OPEN SHOT: Sunday Odds and Ends

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 24, 2007 7:00 PM EDT in News Comment 24 comments

We often remark about how difficult Kentucky's football schedule is, and there is no doubt that any team playing the the SEC East is going to have a tough schedule the last few years. The Notre Dame Football Blog reports that Rivals has come out with the top 25 toughest schedules in college ~~basketball~~ football, and Kentucky is 11th on the list. Now, that is very interesting, and begs the question -- How does the rest of our conference and some other top teams in the land stack up? Here's the answer:

#2	South Carolina
#5	Auburn
#6	Tennessee
#7	Florida
#10	Mississippi State
#14	Georgia
#18	LSU

I notice that our friends down I-64, namely the Louisville Cardinals, don't seem to be on the list. The Notre Dame Football blog addresses this:

For those wondering why there team didn’t make it, here’s my take on some top teams that have soft schedules:

- Louisville - You don’t get put in the schedule conversation when you have MURRAY STATE and MIDDLE TENNESSEE on the slate. Sorry, Cards fans.

Heh. Very funny. Bourbonseeker made this same point, which I detailed earlier.

In other news of interest, shymablog has this post, which is brief and to the point, but tells us something that will come as no surprise to those of us residing in the Bluegrass. Kentucky is the #1 basketball state based on the all-time winning percentages of its college basketball teams.

Update [2007-6-25 15:5:3 by Truzenzuzex]: Nico at Roll 'Bama Roll makes the case for Alabama's inclusion -- I think he's right.

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correction

that's toughest college FOOTBALL schedule. i suspect UK basketball, if history indicates, will be a little higher than 11th - what say you BCG? kinda relies the SEC, too, who will step up and perform to make the conference schedule a tough one?

by bluekarma1965 on Jun 24, 2007 9:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I did say it was the football schedule ...

didn't I?

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 24, 2007 11:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

mis-type

probably a freudian mis-type - but the post says top 25 toughest basketball schedules.

by bluekarma1965 on Jun 25, 2007 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah, I see it now! Old age ...

can make you see poorly. Or stop reading to early. Or become sexually dysfunctional, or... Oops, several "or"s too many, I think. Thanks for pointing this out, it will be fixed immediately.

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 25, 2007 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's really because of the different conferences..

Kentucky would actually be in the top half or better in most conferences.

But in the brutal SEC East we are actually predicted to finish 5th or 6th in most of them. You have to play your "A" game against your opponents week in and week out in this conference to be successful.

Is this a lack of respect for U of Kentucky or a ton of respect for the SEC?

I think it's both.

I pull for the Louisville Cardinals except when they play U of Kentucky. But if we had the same schedule they usually have 10 wins for us would be a likely hood instead of just a outside possibility.

They do play WVU - a team that I know could compete in the SEC and is definitely an SEC caliber team - and Rutgers - whom I'm still not convinced is a Big East power really like U of Kentucky Rutgers needs two consecutive winning seasons not just one to gain national and even Big East respect - but other than that U of Louisville plays middle-of-the-road teams for the most part.

Yes our U of Kentucky Football team constantly gets ripped by the press for our below-than-average non-conference schedule but we're almost forced to do that because we have to play in the BRUTAL SEC.

To be fair to UL I have not yet seen their whole complete schedule to make an educated decision....

by ukcatfan191 on Jun 24, 2007 10:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am reasonably sure ...

8 wins would be a no-brainer for this Kentucky team playing Louisville's opponents. But we won't be playing them. We are in the SEC, and we must earn our respect the hard way. I'd like to see how Louisville would fare against our schedule. Given their talent, I would say the would probably outperform us slightly. But then again, maybe not ...

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 24, 2007 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

South Carolina at #2 seems incredibly suspect...

...with their out of conference schedule comprised of Louisiana-Lafayette, South Carolina State (I-AA), North Carolina and Clemson, that doesn't strike me as particularly brutal. It must be the four tough road games that land them on the schedule, because it sure isn't the OOC slate.

Florida at #7 doesn't make much sense either. Hell Alabama's schedule is as tough or tougher than Florida's. From the West, both play Auburn, LSU and Ole Miss. From the East, both play Vanderbilt, Georgia and Tennessee. Florida plays Kentucky and South Carolina and Alabama plays Arkansas and Mississippi State. They both play Florida State. They both play a I-AA team. Florida plays Troy, Alabama plays Houston. Florida plays Florida Atlantic, Alabama plays La-Monroe. The only real difference there is between Kentucky and Mississippi State. Granted, that's a big difference, but still seems a bit out of proportion.

Roll Tide!

by RollBamaRoll on Jun 25, 2007 9:06 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Did you take into consideration ...

who plays who at home vs. away?

That seems to be a large part of their calculation -- in fact, several times they commented on how a big difference was the location of the game. I will reiterate -- I am a basketball guy, not a football one, so I will absolutely defer to the wisdom of any Alabama fan when it comes to technical things like this -- you guys have forgotten more about college football in the last 5 minutes than I have ever known.

So if you find some time, I would love to have your take on it, especially with respect to game location.

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 25, 2007 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The home/away divide...

...is unquestionably HUGE. Last year Alabama had road games at Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU and Florida. That's brutal. BRUTAL.

I'll only speak to the Alabama vs. Florida scheduling question with regard to my original comment. I'll first break down the common teams on the schedule and then will match up the remainder of the teams on both schedule according to who I think is toughest from what's left:

TENNESSEE: AL & FL both get them at home.
OLE MISS: AL & FL both play in Oxford.
AUBURN: AL plays away, FL plays at home
LSU: AL plays at home, FL plays away
GEORGIA: AL plays at home, FL plays at Jacksonville
VANDERBILT: AL plays away, FL plays at home
FSU: AL plays at Jacksonville, FL plays at home

AL plays Arkansas at home, FL plays South Carolina away

AL plays Miss. St. away, FL plays Kentucky away

AL plays Houston at home, FL plays Troy at home.

AL plays La-Monroe at home, FL plays Fla-Atlantic at home.

They both play their 1-AA cupcake at home.

AL @ Auburn and FL @ LSU is a wash. AL getting GA at home and FL getting FSU at home and both playing the other in neutral Jacksonville is a wash.

It appears to me that the major difference is AL travels to Vandy and Miss St. and FL travels to South Carolina and Kentucky. Considering the fact that AL has a combined six losses to those four schools on the road since 1980, I don't see much of a difference there either.

I think I'm just going to rework my few comments here into a post on our site.

Roll Tide!

by RollBamaRoll on Jun 25, 2007 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good ...

I look forward to reading it. I'll offer the balance of my comments there, because, I admit, my credibility on this subject is ... shall we say, less than unimpeachable. ;-)

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 25, 2007 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let the slaying of Rivals.com's...

...analysis of schedule strength being here.

Roll Tide!

by RollBamaRoll on Jun 25, 2007 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

D'oh

Begin here.

Roll Tide!

by RollBamaRoll on Jun 25, 2007 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Are you football fans happy yet?

I believe that there is a plethora of UK football news on the front page. No more whining football fans.

Granted, the abundance may be attributed to the current season and a lack UKBB news, but it is the appopriate time to focus on it. Who knows, if Tru and JL continue their success, they may just help add thousands of UKBB fans to the tally of UKFB fans. That is, btw, the way football will continue to grow at UK; more money from the fans/boosters.

by blueblood on Jun 25, 2007 11:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am making a conscious effort ...

to follow football more closely. It is a challenge, but then, it is surely worth it to those readers who are more football fans than basketball.

I know we do have a few here like that, and the blog is dedicated to ALL UK sports, not just roundball.

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 25, 2007 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That was my point.

I see alot more about the not-so-round ball on here and it does make it a much more well-rounded site. I think it will do alot of good for the fan base and your site. It will keep the hits up at the site will spreading a little knowledge and interest around the fan base. It was a positive comment...errr... more of an acknowledgement.

by blueblood on Jun 25, 2007 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ky Football

I bleed blue and am prmarily a basketball fan but I would like to see the football news even if there were tons of basketball news. I can be a football fan and a basketball fan at the same time even if I like basketball better, especially since our football team is actually getting better.

by davw83 on Jun 25, 2007 12:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We will try ...

very hard not to shortchange either sport. We are determined to provide as much comprehensive coverage as possible.

by Truzenzuzex on Jun 25, 2007 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

pre Season rankings

If were you Bama I wouldnt get too caught up in the preseason rankings. We here at UK know all about being slighted in rankings and I have found that you really cant judge SOS until the season is over. Teams can perform so eractically I find that its pretty arbitrary to put out a preseason SOS rating.

by davw83 on Jun 25, 2007 3:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs