Tue, Feb 09 2010
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Published November 14, 2009 03:45 pm - College basketball season: the time of year when we all feel a poetic chill in the air, begin harboring pie-eyed dreams of our favorite team lifting the championship trophy and start to seriously consider beating Dick Vitale with a Louisville Slugger. Best guesses Non-conference tests for UK, U of L By JON WEBB Glasgow Daily Times GLASGOW — College basketball season: the time of year when we all feel a poetic chill in the air, begin harboring pie-eyed dreams of our favorite team lifting the championship trophy and start to seriously consider beating Dick Vitale with a Louisville Slugger.
And this year, the collective eyes of basketball fans everywhere have fallen on Kentucky and its two high-profile programs’ respective pseudo-Sicilian coaches. Many are curious to see how John Calipari molds his talented crop of freshmen and fits them into his motion-offense system. Others just want to see how much hatefulness Rick Pitino has to endure each time Louisville has an away game. But what’s been lost are the games themselves. Forget grand and (I think) illogical talk of a year-one championship for Calipari, or opining about Pitino’s very public pratfall from grace: how do Kentucky and Louisville matchup against their toughest opponents? Let’s discuss: The Wildcats I’ve made no secret of my hesitance toward Kentucky this year (see three two graphs above). I don’t think they will win a national championship simply because they are an extremely inexperienced team. True, they return legitimate SEC Player of the Year candidate Patrick Patterson: a man who averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds last season, and stands only to get better. And, and, they boast one of the nation’s top recruits (John Wall) and have the luxury of flanking him with several like-talented cohorts. So, in other words, an SEC title is definitely within their grasp. After all, Tennessee stands as their only kind-of-legitimate competition in the conference. In order to be a force outside of the south, however, they’ll have to win these key games. North Carolina (Dec. 5, home) Yes, UNC is essentially the hollowed-out exoskeleton of the team that won last year’s championship. But the Tar Heels do return big men Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis, whose presence could definitely disrupt Wall’s dribble-drive tendencies and perhaps lure Patterson into foul trouble. Plus, it will be one of the few games where the opposing team possesses a better coach (Roy Williams) than Calipari. Connecticut (Dec. 9, away) Right after UNC, Kentucky will have to face UCONN, who also could cause problems for Kentucky down low. The key matchup will be Wall and Connecticut guard Jerome Dyson. If one heats up, the other will surely try to match point for point. Cats fans can only hope Wall gets the upper hand. Indiana (Dec. 12, away) 
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