Tennessee and Barnes

[Brother_Vol]

Well well well, long time no see, Cats!

It's been a wild basketball season that I wish didn't have to come to an end. If you played in the SEC this year, you're a DUDE.

Looking forward to the game. Can't say I'm confident going into this one having lost the two in the season. That said, the guards have been making shots lately and if we can even up the 3pt numbers a little we'll have a good shot. Stinks we have to be the only SEC/SEC matchup of the sweet 16.

Hope everyone has been well. Have fun and soak it all in. The madness only happens once a year.

BV

[George]

Well well well, long time no see, Cats!

It's been a wild basketball season that I wish didn't have to come to an end. If you played in the SEC this year, you're a DUDE.

Looking forward to the game. Can't say I'm confident going into this one having lost the two in the season. That said, the guards have been making shots lately and if we can even up the 3pt numbers a little we'll have a good shot. Stinks we have to be the only SEC/SEC matchup of the sweet 16.

Hope everyone has been well. Have fun and soak it all in. The madness only happens once a year.

BV

There he is! Great to see you, old friend. I think we’re all a little antsy about the “three times in one season” thing, whether we’ll admit it or not. Can’t think of a more meaningful game in the history of the rivalry (at least in my lifetime), but I don’t have to tell you how high the stakes are this time around.

Sounds like your pretty much seeing the same thing we are: if Lanier’s hitting, we’ll have trouble, but if we keep him in check, our chances are good.

We should probably thank ZZ for the bulleting board material, too.

[Lighthouse]

Good to see you here BV.

[Spiritof96]

Well well well, long time no see, Cats!

It's been a wild basketball season that I wish didn't have to come to an end. If you played in the SEC this year, you're a DUDE.

Looking forward to the game. Can't say I'm confident going into this one having lost the two in the season. That said, the guards have been making shots lately and if we can even up the 3pt numbers a little we'll have a good shot. Stinks we have to be the only SEC/SEC matchup of the sweet 16.

Hope everyone has been well. Have fun and soak it all in. The madness only happens once a year.

BV

I don't see us beating you 3 times.

[Joneslab]

I don't see us beating you 3 times.

To be fair, I didn't see us beating them once.

The game at their place...if you woulda told me before that game that Kentucky was gonna lose by 30, I would've absolutely believed you.

[justafan]

That's why they play the games! Dare I say, UK is a better defensive team now than the previous 2 times. Still might lose, but lets enjoy the game and find out!

[Joneslab]

Speaking of luck possibly/possibly not running out, the Sweet 16 has been a good round for Kentucky in modern history.

We're 16-1 in our last 17 games in the third round of the tournament. Last loss? March 24th, 1988 against Villanova.

[George]

I don't like how good I'm feeling about this game.

[Joneslab]

I don't like how good I'm feeling about this game.

Same...but I think it might be just because I feel very little pressure with it. I think I said this elsewhere, but the team's accomplished about all you can ask. Unless we got run, there'd be no "this is embarrassing" style disappointment. You're always disappointed with a loss, but I think we could all accept this team making it this far.

I kind of felt the same about Illinois, tbh, but then that game went very smoothly and I wondered if I'd just had a gut feeling about it.

[George]

Same...but I think it might be just because I feel very little pressure with it. I think I said this elsewhere, but the team's accomplished about all you can ask. Unless we got run, there'd be no "this is embarrassing" style disappointment. You're always disappointed with a loss, but I think we could all accept this team making it this far.

I kind of felt the same about Illinois, tbh, but then that game went very smoothly and I wondered if I'd just had a gut feeling about it.

Yeah, we said roughly the same thing in another thread.

I also don't love that I'm getting that dreamy feeling again, too - like a F4 might actually be within reach. I'm trying to stay grounded with this group because all logic suggests we aren't THAT good.

College basketball is weird, though. Stories unfold every year, and Pope getting to the F4 in his first season would be one heck of a story.

[Joneslab]

Yeah, we said roughly the same thing in another thread.

I also don't love that I'm getting that dreamy feeling again, too - like a F4 might actually be within reach. I'm trying to stay grounded with this group because all logic suggests we aren't THAT good.

A lot of not-quite-perfect teams have made the Final Four. A few far-from-perfect teams have.

Pet peeve time, this is why I get a little rankled when people say (hasn't happened very often at all this year, but it happens inevitably every season), "This team is a Sweet Sixteen team."

I mean...when you get to the Sweet Sixteen, anything's possible. It ain't like you're playing NBA-style series here. We could absolutely make the Final Four. Unlikely? Sure. But it's almost like the "Sweet Sixteen" crowd never watches college basketball. The worse team wins a lot in this sport.

Ironically Houston and Tennessee are very similar, almost like Houston is a leveled-up version of Tennessee.

[George]

A lot of not-quite-perfect teams have made the Final Four. A few far-from-perfect teams have.

Pet peeve time, this is why I get a little rankled when people say (hasn't happened very often at all this year, but it happens inevitably every season), "This team is a Sweet Sixteen team."

I mean...when you get to the Sweet Sixteen, anything's possible. It ain't like you're playing NBA-style series here. We could absolutely make the Final Four. Unlikely? Sure. But it's almost like the "Sweet Sixteen" crowd never watches college basketball. The worse team wins a lot in this sport.

Ironically Houston and Tennessee are very similar, almost like Houston is a leveled-up version of Tennessee.

I agree, but...haven't we both said the S16 was this team's ceiling, lol?

But yeah, you get this far and I start thinking, "What the heck? Let's go win it."

[Joneslab]

I agree, but...haven't we both said the S16 was this team's ceiling, lol?

I can't speak for others but when I say that, I only mean that this team has a Sweet 16 look. (I think I may've said that when they were fully healthy, can't remember.)

Not that it'd be crazy to see them going beyond that. As I said, this sport is crazy anyway. And wildly unpredictable when you reach this point of the season.

The last time we saw a team break through its supposed ceiling, it was obviously 2014. But just three years earlier, in 2011, those guys also did it. And on the other side, we had it happen to us when Auburn beat us in '19.

None of those teams was supposed to do what they did and probably had a pretty fixed ceiling in most fans' minds.

[Joneslab]

Amari Williams: "It's cute when you've got a team like that who hasn't beaten us in how long?"

In response to Zakai Ziegler flipping off the UK logo.

https://x.com/JackPilgrimKSR/status/1905338507435946132

[Brother_Vol]

Speaking of luck possibly/possibly not running out, the Sweet 16 has been a good round for Kentucky in modern history.

We're 16-1 in our last 17 games in the third round of the tournament. Last loss? March 24th, 1988 against Villanova.

This was the year I was born. Is it a sign? Probably not. Am I gonna credit myself if we win? Yup.