Pope Update

Here's what will happen.  Over the next few months, we will start to see stories about how Kentucky has done "surprisingly well" in the transfer portal, and how the team looks "much better," and that the Cats can definitely "make a run" if everyone "stays healthy."  Next November, UK will start off somewhere around Number 15 in the AP poll, and all the usual suspects will write articles trying to bait UK fans into complaining about Pope, or the Administration, or the team.

None of it will work.  No matter what everyone tries, there will be no buzz around next year's UK team.  No buzz (outside of the type of folks who go to Keeneland) around the UK / U of L game in Lexington.  No buzz about whoever we play in that Champions' Classic where we get embarrassed every year.  No buzz about the Gonzaga game.  No buzz about that December Classic where we played St. John's this season.  No buzz about the SEC regular season, or the games with Tennessee.  Certainly no buzz in the run-up to the annual blowouts by Alabama and Florida.  No buzz at the SEC Tournament.  And no buzz when they miss the NCAA's / lose in the first round / lose in the second round.

After the blowout against Michigan State, I had no interest in any game UK played the rest of the year.  I knew those injured players wouldn't make a difference, and I never even bothered to learn their names.  I knew they weren't reaching the SEC semi-finals.  I knew they weren't reaching the NCAA Regionals.  My only interest was in whether they would lose to Santa Clara, because I thought that would put more pressure on the Administration.  But of course, they pulled that one out -- only to be drilled by 19 against Iowa State (and T.J. Otzelberger!) on Sunday.  After the game, one of the Iowa State players basically said that they expected UK to give up in the second half -- and that's exactly what happened.

The proles are done.  They aren't reading any more articles.  They aren't following any more tweets.  They aren't scanning any more transfer lists.  Most Kentuckians learn early in life that it's a mistake to waste your life on foolish hopes.  They know it's not getting any better under this coach, and as far as they can tell, most people in Lexington couldn't care less.  After all, if they cared, they would have at least interviewed T.J. Otzelberger.

So next year, Lexington will get to have the Cats all to itself.  The Jeeves and Wooster types in the Bluegrass were always embarrassed by the UK fan base, and now they get to see what it's like when we stay home.  My guess is that they will find it less entertaining -- and certainly less profitable -- than it used to be.  And maybe that will change their mind.

I've Been in Japan

Updates will soon return.

12 Teams Left

Because I am writing this post in Japan, I was unable to see today's matchups in the KHSAA Boys' State Basketball Tournament.  But thanks to the Internet, I have the scores, and here they are:

(4) Lou. St. Xavier 75, (1) Cov. Catholic 61

On paper, these were two of the best teams in the tournament.  But Cov Cath could not hang with St. X, which played a dominant game today. 

(16) N. Laurel 52, (3) Warren Cent. 38

Warren Central is almost always a tough out in this tournament, and I definitely thought they would win this game.  But North Laurel not only won, they made it look easy.

Grayson Co. 73, Taylor Co. 64

Probably not significant in the long run, but a nice win for the Third Region.

Great Crossing 57, Danville Christian 37

The defending champs are on a roll.

If the NCAA Used Regions

If each of the 16 Regions was won by the highest-ranked team on Ken Pom, and the regions were drawn in the same order as they are for this year's KHSAA Tournament, the NCAA's would look like this:

(26) Ohio St. v. (15) Arkansas

Arkansas survived a surprising challenge from Ole Miss with a 93-90 OT victory in the final.

(13) Virginia v. (5) Houston

(1) Duke v. (33) Villanova

(14) Nebraska v. (6) Iowa St.

Lots of drama here.  Nebraska beat Kansas for take what may be its first Regional Title ever.  Iowa State edged Illinois to take the 11th Region for the third year in a row.

(4) Florida v. (2) Arizona

The most important game in the first round.

(12) Vanderbilt v. (17) St. John's

Two hot teams.  Vandy beat Tennessee to win the Eighth Region for the first time since 1974, thus ending UT's three-year run as Regional Champs.  The folks at Memorial Gym in Nashville went berserk.  UK hasn't won the Eighth Region since 2022.  U of L hasn't won it since 2020.

(3) Michigan v. (10) Gonzaga

The 10th Region, which featured Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan St., was one of the strongest in the country.

(24) Saint Mary's v. (11) UConn

Byington Update

On December 21, 2025, Vandy beat Wake Forest -- on the road -- 98 to 67.  The win ran Vandy's record to 12-0 and pushed its ranking on Ken Pom all the way up to Number 8.   But Duke Miles, the Vanderbilt shooting guard, missed the next two games -- and still wasn't at 100 percent when SEC play resumed.  Miles finally missed six games in a row between January 27 and February 18, and did not play more than 30 minutes in any game until Vandy's overtime win at Ole Miss on March 3.  That game, which Vandy won 89-86, was Miles's first appearance with more than 30 minutes since January 17.  But yesterday, in the SEC quarter-finals against Tennessee, Miles carried the Commodores to victory with 30 points.  It was his sixth MVP award of the season from Ken Pom, but his first since December 17.

The one good thing about Miles's absence was that it allowed Tyler Tanner, Vandy's sophomore point guard, to become a start.  According to Ken Pom, Tanner was the most valuable player in the SEC, and he kept Vandy afloat through a very long and difficult stretch of SEC play where the Dores did not have all their weapons.

Vandy had also been in a shooting slump of late.  As a team, Vandy makes 35.4 percent from 3-point range.  But they went 7-28 (25.0 percent) in a loss at Lexington on February 28, then 9-32 (28.1 percent) in a win at Ole Miss, 5-10 (50.0 percent) in a win at Knoxville, and 7-27 (25.9 percent) in a win over UT in the SEC quarter-finals.  For those four games, in other words, the Dores went 28-97 (28.9 percent) from three-point range -- well below their average.  They were due to get hot.

And today, they did.  With Miles back at full strength today (33 minutes, 15 points, 7 assists), Tanner looking like an NBA player (20 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, only 1 turnover), and the Dores finally hitting from the outside (10-21, 47.6 percent), Vanderbilt blew the Florida Gators off the court.  Coming into this game, Florida was on a 12-game winning streak.  The Gators had zoomed up to number 4 on both Ken Pom and the AP rankings.  They were 26-6, with all six losses coming by nine points or less.  At almost no point in any game all year had they been far behind.  All that ended today.  Vandy was up 47-34 at the half -- and then built the lead to 76-51 (!) with 8:11 left in the game, before cruising home with a surprisingly easy 91 to 74 win.  Vandy advances to the SEC finals for only the second time since the tournament was restarted in 1979 -- and the first time since the Dores won the tournament in 2012.

Florida fans will remember that Kentucky lost to Vandy in the final of that 2012 tournament -- and then regrouped to win the NCAA's.  And I believe that Florida will be a very tough out in the big tournament.  The Gators controlled a very physical slugfest with Kentucky yesterday, and I'm not sure anyone can beat Vandy when they are as hot as they were today.  This loss will help the Gators focus and prepare for next week, even if it costs them a Number One seed.

But meanwhile, today belongs to Vanderbilt, which captured one of the greatest wins in its history.  If the Commodores retain the services of Coach Mark Byington, the 49-year-old wizard who has gotten them this far in only two years, they should be formidable for many years to come.  Vandy has always been a sleeping giant of basketball -- they have money, a great school, a great conference, and the best gymnasium in college sports.  But they've never been willing to do what was needed to hire -- and retain -- a top-notch coach.  Byington now appears to be that coach, and we'll see if Vandy keeps him.