Tennessee comes in at #10 in ESPN's way too early top 25, one spot ahead of UK

#7
#7
cncchris33 said:
🙄
Don't start with the poor-mouthing, there, Lou Holtz. Any team with the #1 incoming recruiting class will be, and deserves to be ranked among the top 25 teams, especially in college basketball.
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Happens every year. Recruit a great class, pump them full of themselves, and watch them get dismantled by veteran teams. I have seen it too often.
 
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#8
#8
McCat said:
Happens every year. Recruit a great class, pump them full of themselves, and watch them get dismantled by veteran teams. I have seen it too often.
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Question for you McCat. Are UK fans getting tired of the one and done model? Obviously winning cures everything and if Cal were to win another championship all would be forgiven, but I wonder if UK fans would choose recruiting and developing players over the one and done if they could, all else being equal. Are there UK fans really ready for a change?
 
#10
#10
Speaking as someone who lives in Kentucky and married into a Kentucky family, many UK fans under 35-40 years old are generally accepting of the Cal model. They enjoy the wins, the super talent, and the NBA Draft success. Those fans above 40, however, remember what it was like to connect and invest in the growth and development of UK players. They miss those days, and while many would overlook that fact for multiple championships, the fact that this model has only yielded one title in 10 years is wearing thin on many.
 
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#11
#11
cncchris33 said:
Speaking as someone who lives in Kentucky and married into a Kentucky family, many UK fans under 35-40 years old are generally accepting of the Cal model. They enjoy the wins, the super talent, and the NBA Draft success. Those fans above 40, however, remember what it was like to connect and invest in the growth and development of UK players. They miss those days, and while many would overlook that fact for multiple championships, the fact that this model has only yielded one title in 10 years is wearing thin on many.
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Wisconsin beating the undefeated KY team in the Final Four was awesome
 
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#13
#13
cardvolfan said:
Your game reference is a good example as to why a moderately talented, well-coached team that shows max effort night in and night out excels against the Kentucky model.
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Wisconsin had 2 first round picks on that team
 
#16
#16
Cal wins a lot of games and could win a NC in a given year, but me, personally, I couldn't tell you who was on last year's team. I exaggerate, but there is something to having multiyear players. Fire Cal? No way. But I wish he would tweak his model a bit.


LeannaVol said:
Question for you McCat. Are UK fans getting tired of the one and done model? Obviously winning cures everything and if Cal were to win another championship all would be forgiven, but I wonder if UK fans would choose recruiting and developing players over the one and done if they could, all else being equal. Are there UK fans really ready for a change?
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#22
#22
I think a lot of people are overlooking a simple fact as to why the "Cal Model" isn't as successful anymore---college basketball has a lot more parity than it once did.

You can recruit a top ranked recruiting class every year now, but it's no guarantee for success. The athletes across all sports these days are faster, stronger, more athletic, and more skilled than at any point in history. Practically anyone can compete with anyone. There is a reason teams like Colgate can take Tennessee to the wire. Or UMBC can upset the heavy favorite Virginia Cavaliers and shock the world. There is a much narrower gap between the cream of the crop and the bottom feeders in college athletics now.

There is no model that guarantees success, but at the very least the "Cal Model" ensures you are at least in the conversation every year for a title. None of the blue bloods are winning multiple championships in a short span. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Michigan State aren't bringing in numerous championships either.
 
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#23
#23
TheMookieMonster said:
I think a lot of people are overlooking a simple fact as to why the "Cal Model" isn't as successful anymore---college basketball has a lot more parity than it once did.

You can recruit a top ranked recruiting class every year now, but it's no guarantee for success. The athletes across all sports these days are faster, stronger, more athletic, and more skilled than at any point in history. Practically anyone can compete with anyone. There is a reason teams like Colgate can take Tennessee to the wire. Or UMBC can upset the heavy favorite Virginia Cavaliers and shock the world. There is a much narrower gap between the cream of the crop and the bottom feeders in college athletics now.

There is no model that guarantees success, but at the very least the "Cal Model" ensures you are at least in the conversation every year for a title. None of the blue bloods are winning multiple championships in a short span. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Michigan State aren't bringing in numerous championships either.
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I think you're underestimating what superior talent within the right framework can do.
 
#24
#24
cardvolfan said:
I think you're underestimating what superior talent within the right framework can do.
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I think you're missing the point of my post. It doesn't matter what the framework is anymore.

I see a discussion surrounding how the "Cal Model" doesn't win any championships, and there are better models, but I can't think of a single other program in the country that is unequivocally better. Duke has two titles in the past 10 years. Michigan State has won 1 in the past 20 years. North Carolina has two in the past 11 years. Heck, the last team to win back to back titles was Florida in 2006 and 2007. Kentucky has 6 of the last 10 SEC Regular Season Titles and 6 of the last 10 tournament titles. That's pretty dominant to me.

I occasionally get a little irked as we slammed Barnes for not recruiting well early on, yet now I have seen a recurring theme on this board of people saying we should try and recruit less like Kentucky and pursue more middle of the road players. The truth is neither option is more guaranteed to get you a national championship. There is no framework that works best. But at least if you recruit the best players possible, you're put in a position to succeed year in and year out and at least be in the conversation as a contender.
 
#25
#25
TheMookieMonster said:
I think you're missing the point of my post. It doesn't matter what the framework is anymore.

I see a discussion surrounding how the "Cal Model" doesn't win any championships, and there are better models, but I can't think of a single other program in the country that is unequivocally better. Duke has two titles in the past 10 years. Michigan State has won 1 in the past 20 years. North Carolina has two in the past 11 years. Heck, the last team to win back to back titles was Florida in 2006 and 2007. Kentucky has 6 of the last 10 SEC Regular Season Titles and 6 of the last 10 tournament titles. That's pretty dominant to me.

I occasionally get a little irked as we slammed Barnes for not recruiting well early on, yet now I have seen a recurring theme on this board of people saying we should try and recruit less like Kentucky and pursue more middle of the road players. The truth is neither option is more guaranteed to get you a national championship. There is no framework that works best. But at least if you recruit the best players possible, you're put in a position to succeed year in and year out and at least be in the conversation as a contender.
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I think you're missing the point of what I said. I said recruiting the best within the framework of coaching and development is the optimal situation. Do you agree or disagree?
 
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