Pope Update

At the half, UK trailed Tennessee 47 to 33 in Rupp.  But, for the fifth time this season, the Cats rallied from a double digit deficit to win the game -- beating UT 74 to  71 thanks to a suffocating second-half defense that held Tennessee to only 24 points.  It was Pope's fourth win in four regular season games against the Vols, and underscored the point that there's a weird rock/paper/scissors thing going on in the SEC:

Kentucky has won four of its last five against Tennessee.

Tennessee has won five straight against Alabama.

Alabama has won four straight against Kentucky

Anyway, the Cats have now won eight out of nine.  They are 8-3 in the SEC and 17-7 overall.  To put those figures in perspective, here's UK's record after 11 SEC games since 2022:

2022:  9-2, 20-4

2023:  7-4, 16-8

2024:  7-4, 17-7

2025:  6-5, 17-7

However, it's important to understand that analytically, Kentucky is basically the same team it was before the winning streak began.  After UK lost to Mizzou to begin SEC play at 0-2, Ken Pomeroy moved UK from 25 to 30 on his rankings.  Nine games later, eight of which were wins, Ken Pom now has UK ranked . . . 31.  In fact, the analytics support such a result -- six of UK's eight wins in this streak were by less than double digits.  They beat LSU by one on a buzzer beater, won at Knoxville by two, edged Texas at home by five, survived Ole Miss at home by nine, upset Arkansas on the road by eight, and squeezed past Tennessee at home last night by three.

So from Ken Pom's perspective, UK hasn't gotten better -- they've just gotten luckier.  The Cats are now up to 98 in Pomeroy's "luck" score -- meaning that their record is now a game or two better than their scoring margin would have indicated.  Still, nothing makes fans happier than winning close games, so the mood in the camp has improved dramatically.  Cats now get a week off, and then they play what is probably their toughest game of the year -- at Florida.  Believe it or not, if the Cats win that game, they will be in first place in the SEC.

Speaking of the Gators, they went to Aggieland and humiliated Texas A & M, 86 to 67.  Florida is really good.  Meanwhile, Vanderbilt suffered a terrible defeat -- 92 to 91 at home against Oklahoma -- that pretty much ends their chances of competing for the SEC title.  

Here's the top of the SEC standings:

Florida:  8-2

Kentucky:  8-3

Arkansas:  7-3

Texas A & M:  7-3

Vanderbilt:  6-4

Tennessee:  6-4

Alabama:  6-4

Missouri:  6-4

Texas:  6-5

Auburn:  5-5

Georgia:  5-5

And here are the classic SEC rankings, based on Ken Pom:

7.  Florida:  17-6

14.  Vanderbilt:  19-4

18.  Tennessee:  16-7

20.  Alabama:  16-7

30.  Auburn:  14-9

31.  Kentucky:  17-7

37.  Georgia:  17-6

51.  Louisiana St:  14-9

68.  Mississippi:  11-12

88.  Mississippi St:  11-12