Welcome to the Guess the Outcome Game, or GOG for short!  The GOG is a season-long series in which we will see who possesses the most clairvoyant Magic 8 Ball by predicting the outcomes for games before they are actually played.  Intrigued?  Read On!

A little GOG History

The GOG was originally started at fellow SBN site Athletics Nation for the 2005 season and was run by AN members Alien and Jjjsixsix. In 2006, Alien handed things over to AN member AsGirl. The game was revived this past season by AN member colin who managed the dual feat of running the GOG (with 53 separate entries) and earning a PhD at the same time.  I participated this year and had a lot of fun, so I thought I would bring the game over to ASoB where I think it will work quite well with basketball.

So How Do You Play?

This part is very simple. I will post a list of questions before each UK basketball game, usually the day before. Just come up with your answers and leave them as a comment. There is a deadline for the answers, which will typically be tip-off for the game in question.  Examples of some AN GOG's are HERE and HERE to give you an idea of what they're like.

Questions are scored as follows:

• Yes/no type questions are worth +1 point for a correct answer or -1 point for an incorrect answer. Example: if the question is "Does Patrick Patterson block a shot against UNC?" and then he swats a weak Ed Davis offering into the 10th row, you would get +1 point for answering "yes" and -1 point for answering "no".
• Open ended questions are worth +3 points for a correct answer, with no penalty for a wrong answer. Example: "Which UK player grabs the most rebounds?" would be an open ended question.
• A common question format is to guess some stat line for a particular player in a game. These questions will have three parts, worth two points each, with no penalty for wrong answers. Example: Predict Wall's points/assists/steals.
• There may be questions with other scoring systems, but those will be explained as they occur.

After each game, I will tally up and post the scores and keep track of total points and "shooting percentage" for the entire season.  I encourage everyone to play the entire season, but don't fret if you miss a GOG, just play the next time!

Round 00 of the 2009-2010 GOG is a very special one: you get to make your predictions for the whole 2009-2010 season!  Will the Cats take the title?  How many games will they win? I've already seen some pre-season prediction threads and you should comment on those, but answers for Round 00 will count DOUBLE so get them in!

Note: Unless otherwise specified, questions refer to the combined non-conference, conference and postseason (No exhibition games are included).  No pre-season awards are considered (so pre-season All SEC, AA, etc don't count).

GOG 2009 #00: [max 77 points]

1. Predict UK's regular season record (31 games).[3 points]
2. Predict UK's postseason record (SECT + NCAAT/NIT/CBI). [3 points]
3. Despised Rivals: Predict UK's regular season record against Tennessee, Florida, Indiana, UNC, and Louisville (7 games). [3 points]
4. The SEC returns a lot of talent from last year and promises to have the strongest collection of teams we've seen in many years.  With so many good squads, only a crazy person would try to predict the order of finish for the SEC East and SEC West. Predict the order of finish for the SEC East and SEC West. [+/- 1 point for each correct/incorrect]
5. Which SEC team improves their record (as measured by win percentage) the most from last season?  Which declines the most? [3 points each]
6. Who wins the SEC Regular Season? [3 points]
7. Who finishes SECOND in the SEC regular season? [3 points]
8. How many Wildcats make either the AP or Coaches All-SEC team? [3 points]
9. Last year only 3 SEC squads made the Big Dance.  This year there should be many more, with some coaches stating they think the conference can get as many as 7 or 8.  How many SEC teams make the NCAA Tournament? [3 points]
10. What is UK's seed in the NCAA Tournament?  [3 points] (Note: if you think UK will miss the NCAAT you can choose that too)
11. Entering the season, UK leads UNC 1988 wins to 1984 wins.  How many games does it take for UK to reach the 2000 win plateau?   Who gets to 2000 wins first: UK or UNC?  [3 points, +/-1 point]
12. The last time a UK player earned a triple-double it was 1988 and Chris Mills went for 19 points, 10 boards, and 10 assists against Austin Peay.  Will a UK player record a triple-double this season? [ +/-1 point]
13. I'm not sure when the last time UK had a player with 10+ assists, although Cliff Hawkins had 11 against SC in 2004.  Will a UK player have a 10+ assist game this season? [ +/-1 point]
14. Filling Jodie's Enormous Shoes part I: Last season UK shot 35.3% from behind the arc and made 202 three pointers, thanks mostly to Jodie Meeks and his 40.6% on 288 attempts.  UK doesn't have a shooter like Meeks, but does appear to have several players who can collectively pick up the slack. Does UK shoot better or worse than 35.3% from behind the arc?  Does UK make more or less than 202 three pointers? [ +/- 1 point each]
15. Filling Jodie's Enormous Shoes part II: Who leads the team in scoring (ppg)? [3 points]
16. UK fans love the in-state players.  How many combined starts for Darius Miller, Jon Hood, and Mark Krebs? [3 points]
17. Big things from Wall: predict his Minutes Per Game/Points Per Game/Assists Per Game. [2 points each]
18. Darnell Dodson is the obvious candidate to step in for Jodie.  Predict his Points Per Game/3-Pointers Made Per Game /Steals Per Game. [2 points each]
19. Patterson will play more minutes, but Stevenson is the better shot blocker.  Who has more blocked shots this season? [+/- 1 point]
20. More Patterson: Predict his Points Per Game/Rebounds Per Game/Blocks Per Game. [2 points each]
21. Even more Patterson (because he is so awesome): Does Patrick make AP 1st Team All-American? [+/- 1 point]
22. Beasts in the paint: Which tandem produces more double-doubles: Patterson/Stevenson or Orton/Cousins? [+/- 1 point]
23. No matter when the season ends, it will be too soon: Who scores the final point(s) for UK this season? [3 points]

Deadline is tip-off with Morehead State, Friday November 13.