Pope Update

For the fourth year in a row, Kentucky is eliminated on Friday in the SEC quarter-finals.  The Cats tried hard, and I'm sure they did their best, but they just aren't in Florida's league.  No one can shoot in Bridgestone Arena -- and that includes the Gators, who were 3-20 from three-point range.  But as the smaller and less physical team, UK needed to make outside shots, and the Cats went 5-23 from behind the arc, even after two games of practice.  UK's poor outside shooting sank the Cats, as they were utterly dominated inside.  The Gators outrebounded UK 50 to 29, and the Gators took 33 free throws to only 20 for UK.

The Cats will go into the NCAA Tournament with a record of 0-3 against Florida, and 21-10 against everyone else, for an overall record of 21-13.  The Cats went 12-9 against SEC opponents this year, or 12-6 against SEC opponents not named Florida.  The Cats are 28 on Ken Pom, and 233 in Luck.  They will have a struggle to reach the Second Round of the NC2A's.

From the outside, it appears that UK has had a wacky season this year, with all sorts of ups and downs.  But that's not really true.  After Alabama beat UK on January 3, the Cats fell to 25 on Ken Pom.  Since that time, they have never been higher than 24 (after they beat Tennessee on the road), and they have never been lower than 33 (after they were blown out at Vandy).  They are, and have been for the last two months, a team that should go to the NCAA Tournament, but should not be ranked by the AP.

The only reason anyone was ever confused about UK's status is because, for reasons that I have never understood, they began the season ranked very high.  And here, I think, it's fair to complain about the press.  I have watched a lot of college basketball this year -- it's been one of the best seasons in many years, and there are a number of great teams.  There is simply no way that anyone who has seen Duke, or Michigan, or Florida, or Purdue, or Houston, or Arizona, or Illinois, or UConn, could pretend that UK was at the same level as those teams.  And the injuries make very little difference to these facts.  UK simply wasn't a significantly better team even with all its parts.  I have no idea why so many commentators pretended that guys like Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen were better than they are.

UPDATE:  In the second quarterfinal, Vanderbilt defeated Tennessee 75 to 68.  So Vandy takes two out of three from the Vols.  On this basis, I am going to award Vanderbilt the championship of the Eighth Region.  It is the first time since 1974 that the Commodores have captured that title.  Vandy moves to 25-7 on the year, 13 on Ken Pom, and 120 in Luck.  Tennessee is 22-11 on the year, 15 on Ken Pom, and 322 in luck.  This year Tennessee had a four-point loss (at home) to Kentucky, a three-point loss (on the road) to Kentucky, a two-point loss (at home) to Alabama, a four-point loss (at home) to Vandy, and now another loss to Vandy.

Ken Pom believes that Florida will beat Vanderbilt in the semi-finals tomorrow by a score of 83 to 77.