Hard to believe, it's easier being optimistic for UKFB than UKBB at the moment

[Jaxcat]

Geez, is anyone going to be on the roster next year or are we just gonna forfeit the whole season?

We're coming off a 5-7 season and firing of a long-tenured HC and I'm still a bit more positive about the football team than the basketball team and I don't think we'll win more than 4 games in football this year (maybe 5).

That should tell you something. I will say I am definitely looking forward to a new brand of football under Stein. Stoops' teams became like McDonalds - you knew every year what you were going to get and, while it maybe wasn't awful, it wasn't anything to be excited about. If Stein is good to his word, we'll see a more aggressive team on both offense and defense. We'll see our OC probe, recognize weaknesses, feed the studs, make adjustments throughout the game. We'll see our defense attempt to disrupt the opponent's offense, create negative plays and turnovers, to proactively attempt to get off the field in 3 plays, jump routes, be more creative with stunts and blitzes. It may not translate into more wins with our schedule, but it will at least appear that we're attempting every way we can to WIN instead of playing NOT TO LOSE or LOSE RESPECTFULLY. Tired of our 'moral victories' and 'we played them closer than...'. A loss is a loss.

[Pete Hogwallop]

I'm excited and optimistic for both. It's difficult for me to censor myself and not light into those proclaiming the death of our basketball program.

[Jaxcat]

I'm hopeful for the BB program, but I just get the feeling that something is off. Whether the 'new era' is throwing Pope & co. for a loop or the admin is not providing the support necessary or what. Just seems we haven't really found our way as a program. I thought Pope did a remarkable job in the portal (and coaching, for the most part) his first season. Last year, a huge disappointment, both in the players and their ability to mesh and several of his coaching decisions. While injuries to Lowe and JQ dashed any real hopes of a deep run in the NCAA for me, I believe the team overall underperformed.

Seems like we're not exactly hitting it out of the park thus far with HS recruiting or the portal in BB. Stein, meanwhile, has landed some very solid HS commitments and seems to have serious momentum. A better-than-expected showing this season (and, presumably, a more exciting product) and we could see a quick resurgence of the FB team to 2nd tier SEC in the near future. I'm probably in the minority but I don't ever expect UKFB to be top tier when our conference includes GA, AL, LSU, FL, TX, OK - all schools that have more money, more tradition, more homegrown, high quality talent. Those 6 may not always be great every year, but they certainly start ahead of teams like UK, VU, MSU, Ole Miss, AR, et al, just from their natural advantages.