Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
Most of you by now have heard the news that Calipari wants to schedule a five-way round robin tournament between major college basketball powers, putting Kentucky, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina and Kansas in a series of games that would allow each to play tough games against major opponents at home and away. It is a great idea that would allow for Kentucky to potentially play Indiana and Kansas at home one year and then Louisville and North Carolina at home the next. It would provide a great schedule for our boys in Blue in Rupp Arena, while also allowing them the test of tough games in other teams’ arenas.
So it sounds like Calipari is looking out for the program and making sure Kentucky has tough games right? Well not exactly. Kentucky can, and will, schedule difficult games every season and in so doing, it need not be part of any “tournament” to make it happen. But what the schedule format does do is put the onus on other programs to up their non-conference schedule or shut up. Calipari knows what the repercussions of his comment will be. Some aspiring reporter will call the coach of the four other programs and ask what they think of Calipari’s idea. Then that reporter will hear Bill Self at Kansas say, “GREAT IDEA!”, Roy Williams at North Carolina say “Good idea…but we better look into it some more” and Tom Crean/Rick Pitino run for cover. Neither Pitino, nor Crean, have any desire to play four tough non-conference games of this sort, and they will hide behind the supposed superiority of their conference schedules as reasons for their reticence. Calipari can then say (correctly), “see I would like to do something like that for the fans…but they aren’t interested.”
In everything Calipari does there are multiple layers. He wants to play a good schedule and get his teams ready, but he also wants to point out the hypocrisy of most of his critics. He has taken a lot of heat for not reaching a deal on the Indiana series, even though Calipari has made clear that he is willing to play the Hoosiers in a different setting. By throwing out this scenario he will make clear to anyone who cares to pay attention this fact…everyone wants to play Kentucky in theory because it helps them to do so. But when asked to take on the same scheduling burden that UK takes in the nonconference every year…one finds out that the other coaches have no intention of putting their schedule where their mouth is.
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Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
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July 30th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Spot on, nice read..
July 30th, 2012 at 6:04 pm
Word
July 30th, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Other than Kentucky, has Louisville played a quality non-conference opponent since Nam?
July 30th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
Most insightful and intriguing post of the day.
July 30th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Is it just me or is the girl in kentucky shirt’s right aereola and nipples clearly visible?
July 30th, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Letter.
The subject and analysis of this post can get some interesting cats-chat at volleyball tonight.
July 30th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
5.) Matt must have licked the picture prior to the upload. Nice catch!
July 30th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Hey babe, how bout you ditch the two geeks you’re with and hop in with me?
July 30th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
5- if you look deeper, you’ll notice the bra on that young blonde co-ed. The indention, wow, mother nature can be forceful.
7- I hope he did. I’d be disappointed if he didn’t.
July 30th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Wow, go Cats. And go girl wearing the Cats shirt. Kentucky sitting upon two beautiful hills.
July 30th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
IU/Uofl would never play the same non-conf schedule as UK, they’ll use their conference as an excuse not to
July 30th, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Somebody needs to get this girl to be UK fan of the day:
http://network.yardbarker.com/entertainment/article_external/backyard/best_photos_of_leryn_franco_at_the_olympics_opening_ceremony/11319187?refmod=backyard&refsrc=foxsports
July 30th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
I like Matt’s commentary because he’s smart. Can’t say that about every sports journalist for sure.
July 30th, 2012 at 7:45 pm
9 – no way Jones didn’t hit that before he’d let her grace the page. Dude got mad game in sure
July 30th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
14- I hope he did. If he doesn’t, Jones will regret all the tail he missed out once he gets to the age where Viagra doesn’t work.
July 30th, 2012 at 8:06 pm
Cal is obviously scared and catering to his moronic fanbase. He knows the SEC is terrible so he is preimptively doing this to say “we tried”. Always a coniving butt jockey
July 30th, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Get a load of the tits on her
July 30th, 2012 at 9:43 pm
Leave it up to Jones to be creepin on facebook
July 30th, 2012 at 9:43 pm
Dukesux,
Yep SEC sux that’s why it keeps winning NCAA Championshis 3 came to SEC land in the last seven seasons.
July 30th, 2012 at 11:19 pm
trollin’: 1) for hits by saying that other coaches won’t buck up and schedule big games, when UK destroyed all prestigious non-conference series outside of UL. 2) as a creep on Facebook and Google images all day long. how talented.
July 31st, 2012 at 12:02 am
Yes and yes!! GO CATS!!