Tennessee vs Kentucky - Rick Barnes Era (with a bit of good news)

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

Prior to Rick Barnes tenure as coach we had only beaten Kentucky at Rupp 4 times - 1977,1979,1999, and 2006. Just 4 times in 35 attempts. Since Barnes took the reins here, we have beat Kentucky at Rupp the same number of times - 4! I believe Rick has won 4 out of 9 times, just shy of 50%.

I read this a little bit ago, and I thought it was pretty impressive, so I decided to look over all the games vs KY with Barnes as head coach.

We have faced Kentucky 22 times in the last 10 years that Rick Barnes has been coaching here. The wins/losses with Barnes at the helm is currently tied at 11-11 (3 of those games being tournament games in which Barnes is 2-1).
Again, not bad at all considering KY leads the overall series 161-80.

If Barnes wins this game tmmrw night, his regular season record vs KY will be 10-10, and he will hold the tie breaker with them via tournament play 2-1 (2019, 2022 W -2018 L).

As I looked over the last decade of games with Kentucky, I noticed the majority of the time we end up splitting the two games we play every year, with each taking a win.
Oddly enough, if we win tmmrw, out of all of our splits half of them will end up being the home team losing on their home floor ( a trend in our favor this game).
In 9 seasons we have split 7 times. Only twice during that time has one team sweep the other team (TN- in 2018 and KY in 2023).

The good news is -
based on this data, the odds we win tmmrw's game is almost 80 %!
What makes the likelihood we win tmmrw night even greater IMO, is Kentucky has won the last 2 outings. During this Barnes vs KY decade long series, no team has won more than 2 straight.

You have to go all the way back to 2012-13 to find a time when Kentucky beat us 3 straight, and if you go back a little further to 2000,
until Barnes arrived we were just 6-30 against the Wildkittens.
This fact makes what Barnes has accomplished against Kentucky pretty dang awesome if you ask me. I think he makes it even more so tmmrw night with a another win at Rupp!

 

[VolCalls]

Prior to Rick Barnes tenure as coach we had only beaten Kentucky at Rupp 4 times - 1977,1979,1999, and 2006. Just 4 times in 35 attempts. Since Barnes took the reins here, we have beat Kentucky at Rupp the same number of times - 4! I believe Rick has won 4 out of 9 times, just shy of 50%.

I read this a little bit ago, and I thought it was pretty impressive, so I decided to look over all the games vs KY with Barnes as head coach.

We have faced Kentucky 22 times in the last 10 years that Rick Barnes has been coaching here. The wins/losses with Barnes at the helm is currently tied at 11-11 (3 of those games being tournament games in which Barnes is 2-1).
Again, not bad at all considering KY leads the overall series 161-80.

If Barnes wins this game tmmrw night, his regular season record vs KY will be 10-10, and he will hold the tie breaker with them via tournament play 2-1 (2019, 2022 W -2018 L).

As I looked over the last decade of games with Kentucky, I noticed the majority of the time we end up splitting the two games we play every year, with each taking a win.
Oddly enough, if we win tmmrw, out of all of our splits half of them will end up being the home team losing on their home floor ( a trend in our favor this game).
In 9 seasons we have split 7 times. Only twice during that time has one team sweep the other team (TN- in 2018 and KY in 2023).

The good news is -
based on this data, the odds we win tmmrw's game is almost 80 %!
What makes the likelihood we win tmmrw night even greater IMO, is Kentucky has won the last 2 outings. During this Barnes vs KY decade long series, no team has won more than 2 straight.

You have to go all the way back to 2011-13 to find a time when Kentucky beat us 3 straight, and if you go back a little further to 2000,
until Barnes arrived we were just 6-30 against the Wildkittens.
This fact makes what Barnes has accomplished against Kentucky pretty dang awesome if you ask me. I think he makes it even more so tmmrw night with an another win at Rupp!

Jaxon Robinson is out with an injury for UK tomorrow.

 

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

Jaxon Robinson is out with an injury for UK tomorrow.

Seen that...even more good news lol.
(p.s I caught/fixed that error on the games in a row right after I posted, but thanks for pointing it out )

 

[VOLtaism]

Backs to the wall, bad time to face UT.

 

[volfanstuckinga]

You can take all those numbers and throw them out the window. They mean nothing once the ball is tipped. The game comes down to how well we shoot the rock and how many 3's they hit. If they shoot like they did last time, it will be virtually impossible to beat them. We have to play better D on the perimeter and we MUST shoot the ball better.

 

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

You can take all those numbers and throw them out the window. They mean nothing once the ball is tipped. The game comes down to how well we shoot the rock and how many 3's they hit. If they shoot like they did last time, it will be virtually impossible to beat them. We have to play better D on the perimeter and we MUST shoot the ball better.

Yeah for sure we have to play, but these are the types of things I look for when I bet games.
I don't bet Tennessee a lot because to be consistent you have to also be willing to bet against your favorite team. Only game I betted them this year in regard to TN basketball was the Flordia game away because I had a feeling we were going down that game.
I mentioned that we were a good bet when they came here tho because of Barnes history of not losing back to back home games.
Having two players out scared me off that one, tho. I'm going to take Tennessee and the spread tonight. If I lose it wouldn't be the first time

 

[volfaninbuckeyeland]

Prior to Rick Barnes tenure as coach we had only beaten Kentucky at Rupp 4 times - 1977,1979,1999, and 2006. Just 4 times in 35 attempts. Since Barnes took the reins here, we have beat Kentucky at Rupp the same number of times - 4! I believe Rick has won 4 out of 9 times, just shy of 50%.

I read this a little bit ago, and I thought it was pretty impressive, so I decided to look over all the games vs KY with Barnes as head coach.

We have faced Kentucky 22 times in the last 10 years that Rick Barnes has been coaching here. The wins/losses with Barnes at the helm is currently tied at 11-11 (3 of those games being tournament games in which Barnes is 2-1).
Again, not bad at all considering KY leads the overall series 161-80.

If Barnes wins this game tmmrw night, his regular season record vs KY will be 10-10, and he will hold the tie breaker with them via tournament play 2-1 (2019, 2022 W -2018 L).

As I looked over the last decade of games with Kentucky, I noticed the majority of the time we end up splitting the two games we play every year, with each taking a win.
Oddly enough, if we win tmmrw, out of all of our splits half of them will end up being the home team losing on their home floor ( a trend in our favor this game).
In 9 seasons we have split 7 times. Only twice during that time has one team sweep the other team (TN- in 2018 and KY in 2023).

The good news is -
based on this data, the odds we win tmmrw's game is almost 80 %!
What makes the likelihood we win tmmrw night even greater IMO, is Kentucky has won the last 2 outings. During this Barnes vs KY decade long series, no team has won more than 2 straight.

You have to go all the way back to 2012-13 to find a time when Kentucky beat us 3 straight, and if you go back a little further to 2000,
until Barnes arrived we were just 6-30 against the Wildkittens.
This fact makes what Barnes has accomplished against Kentucky pretty dang awesome if you ask me. I think he makes it even more so tmmrw night with a another win at Rupp!

Thanks for that info, pumper; you really did your homework. I had only gone back to 2000 and saw where the Vols had won just 5 times at Rupp with 4 of those wins coming since '18. Last year, the Vols had an offensive explosion that may have been a major factor in Calipari's leaving for Ark. I don't expect a repeat of that, and if Okpara is a no go, a W may be too much to hope for. But after the way they showed up at Ok and Aub, I can't bring myself to pick against 'em. Vols by 4, 77-73.

 

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

Thanks for that info, pumper; you really did your homework. I had only gone back to 2000 and saw where the Vols had won just 5 times at Rupp with 4 of those wins coming since '18. Last year, the Vols had an offensive explosion that may have been a major factor in Calipari's leaving for Ark. I don't expect a repeat of that, and if Okpara is a no go, a W may be too much to hope for. But after the way they showed up at Ok and Aub, I can't bring myself to pick against 'em. Vols by 4, 77-73.

N.P....yeah, What Barnes and even Pearl have done is a complete turn around in regards to playing Kentucky ( and frankly the program as a whole), especially at their home. I think reason you see it more competitive is a coach for either team really values this rivalry win.

BTW, I haven't seen anything that says Felix won't necessarily be playing?
Have you ( meaning anyone)?
If he does play, being on the Injury report, he may not be 100%. If someone bets the game they may want to take that into consideration.
Personnally, I think we win either way, but that confidence also involves a little gut/intuition.

 

[WillTruvols]

Prior to Rick Barnes tenure as coach we had only beaten Kentucky at Rupp 4 times - 1977,1979,1999, and 2006. Just 4 times in 35 attempts. Since Barnes took the reins here, we have beat Kentucky at Rupp the same number of times - 4! I believe Rick has won 4 out of 9 times, just shy of 50%.

I read this a little bit ago, and I thought it was pretty impressive, so I decided to look over all the games vs KY with Barnes as head coach.

We have faced Kentucky 22 times in the last 10 years that Rick Barnes has been coaching here. The wins/losses with Barnes at the helm is currently tied at 11-11 (3 of those games being tournament games in which Barnes is 2-1).
Again, not bad at all considering KY leads the overall series 161-80.

If Barnes wins this game tmmrw night, his regular season record vs KY will be 10-10, and he will hold the tie breaker with them via tournament play 2-1 (2019, 2022 W -2018 L).

As I looked over the last decade of games with Kentucky, I noticed the majority of the time we end up splitting the two games we play every year, with each taking a win.
Oddly enough, if we win tmmrw, out of all of our splits half of them will end up being the home team losing on their home floor ( a trend in our favor this game).
In 9 seasons we have split 7 times. Only twice during that time has one team sweep the other team (TN- in 2018 and KY in 2023).

The good news is -
based on this data, the odds we win tmmrw's game is almost 80 %!
What makes the likelihood we win tmmrw night even greater IMO, is Kentucky has won the last 2 outings. During this Barnes vs KY decade long series, no team has won more than 2 straight.

You have to go all the way back to 2012-13 to find a time when Kentucky beat us 3 straight, and if you go back a little further to 2000,
until Barnes arrived we were just 6-30 against the Wildkittens.
This fact makes what Barnes has accomplished against Kentucky pretty dang awesome if you ask me. I think he makes it even more so tmmrw night with a another win at Rupp!

I have nothing positive to say about the vols at this point. they can not win on the road and you cant be neqar the top of the SEC if you cant do that. At best na 7 loss team and 5-6 in SEC at this point and likelyabout 15th in country

 

[VolsSportsFan]

We’ve now lost 3 in a row to Kentucky, 3 in a row at TBA amd 5 out of the last 6.

Barnes’ magic against UK has seemed to wane.

 

[Anti-shunshinepumper]

We’ve now lost 3 in a row to Kentucky, 3 in a row at TBA amd 5 out of the last 6.

Barnes’ magic against UK has seemed to wane.

Exception proves the rule.
He is one game back now from being tied against them. Not too shabby.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Exception proves the rule.
He is one game back now from being tied against them. Not too shabby.

Trending in the wrong direction.