Will A 20-11 Regular Season Record Be Good Enough?
I caught some highlights of Auburn the other day on the SEC Network and was left with the impression that they will be a terribly difficult matchup for the Cats. With a road game coming up Saturday in a hostile environment at West Virginia , I started wondering where any remaining road wins will come from. The SEC Network program I was watching then had a segment about how the RPI would be viewed by the selection committee this season. That segment got me looking at some of the various sites that show RPI, and particularly where Kentucky stood among those ratings. The RealTimeRPI website has the ratings but also has a predictor that they boast as being the most accurate sports prediction system available on the internet. With 11 games remaining on the Wildcats regular season schedule, the predictor has UK winning its home games but losing all 6 road games that are left on the schedule. That would put the Cats at 20-11 heading into the SEC Tournament. A 12th loss in the SEC Tournament would make for a nervous BBN on Selection Sunday.
Look Past The Numbers
While I don't have an issue with the Cats 17th spot in RPI or 5th in many bracket projections, the RealTime predictor misses on it's ability to factor in the UK team's floor and ceiling. Kentucky, with it's youth, probably has the most space between floor and ceiling as any team in the country. The big question is if Cal can get this team closer to the ceiling than the floor while building the resume on along the way. Results earlier in the season are a heavy factor in most of these game predictors. The hope here is that the Cats actually do have a different team in February than they did in January. The good news is that the SEC is being recognized as a much deeper conference this season and has a legitimate shot at sending 6(RealTimeRPI has 8) teams to the NCAA Tournament. You would have to think that any team with an above .500 winning percentage in conference will be in a good position for an invite to the dance. Either way, it should be a wild ride the rest of the way and gets started with a big ESPN Gameday matchup on Saturday. Hang on, BBN.
While We Are Waiting For 7pm Saturday
Because it was awesome, here's a De'Aaron Fox game winner from Wednesday.
