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The MYTH that UK is "closer" to U of L after last year's game

I think we're just looking for a step forward. Is 6-6 and a bowl game in December in Alabama prolific? No, but it's a step forward (and it buys our team an extra month of practice). I would think a fan of a team that's spent many a bowl season in Memphis, Mobile, and Shreveport would agree.

Shreveport? Do you mean New Orleans? You know when we bitch slapped that team you haven't beat since Reagan was President. Guess we can aspire to multiple Banjo Bowl bids.
 
The over/under for UK last year was 4 and Stoops won 5. More than doubled his win total from a year before. I'm not saying it was an awesome season but reasonable people saw it coming. 5 of the last 6 games were against top 25 teams. If our schedule were flipped people would be commending Stoops for a job well done. He's not on the hot seat he just got a raise. Stoops will be judged after his fourth season although he does need to make a bowl this year for recruiting and he knows that

The over/under regarding last season depends on who you ask. I seem to recall a bunch of people on the Kitty kat site predicting 7, 8, 9 and even 10 wins last year. Last year started out great for the Cats at 5-1 with a terrific win over a 7-6 South Carolina team and a close loss to a 7-5 Florida team. It sure looked as if UofK had arrived.

THEN reality set in after the cup cake win over a 4-8 Louisiana-Monroe team. A 6 game losing streak to close out the season. That showed digression as a team regardless if you see it or not. Most everyone was getting better as the season unfolded. UofK got worse. That's on the UofK coach. I know you're going to come back over the top with the weak ass excuse of injuries and no depth. Injuries happen to everyone and it's the coach who is responsible for depth. Stoops has plenty of players on scholarship. He had plenty last year too. The cold hard fact is the players on the 2nd and 3rd string just weren't all that good to start with in spite of their wonderful star rating coming out of HS. That's on the awesome coach too!
 
Now that most of the preseason mags are out, it's apparent that the "myth" is entirely the delusional minds of LPT fans. The experts aren't predicting the two football teams to compete anywhere near the same level, and the head coaches are rated even further apart.

So in reality, there's nothing much different about this upcoming football season... U of L is expected to be a lot better than LPT, and LPT fans are significantly over-optimistic.

LPT Football: Same as it ever was...
 
Now that most of the preseason mags are out, it's apparent that the "myth" is entirely the delusional minds of LPT fans. The experts aren't predicting the two football teams to compete anywhere near the same level, and the head coaches are rated even further apart.

So in reality, there's nothing much different about this upcoming football season... U of L is expected to be a lot better than LPT, and LPT fans are significantly over-optimistic.

LPT Football: Same as it ever was...

Preseason polls are a product of ranking the path of least resistance. UK plays twice as many top 40 teams as you guys do so the built in wins are fewer. Steele looks at UL's schedule and sees 3 definite losses and looks at ours and sees 4 definite wins. Very similar talent can have two completely different looking seasons when you're talking that big of a difference in scheduling. Do you really think Toledo and Marshall are better than you guys? That's the point I'm trying to make
 
Preseason polls are a product of ranking the path of least resistance. UK plays twice as many top 40 teams as you guys do so the built in wins are fewer. Steele looks at UL's schedule and sees 3 definite losses and looks at ours and sees 4 definite wins. Very similar talent can have two completely different looking seasons when you're talking that big of a difference in scheduling. Do you really think Toledo and Marshall are better than you guys? That's the point I'm trying to make
The same thing was being said about OSU and their so called "weak schedule" last year, and I think they proved they were elite after all. Point is, you have to play who is in front of you and the truth of the matter is the difference in a top 10 team versus a top 40 is not that magically major. Sure the top 10 is better, but not so much better that a top 40 can't be competitive. It all reverts back to coaching, and UofL has a proven better head coach. Even with similar (according to you) talent, the difference is the coaching.
 
Shreveport? Do you mean New Orleans? You know when we bitch slapped that team you haven't beat since Reagan was President. Guess we can aspire to multiple Banjo Bowl bids.
No, I meant Shreveport, where you played in the Independence Bowl. I was trying to remain regionally consistent with your disparagement of a bowl game in Birmingham, but if that's too long ago to matter, I could have mentioned Detroit or Boise, too. I think you understood my point, though, and chose not to add anything substantive.

You guys have every reason to claim bragging rights, but as for national perception, you're projected to win 7.5 games this year to UK's 6. I'd say that represents a closing of a gap, considering you had 10 more wins than us in 2013 and 4 more in 2014.
 
Preseason polls are a product of ranking the path of least resistance. UK plays twice as many top 40 teams as you guys do so the built in wins are fewer. Steele looks at UL's schedule and sees 3 definite losses and looks at ours and sees 4 definite wins. Very similar talent can have two completely different looking seasons when you're talking that big of a difference in scheduling. Do you really think Toledo and Marshall are better than you guys? That's the point I'm trying to make

Do you really think you're better than Marshall or Toledo?
 
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You guys have every reason to claim bragging rights, but as for national perception, you're projected to win 7.5 games this year to UK's 6.
I have yet to see any team finish the season with 7 1/2 wins. How is that going to happen?

IMO UofL will win 8 or 9 games, and possibly more with a bowl win. UofK has 8 home games, and might end up winning 3 or 4 of those games. I think UofK can beat LA-Layfette, but that's not a given. UofK should be able to handle EKU and Charlotte. That's 3. It'll be a tall order for the Cats to beat Florida (haven't done so in close to 40 years.) Missouri is a possible win, then again, it was supposed to have been a win last year too. It didn't happen. Auburn? Not likely. Tennessee? Not likely. UofL? Again, not likely.

So which 6 games is UofK suppose to win? I am really interested in your answer.
 
I'm in a discussion on Cat Pause on something similar...USMC Cat talking about how our "Lack of Top 25 Classes" is going to "Hurt" UofL...pointed out Baylor/TCU with no Top 25 Recruiting Classes just players that fit Patterson and Briles system are now both Top 5. They tried to go what about a "10 year period"...then pulled out Wisconsin the last 10 years...8 Times they won at least 9 games a year in that timeframe with 3 different coaches.

It is about Coaching, Talent Evaluation and Player Development not so much about "Stars" which is important...if that was the case Mack Brown would still be at Texas and Derrick Dooley at Tennessee...
 
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Didn't you hear? UL is trending down and the Cayuts are trending up

/s/ Jauk
That would really mean something if the football game were played on Twitter. No doubt the Cats would have the edge.

Social media and hype in June means nothing in late November. UofK always seems to have a stronger, bigger, faster football team in the summer months. Not so much after the season starts for real.
 
I never said anything about the number of wins.

LPT Football: Changing the subject...

I know you had to be able to connect the dots in my post if not I'll make it more clear for you. Preseason rankings are made on the basis of how many wins they can see you coming out with given your schedule. Toledo and Marshall play no one so the get the nod for winning 10-11 games against no one. UL will always win 7-9 because you play 2 too 40 teams in your conference slate. These rankings are no solely based on the talent on your team its talent relative to your competition
 
I'm in a discussion on Cat Pause on something similar...USMC Cat talking about how our "Lack of Top 25 Classes" is going to "Hurt" UofL...pointed out Baylor/TCU with no Top 25 Recruiting Classes just players that fit Patterson and Briles system are now both Top 5. They tried to go what about a "10 year period"...then pulled out Wisconsin the last 10 years...8 Times they won at least 9 games a year in that timeframe with 3 different coaches.

It is about Coaching, Talent Evaluation and Player Development not so much about "Stars" which is important...if that was the case Mack Brown would still be at Texas and Derrick Dooley at Tennessee...


Again......they're idiots
 
I know you had to be able to connect the dots in my post if not I'll make it more clear for you. Preseason rankings are made on the basis of how many wins they can see you coming out with given your schedule..
Yeah, excuse me if I'm not letting an LPT fan "connect the dots" for me...

Most rankings are simply how good you are compared to the teams around you in the rankings. If they're based on winning bowl games, finishing the postseason, or some other criterion of success, they usually tell you.

The number of wins is loosely correlated, but that's not the primary determinant of a ranking. It's how good you are.

LPT Football: And we already know that answer...
 
I'm in a discussion on Cat Pause on something similar...USMC Cat talking about how our "Lack of Top 25 Classes" is going to "Hurt" UofL...pointed out Baylor/TCU with no Top 25 Recruiting Classes just players that fit Patterson and Briles system are now both Top 5. They tried to go what about a "10 year period"...then pulled out Wisconsin the last 10 years...8 Times they won at least 9 games a year in that timeframe with 3 different coaches.

It is about Coaching, Talent Evaluation and Player Development not so much about "Stars" which is important...if that was the case Mack Brown would still be at Texas and Derrick Dooley at Tennessee...

Not so much the class rankings for UL as the continuity that your program has enjoyed since Schnellenberger took over the program is what has kept it competing at a high level, with the exception of the Karthorpe years. Also as important as any class rankings and player development is RS and having depth which UL has and is what really has put TCU and Baylor on the map the last several years, and one of the reasons Miss. St. done so well last year, they had an abundance of fifth years seniors. That being said I think people saying Stoops must make a drastic improvement this year or it puts him on the hot seat are wrong, my votes still out on his coaching acumen, but it's simply gonna take longer than 3 years to see drastic improvement. If the schedule played out last year where wins came throughout the season it would have been seen differently than the 6 game skid. I know another 5 win season may look bad to recruits but not nearly as bad as changing coaches, frankly that's who the kids come to play for anyway and for UK who would you hire to take his place if he were replaced so quickly.
 
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I have yet to see any team finish the season with 7 1/2 wins. How is that going to happen?

IMO UofL will win 8 or 9 games, and possibly more with a bowl win. UofK has 8 home games, and might end up winning 3 or 4 of those games. I think UofK can beat LA-Layfette, but that's not a given. UofK should be able to handle EKU and Charlotte. That's 3. It'll be a tall order for the Cats to beat Florida (haven't done so in close to 40 years.) Missouri is a possible win, then again, it was supposed to have been a win last year too. It didn't happen. Auburn? Not likely. Tennessee? Not likely. UofL? Again, not likely.

So which 6 games is UofK suppose to win? I am really interested in your answer.
It's called a spread. Have you ever seen an NFL game end with one team winning by 2.5 points? Does that invalidate the concept of a spread? I don't understand this point.

Your take on UK's prospects, all due respect, carries less weight than the Vegas odds.

Not that I'm a Vegas oddsmaker, but if you asked me how they got to 6, I'd say the 3 non-UofL OOC games and @Vandy are 4. I'd say UK is a slight dog to even against @So Car, Florida, @Miss St, and Louisville. I'd say a moderate dog against Mizzou, Tennessee. I'd say very unlikely to beat @Georgia or Auburn (probably roughly equally likely to beat Auburn/UGa as they are to lose to a Charlotte or EKU so that washes out). If you give them ~0.4 wins for each of the USC, UF, MSU, and UL and ~0.2 wins against Mizzou and UT, you'd be at 6.

Before you point it out, I'm aware you can't get 4/10 or 2/10 of a win. I'm merely talking about probabilities.

It's very hard to say with any certainly which games UK WILL win. It makes a lot more sense to talk about which they might win. I think there are 8 very winnable games and 1-2 more that could be winnable depending on how things shake out. I don't think they'll win all of them. If they can win 2 of the 4 of the "even to slight dogs" games and 1 of the 4 "shouldn't win" games that would be a solid season.
 
I think there are 8 very winnable games and 1-2 more that could be winnable depending on how things shake out. I don't think they'll win all of them. .

I don't know man.....could easily see you guys running the table this year. Btw, still waiting on you to report to me when we played in Shreveport or Boise
 
I don't know man.....could easily see you guys running the table this year. Btw, still waiting on you to report to me when we played in Shreveport or Boise
This should be fairly easy to ascertain on your own, but since you asked, your team played in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport in 1977 and the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise in 1999 (both losses, incidentally, maybe that's why you don't remember them?).

Also, again, not sure you're understanding the concept of probability. I didn't say UK would win 8 games. I said there are 8 games that are winnable. Maybe this will drive home the point: if I flip a coin 10 times, each of those 10 flips is reasonably likely to be heads. However, it's pretty unlikely that all 10 will be heads. You follow me?
 
Love reading Cat fans ridiculing Louisville Bowl games in Shreveport, Boise and Detroit. I'm trying to think of any major bowl game UK as ever played in. Most years UK would be thrilled to take a trip to NW Louisiana. But of course they have to win 6 to take that trip.

Me, I have fond memories of trips to Miami, New Orleans and yes . . .Shreveport.
 
I think there are 8 very winnable games and 1-2 more that could be winnable depending on how things shake out.
:pThat right there is perfect!

8 "very" winnable games in your opinion. LMAO!! IMO, there is 12 "very" losable games on UofK's schedule. ;) None are gimme wins for UofK. None.
 
Well, they did play in the Outback Bowl one year. But they cheated to get there.

LPT Football: Oh let's not go there...
 
:pThat right there is perfect!

8 "very" winnable games in your opinion. LMAO!! IMO, there is 12 "very" losable games on UofK's schedule. ;) None are gimme wins for UofK. None.
I don't know about 12, but there are at least 9 losable games. Maybe 10 with ULL.
 
Love reading Cat fans ridiculing Louisville Bowl games in Shreveport, Boise and Detroit. I'm trying to think of any major bowl game UK as ever played in. Most years UK would be thrilled to take a trip to NW Louisiana. But of course they have to win 6 to take that trip.

Me, I have fond memories of trips to Miami, New Orleans and yes . . .Shreveport.
My intention was not to ridicule anybody's bowl games. I was merely responding to CardFan1130's post about how UK fans' hopes of making a bowl is such "a low bar." He implied that a bowl game in Birmingham wasn't much of an accomplishment. I was merely illustrating that it's not much different than Detroit or Mobile.

I think UK fans would be very happy with a trip to Birmingham if that's where the chips fall. Just like you enjoyed your trip to Shreveport. We're agreeing here I think...
 
My intention was not to ridicule anybody's bowl games. I was merely responding to CardFan1130's post about how UK fans' hopes of making a bowl is such "a low bar." He implied that a bowl game in Birmingham wasn't much of an accomplishment. I was merely illustrating that it's not much different than Detroit or Mobile.

I think UK fans would be very happy with a trip to Birmingham if that's where the chips fall. Just like you enjoyed your trip to Shreveport. We're agreeing here I think...

There are 40 bowls now. Like I said, you've got to be really bad to not make one. In 77 there were 12-15. Apples and oranges comparison
 
That's because most of those posters are imbeciles

'imbeciles' stuck in a basketball mentality that believe that higher rated stars = wins.

That is much more likely to be true in regards to CBB vs CFB as UofL has proven time and time again you can win with lower rated players in both sports. Having the top talent in CBB makes it much harder to lose in CBB than it does in CFB.

Coaching and development in CFB weighs much heavier than it does in CBB partially because of the greater number of players relative to each sport

BBN is blinded by false optimism based on ratings and not results on the field of play.....and we all know that there are none so blind as those that cannot see. Oh yea, I forget, they also play that excuse of having the hardest schedule in the universe of college FB.o_O LoL
 
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'imbeciles' stuck in a basketball mentality that believe that higher rated stars = wins.

That is much more likely to be true in regards to CBB vs CFB as UofL has proven time and time again you can win with lower rated players in both sports. Having the top talent in CBB makes it much harder to lose in CBB than it does in CFB.

Coaching and development in CFB weighs much heavier than it does in CBB partially because of the greater number of players relative to each sport

BBN is blinded by false optimism based on ratings and not results on the field of play.....and we all know that there are none so blind as those that cannot see. Oh yea, I forget, they also play that excuse of having the hardest schedule in the universe of college FB.o_O LoL

Exactly....look at a school like Wisconsin...extremely successful this Century....since 2002 to 2015 their highest rated Recruiting Class was 33rd Nationally....their lowest was 88th yet they win between 8 to 10 Games a year due to Talent Evaluation and Player Development....
 
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Exactly....look at a school like Wisconsin...extremely successful this Century....since 2002 to 2015 their highest rated Recruiting Class was 33rd Nationally....their lowest was 88th yet they win between 8 to 10 Games a year due to Talent Evaluation and Player Development....

I feel like they have a style, or brand. There's something about them, they are just a consistent well schooled program. They seem to develop RBs very nicely, and they tend to have a dependable good decision making QB.

Smells like coaching to me.
 
It's called a spread. Have you ever seen an NFL game end with one team winning by 2.5 points? Does that invalidate the concept of a spread? I don't understand this point.

Your take on UK's prospects, all due respect, carries less weight than the Vegas odds.

Not that I'm a Vegas oddsmaker, but if you asked me how they got to 6, I'd say the 3 non-UofL OOC games and @Vandy are 4. I'd say UK is a slight dog to even against @So Car, Florida, @Miss St, and Louisville. I'd say a moderate dog against Mizzou, Tennessee. I'd say very unlikely to beat @Georgia or Auburn (probably roughly equally likely to beat Auburn/UGa as they are to lose to a Charlotte or EKU so that washes out). If you give them ~0.4 wins for each of the USC, UF, MSU, and UL and ~0.2 wins against Mizzou and UT, you'd be at 6.

Before you point it out, I'm aware you can't get 4/10 or 2/10 of a win. I'm merely talking about probabilities.

It's very hard to say with any certainly which games UK WILL win. It makes a lot more sense to talk about which they might win. I think there are 8 very winnable games and 1-2 more that could be winnable depending on how things shake out. I don't think they'll win all of them. If they can win 2 of the 4 of the "even to slight dogs" games and 1 of the 4 "shouldn't win" games that would be a solid season.
 
Not so much the class rankings for UL as the continuity that your program has enjoyed since Schnellenberger took over the program is what has kept it competing at a high level, with the exception of the Karthorpe years. Also as important as any class rankings and player development is RS and having depth which UL has and is what really has put TCU and Baylor on the map the last several years, and one of the reasons Miss. St. done so well last year, they had an abundance of fifth years seniors. That being said I think people saying Stoops must make a drastic improvement this year or it puts him on the hot seat are wrong, my votes still out on his coaching acumen, but it's simply gonna take longer than 3 years to see drastic improvement. If the schedule played out last year where wins came throughout the season it would have been seen differently than the 6 game skid. I know another 5 win season may look bad to recruits but not nearly as bad as changing coaches, frankly that's who the kids come to play for anyway and for UK who would you hire to take his place if he were replaced so quickly.
  • UK struck out on their top 5 candidates before Stoops came begging for an opportunity to be a head coach like his brother. No established coach would jump at that graveyard known as Wildcat football. Stoops really had nothing to lose.
 
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Wisconsin has learned that having huge and talented offensive linemen wins alot of football games. Biellema is doing the same thing at Arkansas, and it's beginning to pay dividends.
 
I do think that UL and UK are really close now. Last year it took some huge numbers by UL to win the game and a drive in the last 3 mins to get the winning score. Marcus McWilson dropped an INT on that last drive that would have sealed the game for UK. Stats can be misleading in games, and can be skewed to support different arguments. Its definitely true that Stoops inherited a mess on from Joker. The players Joker recruited were mostly MAC level players. Charlie Strong left Petrino in pretty good shape when he took over. He is responsible the the 10 players on the UL team that were just drafted. Personally I hope both teams continue to recruit at a high level. I would love to see this rivalry become one of the biggest in the nation and it can only do that with both teams performing at a high level. Having both teams performing well in the respective conferences will bode well for both Universities going forward. Good luck on the upcoming season and hopefully both teams are playing for Better bowls not to be eligible.
 
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