Incredibly, I'm Looking Forward to What Vandy and Kentucky Can Do in This Year's SEC

[AndyPopCat]

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/06/21/incredibly-im-looking-forward-to-what-vandy-and-kentucky-can-d/

[johnkyblue]

That's about the weakest blog post ever! What, he's trying out for a job at the LHL?

[poodoo]

Thanks for the link, Andy.

Guys and gals, here is even more evidence that the SEC East is unbelievably DIFFICULT. Reading about Vandy last season, I noticed that they beat Georgia AT Georgia, lost to eventual NATIONAL CHAMPION Florida by only SIX points and lost to respected Alabama and Arkansas by a COMBINED FIVE points. Those stats get my attention. Actually, UK's win over Vandy last season now looks all the better.

Speaking of last season, if we had been more fortunate (or insert the appropriate word :icon_sad:) and had gotten the ball into the end zone at the end of the game in Knoxville, I believe (and I hope I'm not mistaken on this point) the Cats would have finished SECOND in that so strong SEC East, which would have been just unreal in consideration of the level of talent within the SEC East as based on recruiting rankings. Let's just hope, of course, that we pull off some more upsets in SEC East competition this season. :) GO CATS!!!

[The Old School JPS]

Andy, great to see you on here!

poodoo is right: had UK won vs. Tennessee, UK would've finished the season in sole possession of second place in the SEC East. As it was, UK finished in third place in the East, which is no small accomplishment.

Vanderbilt is dangerous this year!

In 2004 Vanderbilt lost five games by a combined 15 points and would have gone 7-5 had those games gone the other way. Instead they ended up with a 2-9 record that made them look like a much worse team than they were.

In 2005 Vanderbilt beat Arkansas, Tennessee and Ole Miss on the road! But, they lost to Florida in two overtimes, let an upset at South Carolina slip away and LSU broke a close game open in the second half and they only finished 5-6. They'd have gone bowling had UK not held on against their furious late rally for a win in Knoxville; Vanderbilt was favored by 11 points in that game. (Vanderbilt also inexplicably let Middle Tennessee upset them by 2 points; if not for that loss, too, they'd have gone bowling.)

Last year as poodoo notes Vanderbilt had four very close games that they lost to go 4-8 instead of 8-4. Down by 2 to Arkansas with under a minute to go they missed a field goal that could've won the game. That was one week after they lost at Alabama by a mere 3 points. Florida beat them by 6 and they lost by 7 at Ole Miss, though they were favored in that game. They also went through the entire season without a bye week. They managed to beat then-#16 Georgia on the road though.

This year Vanderbilt has ten starters back on offense and eight starters back on defense, and they have eight home games. Look for Vanderbilt to be a better team than last year. UK plays them in Nashville, too, and Vanderbilt may well be playing for bowl eligibility at that point.

Bobby Johnson is a solid coach and is overseeing constant and solid improvement at Vanderbilt. They are not to be overlooked or underestimated this year. I would not at all be surprised to see Vanderbilt in a bowl game this year, or seeing their game vs. UK as their last obstacle to getting into one.

[PitinoLooksBetterInRed]

I hope UK destroys Vandy. Dropping us to have an eighth home game against, drumrole please........ I-AA Richmond! I agree, Vandy will cause some good SEC teams fit, but cupcaking your non-conference games and almost beating the SEC big guys isnt the way to make a statement. I'm no fan of dropping games in any sport, whether its WKU, an ex-player's team or a top-10 team. Of all the years to drop your signature non-conference game, why this year?

[poodoo]

Andy, great to see you on here!

poodoo is right: had UK won vs. Tennessee, UK would've finished the season in sole possession of second place in the SEC East. As it was, UK finished in third place in the East, which is no small accomplishment.

Vanderbilt is dangerous this year!

In 2004 Vanderbilt lost five games by a combined 15 points and would have gone 7-5 had those games gone the other way. Instead they ended up with a 2-9 record that made them look like a much worse team than they were.

In 2005 Vanderbilt beat Arkansas, Tennessee and Ole Miss on the road! But, they lost to Florida in two overtimes, let an upset at South Carolina slip away and LSU broke a close game open in the second half and they only finished 5-6. They'd have gone bowling had UK not held on against their furious late rally for a win in Knoxville; Vanderbilt was favored by 11 points in that game. (Vanderbilt also inexplicably let Middle Tennessee upset them by 2 points; if not for that loss, too, they'd have gone bowling.)

Last year as poodoo notes Vanderbilt had four very close games that they lost to go 4-8 instead of 8-4. Down by 2 to Arkansas with under a minute to go they missed a field goal that could've won the game. That was one week after they lost at Alabama by a mere 3 points. Florida beat them by 6 and they lost by 7 at Ole Miss, though they were favored in that game. They also went through the entire season without a bye week. They managed to beat then-#16 Georgia on the road though.

This year Vanderbilt has ten starters back on offense and eight starters back on defense, and they have eight home games. Look for Vanderbilt to be a better team than last year. UK plays them in Nashville, too, and Vanderbilt may well be playing for bowl eligibility at that point.

Bobby Johnson is a solid coach and is overseeing constant and solid improvement at Vanderbilt. They are not to be overlooked or underestimated this year. I would not at all be surprised to see Vanderbilt in a bowl game this year, or seeing their game vs. UK as their last obstacle to getting into one.

JPS, I so agree that Bobby Johnson is a solid coach and is so improving Vanderbilt's program. Last season I had watched how Vanderbilt was competing (although barely losing, as you noted) in the SEC and had thus been concerned about UK's game against Vandy. I was quite glad that we were playing them in Commonwealth. I did not realize that Vandy had TEN starters returning on offense (besides eight on defense) this season. It seems that they will indeed be an even more DANGEROUS team this year. Again, the competition within the SEC East is just unreal. GO CATS!!!

[RV]

I hope UK destroys Vandy. Dropping us to have an eighth home game against, drumrole please........ I-AA Richmond! I agree, Vandy will cause some good SEC teams fit, but cupcaking your non-conference games and almost beating the SEC big guys isnt the way to make a statement. I'm no fan of dropping games in any sport, whether its WKU, an ex-player's team or a top-10 team. Of all the years to drop your signature non-conference game, why this year?

I have no clue what you're talking about and I'm relatively certain you don't either.

Guess that's what I get for actually reading this tripe.

[The Old School JPS]

I hope UK destroys Vandy. Dropping us to have an eighth home game against, drumrole please........ I-AA Richmond! I agree, Vandy will cause some good SEC teams fit, but cupcaking your non-conference games and almost beating the SEC big guys isnt the way to make a statement. I'm no fan of dropping games in any sport, whether its WKU, an ex-player's team or a top-10 team. Of all the years to drop your signature non-conference game, why this year?

How are you going to knock Vanderbilt's non-conference schedule as beimg full of cupcakes when it includes Wake Forest, the team UL played in the Orange Bowl? I'll be the first to admit that Wake was a remarkably weak opponent to turn up in a BCS game (and that's part of why so few people watched it) but you can't claim that as a huge win for UL but also as a cupcake when they play Vanderbilt.

And speaking of cupcakes, UL has had plenty of cupcakes on their recent non-conference football schedules, including non-Division I-A opponents:

Grambling State (Division II, not even Division I-A),
Western Kentucky (also not Division I-A),
Western Carolina (also not Division I-A),
Duke (maybe the very worst Division I-A team of all),
Eastern Michigan,
Tennessee-Chattanooga,
New Mexico State . . .

and I'm not bashing just UL, because other cupcake non-conference opponents of theirs such as Temple, UTEP, Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic have also shown up on UK schedules. All teams do it these days, unfortunately.

But a UL fan is a glass house when pointing fingers at others about playing cupcakes. (Fans of most Division I teams are, so don't take it personally.) When UL was in CUSA their conference schedule was a plate of cupcakes too. Much of their Big East schedule remains that way.

"I'm no fan of dropping games in any sport, whether its WKU" - like UL did in basketball a few years ago? (Or as UK recently did with UMass for that matter . . . ) Seriously, all schools do this from time to time. We probably both feel the same way about it but UL is just as guilty of that as Vanderbilt . . . and more guilty of gorging on cupcakes. And if anyone has an excuse for it, it's a team like Vanderbilt, trying to get some wins and some confidence after years in the cellar, sort of like Kansas State did . . .

. . . and like UL did not just recently but also not that long ago when they lost to teams like:
Baylor,
Army and
Wyoming (three losses)

and also played teams like:

Northern Illinois (more than once),
Western Kentucky (more than once),
Eastern Kentucky (more than once),
Tulsa (once a mainstay of UL's schedule year in and year out, with Tulsa sometimes winning),
North Texas State,
Louisiana Monroe (Southwest Louisiana or whatever it was at the time),
Navy,
San Jose State (more than once, not winning with their accidental, MLK-holiday-controversy-derived Fiesta Bowl team) and
Murray State (another Fiesta Bowl year opponent, among other times).

I remember back in the 1980s when UL was losing games to non-Division I teams like:

Murray State (more than one loss),
Eastern Kentucky,
Indiana State and
Tennessee State (more than one loss).

Playing those cupcakes was OK for UL back when UL was down on its luck, but not for Vanderbilt who hasn't had a single winning season in 25 years? Come on . . .

[BigBlue75]

I have no clue what you're talking about and I'm relatively certain you don't either.

Guess that's what I get for actually reading this tripe.

Don't feel like you're the lone ranger, RV. I was trying to figure that post out myself.
:confused:

[PitinoLooksBetterInRed]

I have no clue what you're talking about and I'm relatively certain you don't either.

Guess that's what I get for actually reading this tripe.

Vandy was suppose to play AT UofL to open the season. They dropped the game shortly after we beat Miami last year. Thats all i'm talking about, and since everyone we saying how good Vandy was gonna be, i thought i'd point out how they were sugar-coating their schedule.

JPS, I cant respond to your post in this forum how i want to. While you can smack in here i cant. Sorry.
I will say though that i wish Louisville played nothing but teams from BCS conferences every year and if i were Jurich, I'd play a few games at Florida or Tennessee every once in a while even if they wont give us a return trip.

[BigBlue75]

Vandy was suppose to play AT UofL to open the season. They dropped the game shortly after we beat Miami last year. Thats all i'm talking about, and since everyone we saying how good Vandy was gonna be, i thought i'd point out how they were sugar-coating their schedule.

JPS, I cant respond to your post in this forum how i want to. While you can smack in here i cant. Sorry.
I will say though that i wish Louisville played nothing but teams from BCS conferences every year and if i were Jurich, I'd play a few games at Florida or Tennessee every once in a while even if they wont give us a return trip.

Can I ask a question here?(and let me say from the get-go, this is a serious question and I'm not trying to start an argument). I've read several of your posts on this subject and my question is why is it that whenever a team (specifically an SEC team) drops it's game with U of L, in your view it's either (a) they are afraid to play U of L, or (b) they're just wanting to sugar-coat their schedule? Did it ever occur to you there might be perfectly valid reasons why they did so?

I appreciate your support for the Cardinals and I commend you for it, but this notion that an SEC team is afraid of or trying to avoid playing a Big East school is simply asinine.

If this happens in the future, what if you were to find out that Louisvlle was the one who initiated the action to cancel the game? Would you feel the same way?

Again, serious question. Not trying to bait you.

[KWICD]

UL fans should never talk about someone sugar coating a schedule. See football and basketball for examples.

[TrueblueCATfan]

UL fans should never talk about someone sugar coating a schedule. See football and basketball for examples.

a BIG FAT amen to that

[The Old School JPS]

JPS, I cant respond to your post in this forum how i want to. While you can smack in here i cant. Sorry.
I will say though that i wish Louisville played nothing but teams from BCS conferences every year and if i were Jurich, I'd play a few games at Florida or Tennessee every once in a while even if they wont give us a return trip.

I didn't intend it as smack and I don't think it is smack. Facts are facts; UL has played more than its share of cupcakes, in and out of conference, and especially back when they were a very weak program. Why call out Vanderbilt for the same thing? From the tone of your posts it seems that you like that sort of scheduling about as much as I do, despite the fact that most or all teams engage in it regularly.

[RV]

Facts are smack to ul fans. ;)

[PitinoLooksBetterInRed]

Can I ask a question here?(and let me say from the get-go, this is a serious question and I'm not trying to start an argument). I've read several of your posts on this subject and my question is why is it that whenever a team (specifically an SEC team) drops it's game with U of L, in your view it's either (a) they are afraid to play U of L, or (b) they're just wanting to sugar-coat their schedule? Did it ever occur to you there might be perfectly valid reasons why they did so?

I appreciate your support for the Cardinals and I commend you for it, but this notion that an SEC team is afraid of or trying to avoid playing a Big East school is simply asinine.

If this happens in the future, what if you were to find out that Louisvlle was the one who initiated the action to cancel the game? Would you feel the same way?

Again, serious question. Not trying to bait you.

Well, I think with Georgia Tech and Vandy heres what happened. They booked the game about 4 years ago when Louisville was borderline top 25 every year and expected a game where they had a pretty good chance of winning, but instead when the game came it looks like they wont have much of a chance. Bash PJCS and UofL all you want, but its no coincidence we havent lost a game when Brohm is in uniform there. And its not so much i think Vandy is scared, but i just think when you book a game u keep it. There was no conflict, they booked Richmond the same day our game was scheduled. Having to play Murray State really hurts our SOS. When UK dropped UMASS they lost their biggest game in the spotlight, and when we dropped WKU i thought it was bad too.

As far as the rest of the SEC teams we've offered... I know Florida and Tennessee will play us at there place, but when we ask for a return trip in the future they say no, what could be a reason besides they are scared of a loss at PJCS? Probably why it bugs me so much is that after we beat WVU, Urban Meyer was on a show saying in no way should an undefeated Big East team play in the NC game over a 1 loss SEC, but if you are gonna say then dont refuse to give us a home-home game.

I dont expect you to agree with me, but i hope you atleast see where im coming from.

[johnkyblue]

You guys take that non-BCS chip on your shoulder way too far.

[The Old School JPS]

When UK dropped UMASS they lost their biggest game in the spotlight

That certainly wasn't the biggest game on the upcoming schedule.


As far as the rest of the SEC teams we've offered... I know Florida and Tennessee will play us at there place, but when we ask for a return trip in the future they say no, what could be a reason besides they are scared of a loss at PJCS?

Two reasons: 1) More money; 2) another home game for their fans. There's no more reason for them to travel to Louisville than for them to travel to Duke. And that doesn't make Urban Meyer's comments any less accurate, IMO.

FWIW, I was there at the old stadium when Tennessee did play there in 1991 (and for Florida State on a cold, cold night later that season) and I wish that there were more interconference matchups during the season. The almighty dollar is a much more powerful force in NCAA athletics now than it was then.