeed. Notre Dame is near Chicago and would help recruiting there.
B) NORTHWESTERN
Being in the Big Ten makes them high profile and it recent years have been beatable. Another team in the important Chicago area.
C) NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Another team in the Chicago area. Believe they have a losing record this year. Both Alabama and Tennessee have them scheduled for next year.
D) GEORGIA TECH
This one is a natural and should replace UofL on the schedule. This game would further help recruiting in Georgia. Couple Tech with Georgia so when we play Georgia in Lexington, we play Tech in Atlanta. Over the last few years would playing Tech have resulted in more losses than playing Louisville? How could it?
E) FLORIDA STATE
High profile and they're not what they use to be. Would help recruiting in Florida. Couple Florida and Florida State, meaning we'd play a game in Florida every year.
F) MEMPHIS
Fairly high profile and beatable. Helps recruiting in the city, north Mississippi, west Tennessee, Arkansas. Couple with Arkansas or one of the SEC Mississippi teams.
G) DUKE or NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Both are high profile (ACC) and beatable. Helps recruiting in North Carolina.
H) TULANE
Fairly high profile and beatable. Would help recruiting around New Orleans and Louisiana. Couple with LSU or one of the SEC Mississippi schools.
I) CHATTANOOGA
Great opener. Would help recruiting in the city, East Tennessee, and North Georgia.

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Scheduling

58, you make some good points. One that I agree with 100%: Playing UL. Why do it? This game offers UK absolutely nothing. Many, many people disagree with me on this point, but I have never been in favor of playing them in any sport. Why give little sister an opportunity to say they beat big brother.

I don't have a problem playing WKU, EKU, Murray, etc., from time to time. The guarantee helps the programs, and since UK SHOULDN'T be competing against those schools for recruits, I see no harm in bringing them to Commonwealth occasionally.

I sense a former major college player on the other end of the connection.

by Ken Howlett on Oct 17, 2007 11:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re Scheduling

No Ken, I'm not a former major college player, but one of my kinfolk is married to one. He hates UK so we don't talk football over Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm just an old wildcat who in the 50's use to sit in the kitchen around the radio with family and listen to Cawood or Claude Sullivan. Back in those days there were two UK networks.
Nothing against any of the local teams. If playing them helped the program, that'd be great.
IMO telling an out of state prospect we play out of conference games like Eastern, Kent State, UofL, and FAU surely doesn't impress anyone.
Can't see why we don't recruit more in the Chicago area. There are lots of potential recruits there, and Notre Dame and the Big Ten can't get them all.
We need a home and home series with a team there so we could invite recruits to the game up there (if that's legal).
This may not be politically correct but since we have two African-American coordinators why not take advantage of it by recruiting there.

GO CATS

by 58Fan on Oct 18, 2007 4:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

UK ...

has dominated U of L in-state this year as far as recruiting goes, especially if Guy changes his mind and comes to Kentucky instead of Arkansas.

I am fine with that idea, except for the Louisville game. Louisville has earned the right to play us, and I think it helps us a lot with in-state recruits when we play them, especially if we win.

Not only that, the Louisville game is a great recruiting tool for other sports. The fan base's passion is so high during that time, and when the series is at Commonwealth, it is a special atmosphere that I'm unwilling to give up. I would rather see it at the end of our schedule, but Tommy Turtleneck won't have it.

But other than that, I would love to see us upgrade our schedule and play some better comp out of state, or just some great schools like North Carolina or Georgia Tech. Houston, anybody? I'd love to have more access to Texas from a recruiting standpoint. 'Bama played Houston this year, and I suspect I know why. Tulane is another good idea.

We do need to schedule more strategically.

by Truzenzuzex on Oct 18, 2007 8:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re UK

Hey Tru, guess we'll have to agree to disagree about UofL. Didn't UK sign a two year contract with them, so it'll come up again after next year? Over the years it's seems like UK schedules sometimes to do someone a favor, like ex-players and coaches such Doug Martin at Kent State or Schnellenberger (sp?) at FAU. And of course we need to help the folks down the road at Richmond. Just think UK should do what's best for the program and stop doing favors.
Got to give Jurich credit when he scheduled Florida State, Miami, North Carolina and others. It seemed to help their recruiting in the South.
Sagarin says UK by 4. UK 42 Fl 38

by 58Fan on Oct 19, 2007 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs