It's taken me awhile to get any motivation to post after last Sunday.  But did anyone else notice some eery parallels during the Michigan St. game that reminded you of other bad memories as a UofL fan?

1.  Center hitting 3s:  As Suton was going 3-3 from long range in the first half, everyone surely had one word in mind:  Pittsnogle.

2.  Banked 3:  Ahh...Kalin Lucas' banked 3 at a clutch moment when they're up 6.  Brought back memories of Patrick Beinlein banking the 3 in from the Lobo logo.

3.  Botched Fast Break:  I really got the eery feeling when MSU thwarted UofL's 3 on 1 fast break after Samardo's big block.  Not only did Michigan St. interrupt the play, but they actually saved the ball.  A true dagger.  Remember 2003 vs. Butler?  Reece Gaines had been money all season and he stole with ball with Garcia (I believe) way ahead.  Reece threw the ball over the one single Butler defender, but the guy jumped up and made a heck of a play to steal the ball.

4.  T-Will Alley-oop:  I've always been surprised that T-Will doesn't get more alley-oops called for him.  Obviously, the alley-oop that sticks in my mind is the one vs. Texas A&M (a loss).  Unfortunately, my first thought when they ran that play vs. MSU was that the last similar time they ran that play was a loss.

In my opinion, you can hear all you want about Michigan St. "controlling the tempo" or "doing a masterful job to shut down T-Will" or "really listening to the brilliant gameplan by their brilliant coach Tom Izzo."  To me, though, the bottom line is that they hit their shots.  Let's face it, two UofL opponents have hit 50% from 3 all season and they were both losses (ND and MSU).  Bottom line:  that was the difference.

1.  Think about it, UofL was an inch away from grabbing the game by the throat in the first half which is usually the time they pull away.  Suton hit a 3 with 1 second left on the shot clock with PK in his face.  Say he misses that and one of his other 3s and UofL has a 9 point lead at some point in the first half, T-Will likely plays the last 4 minutes of the half and it's a totally different ballgame.  As a point of reference, Suton had hit two 3s in an entire game only 3 times all season.  Of course he hits three 3s in the first half against the #1 overall seed.

2.  Lucas' banked 3 was, ahem, the dagger.  There's no other way around it.  There's a biiiiig difference between being up 6 and up 9.

3.  To me, though, the BIGGEST shot in the entire game was Lucas' rainbow 3 after UofL had grabbed a 36-34 lead.  That had been the exact point in recent games when UofL steps on the opponent's throat and builds a double digit lead.  When we came back against Nova and Syracuse, those shots for the opponent simply didn't go in.  I am quite convinced that if he misses that shot, UofL has the ball and the lead 36-34 and wins going away.

I'm not trying to take any credit away from MSU -- they hit they hit the shots and played well.  I'm just trying to point out what a mammoth difference a bank 3 here and a desperation 3 by the Center there does impact a game. 

I don't know what it is about the Big 10 either.  You watch their games and the scores are 38-33 and 52-49 yet someone they always play UofL well.  My tally shows Pitino at 3-6 vs. the Big 10 at UofL including 0 for the last 5.  That's an amazing statistic.

Congrats to Adamjd86 and mp502 for winning the pool.  Now it's up to Mike to let us know what the tiebreaker submissions were so we can determine which winner should start drafting The Editorial.

Adamjd86 and mp502, please email mikeruth5@aol.com with your tiebreaker guess which is the TOTAL points in tonight's UofL/SU game.

Going into the finals, here are the standings:

After hearing so much from Doug Gottlieb about UL's body of work, I don't want it to go unsaid that UofL is 3-0 on the road versus the remaining teams.

Here are the scenarios:

1.  Louisville over WVU

2.  Louisville over Syracuse

3.  Nova over WVU

4. Nova over Syracuse

5.  WVU over Louisville

6.  WVU over Nova

7.  Syracuse over Louisville

8.  Syracuse over Nova

Onto the rankings:

Alright, folks, I promised to run the BET pool.  I'm sorry for making this pool amateur hour, but it's tough to do without a ESPN or Yahoo site to run it. 

Here's what you need to do:  Either reply below or (if you're concerned about cheating/secrecy) send me a private message with the winners of the 15 conference tournament games listed 1-15.  The games will be numbered reading down and left to right (translation:  in the order that the games will be played).  If that doesn't make sense, check out the bracket below and use the numbering as an example:

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/81373/betbrack.jpg

1.  Depaul / UC

2.  St John / GU

3.  Rutgers / ND

4.  USF / SH

5.  Depaul / UC / Prov

6.  St John / GU / Marquette

7.  Rutgers / ND / WVU

8.  USF / SH / Syracuse

9.  ....and so forth....

Please submit your entries to me by 12pm ET tomorrow and I'll post all of the entries ASAP.  Maybe Mike could offer the winner the opportunity to get a 1,000 word front page editorial on the UofL-related topic that the winner chooses.

Good luck!

-- I've already heard about this about 10x, but it's only going to get worse over the next several weeks.  I'm talking about announcers referring to the fact that the Top 4 seeds in this year's Big East tournament get a huge advantage with a "Double Bye."  In fact, there has been no change with the Top 4 seeds as they have historically gotten a bye into the quarterfinals.  Further, the new bracket setup actually benefits 3 of the 4 seed groups, but is hugely negative for 1 of the 4 groups.

1.  Seeds 1-4:  Slight benefit with new bracket setup as they potentially could be playing a more tired team that has played two consecutive games.

2.  Seeds 5-8:  Big benefit with new bracket setup as their opponent will have just played a game the previous day.

3.  Seeds 9-12:  HUGELY negatively affected by new bracket setup as they are the ones that have to play an extra game.

4.  Seeds 13-16:  HUGE benefit with new bracket setup as they now have a chance to win.

Continue reading this post »

Someone please dig deeper and tell me I'm wrong, but I did a quick search and came up with a 2-10 record for UofL in regular season neutral court games under Pitino.  Is this possible?!!?!?

2001-2002

LOSS to Oregon

2002-2003

LOSS to Purdue

2003-2004

LOSS to Iowa

2004-2005

LOSS to Iowa

2006-2007

LOSS to Dayton

LOSS to Arizona

2007-2008

LOSS to BYU

WIN vs. Old Dominion

LOSS to Purdue

2008-2009

LOSS to WKU

WIN vs. Mississippi

LOSS to Minnesota

                                                                                     Bumped from FanPosts

UofL should get rid of Kragthorpe.  Here's why:

1.  All aspects of the team have gotten worse

Since Kragthorpe has arrived, each unit (Offense, Defense and Special Teams) has gotten worse.  I won't have the exact stats right here, but UofL's offense is out of the Top 10 this year for the first year since 2002 and this is the worse UofL offense since 1992 or 1993.  That's just bad how quickly the offense has gone down.  Regarding the Defense, you have to make sure you're not just comparing this year's defense to last year's terrible defense.  It was embarrassing what Rutgers did on Thursday and the only thing stopping them from scoring 100 was the fact that they kept trying to run those Wildcat plays as opposed to standing in the pocket and throwing bombs downfield.  And don't even get me started on Special Teams.  I don't know how many students UofL has (30,000?), but there has got to be someone in the student body who can kick a 30 yard FG.  I mean, sheesh.

2.  Commitment to stay means nothing

I hope people don't read too deeply into Kragthorpe's recent commitment to stay and help build this program.  The only reason he is staying is because he wouldn't be able to get a head coaching job elsewhere.  Not even SMU would hire him.

3.  Things are going to get worse before they get better

As sluggish as the offense looked this year, one thing that was not mentioned one single time was any criticism of the offensive line.  UofL is losing two of its best lineman ever in Eric Wood and George Bussey.  I don't even want to think about a nightmare scenario where UofL's O-line is 2002-esque next year.  Just think, it coulda been worse this year -- waaay worse.

4.  Kragthorpe inherited a NFL roster

One thing you hear about a lot of new, but unsuccessful coaches is they don't have "his guys" yet (ie, "Give him a couple more years so he can get 'his guys' in there.").  Last year, Kragthorpe was given a NFL-ready roster and it became worse.  That team had NFL draft picks in Brohm, Douglas, Barnidge, Urrutia, Wood, Bussey and Bolen and they lost to Syracuse...at home!  Ack!  All I'm saying is a team with Kragthorpe's best-case-scenario guys coming in would not be as stacked as the team from last year.  Kragthorpe was given a NFL roster on a silver platter with a bow around it and couldn't effectively use it.

5.  JUCO is not the answer

Kragthorpe keeps talking about JUCO as the band-aid answer to all of the team's issues.  The problem is, JUCO is not a sustainable program builder.  If you think about all of the teams that have historically relied on JUCOs (Arkansas hoops, Cincinnati hoops, Kansas St. football, Texas A&M hoops, etc), none of those teams build a consistent winner year-in and year-out.  Sure, sometimes the teams are good, but they can drop like a rock quickly.  JUCOs are effectively 2-year mercenaries.  UofL has spent the last 25 years cultivating relationships with high school coaches in FL, AL and GA.  In Alabama specifically, UofL has recruited such NFL starters as Kerry Rhodes, Dewayne White, Amobi Okoye and Brandon Johnson.  Kragthorpe has effectively turned off the spigot and cut off this pipeline.  The pipeline is important because you need to have local guys still on the team who can speak to some of the younger juniors and seniors from their home area who are getting recruited.  And don't even get me started on this kid from Central who UofL hasn't even spoken with.  If a top school comes in and signs a kid from Central that UofL doesnt even speak to, then we've got a major issue on our hands.  I mean, that's almost negligence.

5.  Wasn't Kragthorpe a QB guru?

Didn't we hear all of this stuff like all of Drew Bledsoe's success is directly due to Kragthorpe's mentorship and coaching?  There have been two NFL QBs starting the last two years with Brohm and Cantwell.  I don't think you can make either of the following statements:  (i) Kragthorpe has cultivated a special bond with either of those guys or (ii) either one improved under Kragthorpe's tutelage

6.  It's best to cut bait

Rather than giving him several more years to prove himself (can you say, Tyrone Willingham Part II?), wouldn't it be best to simply admit that the program has a downward trajectory and that we should cut bait and start over?

7.  Know your audience

I've always been miffed about Kragthorpe's policy with the press.  He usually says nothing, but when he says something, he's actually saying nothing.  He's got to realize that this isn't Tulsa where he's overshadowed by OU and OSU or at Boston College where the Eagles play fourth-fiddle to all of the pro sports teams.  Koach, you're in Louisville where UofL football and basketball are front page news in the offseason.  People actually care about your team and simply ask for a modicum of real, substantive information from their head coach.  When you don't build rapport with your fans, you lose the tiebreaker in decisions when your performance isn't good and you aren't winning ballgames. 

6.  John L. Smith is available

You keep hearing about John L. Smith for various openings around the country and there are continued spottings of him at the B&W club at the UofL games.  However, I don't think I could ever be supportive of him returning to coach because of (i) that terrible, poisonous feeling we all had in 2002 when ESPN discovered that John L. had accepted the MSU job and annouced it during the bowl game vs. Marshall and (ii) the fact that nobody wants to go back to those faded maroon/red jerseys with no names on the back of them.  Michigan St. had the top-of-the-line Nike jerseys when he arrived there and John L. quickly outfitted them in Army green unis (with no name on the back). 

For the aforementioned reasons, I'm officially supporting going after Turner Gill as head coach of UofL.  That guy is a winner.