A Month of Suprises...What Does it All Mean?

So for various reasons we here at KSO have have not gotten around to posting much the last couple months. And some pretty big things happened during this time. So, we can either ignore these events and only post on what comes now or go back and pick up. I think based on how big some of these games are, we'll sum it all up and post a little commentary as you the reader come to expect. Plus, we've all read and seen these pasts few games (for the most part) but reliving the wins is always fun. The big question with all of this though, is what do these select wins/loses mean moving forward which is what we'll focus on:

FOOTBALL
I think out of all that has happened in the last couple months, UK beating UT still stands out as the biggest event. Going into that game something just felt different. Like maybe things would go our way. That feeling quickly went away when I saw Joker playing Matt Roark as QB wasn't just a joke or to throw UT off for a play or two, he was there to stay...all game. Whatever optimism or hopeful feelings we as UK fans may have had that day going into the game had to turn to panic for nearly all of us. I mean it was UT, the team that regardless of what the state of UT football was at the time, and regardless of how good of a team we had, we had failed to beat in the last 26 tries. If this was the year to beat them, how on earth were we going to do it with a WR playing QB who hadn't done so since high school? We all saw though that something rather mind-blowing happened for us that day and somehow we pulled off the win.

The UT game was huge on so many levels. Going into the game UK was 4-7, including our first loss to Louisville since 2006. We weren't going to a bowl game even if we beat UT, fans had lost faith in Joker (even for most of his strongest defenders) and the football program seemed to be heading back down to the pit it normally stays in. The last few years of 50-50 seasons, and especially winning seasons, was disappearing quick from our minds. UK football's small time of small success was over. Then came the UT game. Now, winning that game didn't give us a winning season, but how many fans pre-season would talk about taking a losing season, or maybe even a one win season if that one win was against UT? That win helped solidify Joker coming back (good or bad), gave the football program some slight upward momentum for an otherwise bad season which is good for recruiting, and broke a streak that haunted the program for 26 years. Breaking that streak was huge, as fans we often don't think about what may (or may not) be going through the minds of our players but you have to imagine that when you get past 10 years or so of always losing to a team that has to play mind games with your team (us in this case) and I can only imagine the mind havoc a 26 year losing streak has on a team going into a game. That burden is now lifted and although we may not beat UT again next year, we should have a better shot going into games against them the next few years since a huge 'monkey' is off our players backs (and minds).

To finish on the football note: it may be dumb luck or a lot pre-game praying but somehow Joker has taken down 2 of 3 losing streaks in his first two years; beating Spurrier for UKs first time ever in 2010 and now UT in 2011. The only major streak we have left is Florida. That may seem untouchable but so did Spurrier at USC and UT. Also, I spent some time talking to Matt Roark at an autograph signing out at Fan Outfitters after the UT game and he said he thinks we will beat Florida next year. Stranger things have happened...

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Men's basketball has been a ride already at were not even half way through yet. Coming into this season there were very, very high hopes for this team. Some acted like hanging #8 is/was a given and an undefeated season was very possible. We started the season off with the fire and excitement people had hoped for. Our early games almost look like Harlem Globetrotter events. We were putting up crazy numbers and moves, starting the season out with a 108-58 point win. Small time teams were like jokes and we ran over top of them. Even Kansas never seemed to have a real shot at Maddison Square Gardens. We were cruising to #8 and nothing was going to stop us. Then reality set in. Reality in the form of a UNC team that had just had a reality check itself after freshly falling from the #1 spot and out to prove UK wasn't as good as everyone thought. This was one of the, if not THE, biggest pre-season non-conference game coming in and delivered. UNC played, from my perspective and I think others if they would admit it, the better team and we were a fingers-length (literally) from losing that game. We pulled off the win but the game showed our team wasn't as perfect as we wanted to dream they were. We won and all was good...until Indiana.

The Indiana game still strikes a very, very sour taste in my mouth. Leading up to that game their fans trash talked UK players, Calipari, and us the fans all week long. Signs at the game read things like "I took my own S.A.T.". Shirts made a week early said "IU Beat UK December 10, 2011". The place was hostile. The fans wanted us. Tom Crean wanted us. Their team wanted us. Indiana was ready for that game. We however, were not. Against a team that should have been easily inferior to us, we played bad and made them look like all-stars. They were the ones who truly brought us back down to earth and showed us that no matter how talented our team is, it's still mainly freshman. Now granted it was our first true away game against an extremely hostile crowd but with the talent we had, the game should have gone different.

Of course as you all are thinking, and we have to do as fans to process and move on, it is still early in the season. Were still listed as a top 5 team. Still receiving some #1 votes. Still just 1 loss on the record. We have a full conference to get ready before the NCAA tourney. Losing the #1 spot isn't necessarily a bad thing either as it does turn opposing fan bases into ones like Indiana and make things that much more difficult for us. Hopefully our team and learn and improve. Forget and move on. What the Indiana game truly means about our team is yet to be determined. Can we drastically improve and look like a #1 team (which at no point yet this season do I think we truly have yet or does it just point out the one thing many of us don't want to ever, ever accept as true but people outside UK think is fact: You can't go all the way on one and dones? There is still plenty of basketball left to play and ultimately March is when and where it all counts.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
I simply cannot finish a post covering big events in UK sports lately without addressing what Matthew Mitchell and the UK women are doing right now. Women's hoops are currently ranked #8 in AP, and #7 in the ESPN/USA rankings after making a fairly high ranked Louisville team look like a joke and then beating a high ranked Duke team 4 days later. When not taking on ranked competition, the Lady Cats are forcing insane turnover numbers for opposing teams including 49 turnovers against their last opponent which turned into a 101-43 win for UK. The biggest test of the season so far for the Ladys is against 3rd ranked Notre Dame on Sunday @1. For now though the women have a nice 10-0 record and are one of the few remaining unbeaten teams. Not even mighty UT is unbeaten. Even though they are still ranked #6, they have two losses on the season so far. The Lady cats should only keep getting better too as a high-ranked UCONN transfer is about to start playing for us for the first time this season coming up soon. Barnhart needs to lock Coach Mitchell down with a nice contract before he gets too big for UK or maybe even considers a career with a men's program. No such rumors exist that we are aware of but one has to wonder if a rising coach like him wouldn't try to go somewhere bigger or maybe even try running a Men's program. For now though, just enjoy the amazing things he is doing with the women's program.