Cats Fan in the Ville

I'm old enough to remember the Joe B Hall national championship and have seen everything in between then and now. They are not irrelevant in the way that Indiana basketball has become, but they have been less than competitive for a number of years. That's a fact. A blue blood? Yes. And under performing blue blood? Also yes. The question if they are "back" is to be determined.

Anytime I see “fill in the blank is ‘BACK’” I think “ they’re not back”. Texas football is back! The Vols are back! Now TX and TN have put together some pretty good consecutive seasons, so maybe they really are back. Kentucky has a long way to go to change the narrative. But I’d headline this article as “Kentucky took a nice step forward” and leave it at that. What is back is the passion of fans. Seeing the players continuously talk about their excitement about playing on this stage and this level of basketball is refreshing in and of itself. Counting success as NBA draft picks is done. Discounting an SEC title is done. Saying “we are built for Match” is done. And I’m so glad to see all that go away. I’m looking forward to the SEC this year without fear of being embarrassed by collapsing freshmen being thrown around by every roster they match up against. They’re going to lose games and that’s fine- I know they will be prepared and will play like their hair is on fire. I was disappointed in the Pope hire. Didn’t Kentucky deserve Dan Hurley? Billy Donovan? It’s a Blue Blood program for crying out loud. I was wrong. Mark Pope will make mistakes and he will lose games. I like him. I love his passion for his school and his appreciation of fans that take their vacations to see the Cats play. That spend the money to come to games. I’m just excited for this team and this season.

I'm now wondering if Kentucky is already as good as they will be in March- which goes to show you how well Cal was able to program fans... But the one thing I'm certain about, I like Mark Pope more every time he talks to the media. It's a rarity to see somebody acknowledge how privileged and fun it can be to have a high profile job like that. And accept and appreciate the pressure at the same time. No rainbows here looking at a super tough SEC schedule, but man he's off to a good start!

How does TN get out of this offensive funk? I’d say first off, make sure their QB takes down all the newspaper clippings from SDS that made him the Heisman front runner after last years bowl game and let him develop. Secondly, losing to a pretty good Arkansas defense on the road isn’t really a funk- it’s the realization that you can’t execute everything you want to because the other guys have scholarship SEC quality guys on their roster as well.

The ole miss lsu game is going to be a good one. I’d be shocked if the FL TN game isn’t close and it wouldn’t be crazy if Florida is able to pull it out. Vandy beating Bama last weekend is the best thing that could have happened for my Cats. They’ll certainly be on high alert with lots of film to watch and prepare.

One of the biggest surprises from that game was how Hardaway played. He made some open field tackles that stopped drives not to mention forced a fumble in the red zone. He’s always had the physical tools- but love seeing him improving technique to round out his game.

I overlook no team and hope my Cats don’t either…. I’ve seen this movie too many times!

Hard to understand how suddenly Lane Kiffin is suddenly not a good coach and Ole Miss choked "again". If you watched the game, it was relatively clean. A couple balls didn't bounce their way coupled with Kentucky playing a good game was what happened. It certainly could have gone the other way and then they would have "shown character" in a hard fought win over an overmatched Kentucky team. Ole Miss will be just fine and maybe a loss reenergizes the Rebs. One thing is certain, they better be ready for a really good SC defense this weekend.

I don't think Kentucky's offense is terrible. Think about it from this perspective- Kentucky starts the year vs Southern Miss. Hard to learn a lot from that game. Every weakness is exposed against a very good SC defense. And truly, that was BVG's first real test as a starter. They made some adjustments and the offense played better against Georgia and better yet against Ole Miss. I think the new OC has done a really good job calling games and shows improvement instead of continuing to just let the QB drop back in the pocket. Admittedly the numbers have not jumped off the page, but Kentucky's first three SEC games were against really good defenses. We'll see how they compete in the next three games against Vandy, FL and Auburn, but I feel optimistic that the game experience for both the QB and OC are improving every week...

This is the week TAMU can prove that Mizzou is average... College Station is a tough place to play, but if Mizzou is ready to take the step, this will be a great time to make a statement. I think this will be one of the better games of the weekend.

I hope it helps with defense and shooting. I'd bet more of an impact will be the fact that Cal has taken his clown show out of Lexington.

You bring up a good point- football does cover the majority of schools' athletic programs and supplements non-revenue generating sports. And that's all about Title IX. And while I love the idea of equity for "college" allocation of scholarships and spending in theory, it will come down to something like the USWNT in soccer or the WNBA demanding more money when their sports don't generate the same revenue as the men's sports. But the Universities somehow have to be involved when their student athletes are making money for playing a sport for their University. The alternative will continue to be cases like this.

With NIL as it stands, Universities are nothing more than a middle man in setting these deals up. There's no real legal oversight as kids are being paid through non-NCAA/University allocated funds. The details here are murky, just like they were with the QB who left Florida. I can't imagine Billy Napier had the ability to legally oversee the contracts to be sure his recruit was going to be paid. The entire setup is open to exploitation on both sides of the coin. And the payments, contracts or "handshake" deals don't seem to hold a lot of water.

The problem is that the "teams" are supposedly not involved with the NIL deals. If there were some involvement with the Universities and the compliance departments, this could help change what's being promised, what the contracts look like, etc...

I've never gotten the draw for Oregon outside of their flashy uniforms and allegiance to Nike. But somehow they've managed to put together a pretty good football program over a sustained period of time. As far as a place to live and go to school, Knoxville is a pretty cool place- not to mention JH has put an exciting product on the field. So hard to figure unless NIL was the real reason and somewhat closer to home. But I guess UT has other ideas/commitments about where to spend their $'s...

@voltrainconductor, despite what happens in this game Saturday, you still have to play both. And Florida. Which has not been a game you've won with any regularity in recent history. And before you go with Kentucky's record against TN, you have to realize that Florida has managed to beat the Vols even when they shouldn't- just like TN beats KY when we have a better team. So in summary, you have a long way to go before you proclaim the Vols to be the SEC's crown jewel.

With the 12 team playoff, both teams can advance their cause by playing well. I have no doubt it will be a good game between two really good teams. The Dawgs have the advantage of continuity and Bama has a slight edge playing at home. I think it will be a one score game either way. But reading into this more than what it is seems silly. Truth be told, play the game 10 times and it could very well be 50/50. Not a statement about the direction of Bama or Georgia's football program. These are still the two marquis programs in the SEC with some good teams close behind- namely Ole Miss, LSU and even TN seems to be putting it together this year. Still lots of football, but until you un-seat the Dawgs or Bama, they're at the top of the pecking order.

This was a pretty good game by BVG and he has definitely built a nice rhythm with Key. I’d like to see a little more Brown and Machin in the passing game. I think they have to run the ball a bunch next week and let the defense do their thing. Basically look at the game plan they used against the Dawgs last weekend. There will be little room for error in Oxford

Reading this article, the Vols will be playing KC in February for the Super Bowl and likely favored to win by two touchdowns... Granted, they look to have a lot of what they need to win where they may have been a little thin in previous seasons. But wow- what a lack of respect for the Sooners. I do think TN wins this game and I'll be watching to see how the new QB looks against some good defenses in the coming weeks....

Mullen seemed to be a good fit at Florida in the beginning- It's almost like he torpedoed his own chances in Gainesville. Hard to understand how he fell out of the good graces so quickly. And deliberately.

Florida has money and one of the best recruiting bases in America. Throw in a pretty solid history with championships (both national and conference) and they are definitely one of the top jobs in college football. I'm not sure how to rank in a conference scenario, but I think there's Bama and then a list of other schools with pretty equal weight- Georgia, Auburn, TN, LSU, TX and Oklahoma. Outside of the SEC I look at historic programs like Ohio State and then schools like USC and Michigan. But yes, Florida is a top tier job in my opinion...

I would give BVG a little grace- South Carolina and Georgia have some of the best defenses he will face this season. And those came in starts #2 and #3 of his college career. While he certainly whiffed against SC, he played pretty poised against Georgia. On top of that, you can tell the new OC really had to get a feel for what the offense is able to execute. I think BVG will be just fine...

Thank you KBP- I didn't think this was a sloppy game at all. In fact, it was pretty clean, physical, etc... Georgia didn't flinch and executed when they had to. I understand the frustration from fans not going for it on 4th and 8, but I'll be honest, every yard Kentucky was able to get was hard earned and there certainly wasn't anyone who thought there was a good chance to convert that play. The game in Austin will be a tough one for the Dawgs, but I think they handle business the rest of the way... Good luck the rest of the season!

I don’t think he’s a coward, but I also think the decision to punt was wrong. I can see taking the sure points going into halftime knowing you get the ball to start the 2nd half- but as a fan I would have liked to see a shot to the end zone.

I don’t know that Kentucky deserved to win, but they didn’t deserve to lose either- if that makes sense. That was a very solid game by both teams. Georgia is still the team to beat. I don’t know that there are any better defensive showings they will face this year- and on the road they got it done.

Get that the narrative about Kentucky football was pretty dim after the loss to SC last weekend. And deservedly so. But there is a lot of talent on the Kentucky defense. I don’t know where it was last weekend, but it showed up for Georgia. I don’t think it’s an indictment of Georgia or their season at all. When you see their confidence and ability to execute on the road, you can see why they are the #1 team in the country. They found a way to win, never panicked and left Lexington with a W in a really good defensive ball game. And despite the negative comments about BVG, he just faced two of the best defensive matchups I think he’ll see all season. Surely the sledding will be a little easier going forward?

That’s the same narrative I was hearing locally. He was all but headed to Bama. And that would have been a very bad look for the UK program.

My hope is that Pope's recruiting message is different than the past HC. Cal never really embraced NIL- whereas at a school like Kentucky, get the kids paid and hammer the message that being a one and done isn't failure if you're staying to improve your draft stock- which can avoid a purgatory in the G-League followed by a stint overseas to finish out your career. He seems to be doing everything right- he put together a transfer class from scratch (literally one recruit stuck around) and is now putting together a nice HS class for next season. The fans are bought in. All that remains to be seen is how he gets his kids to perform once the ball is tipped. It would be unrealistic to think next season is going to be a final four year, but the bar at this point is pretty low.

Lagway gives the Gators more options and the athleticism will cover up some of the needs on the offensive line. It's a lot to throw at a young guy, but if he's the future, let it roll. I still think Mertz has been a solid QB for the Gators- he may just not have the tools around him this season to fit his strengths/weaknesses. Would be a tough pill to swallow losing your job through injury, but college football is no longer an amateur sport.

Don’t be nervous :) The Cats are in probably the best place they’ve been since Stoops took over to handle a game like this. Depth, talent, experience….