Loge Level

With football signing day having come and gone, I wanted to take a look at Kentucky’s last six recruiting classes to see how the members of those classes performed over the last two seasons — Kentucky’s most successful seasons in decades.

I chose to go all the way back to the 2002 class (Guy Morriss’ last class) because members of that class who redshirted were eligible during Kentucky’s 2006 season. (Plus, the furthest Rivals’* recruiting ranking archives go back is 2002, so that worked out well.)

First, a macro analysis (and I use that word loosely). I want to see where Kentucky’s last six classes rank, where Kentucky’s 2006 and 2007 opponents’ classes rank, and how Kentucky did against those opponents. [Hat tip to SMQ for the inspiration for this. If you want to see something like what’s below, but for all the Bowl Championship Series schools, by all means, click here.] Crappy Word tables and ‘analysis’ after the jump!

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A funny picture on the CJ today, from the looks of it last night’s game was in Rupp and Chuck Hayes somehow managed to play.  It might not be up long so here is a screen grab.

http://courierjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

I’m a couple of days late posting this, but — in case you missed it — Jay Bilas dismissed Kentucky’s chances of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament Saturday night on College Gameday.

The segment started with Digger Phelps big-upping the Cats and predicting they would have a strong finish to the season. Then it was Bilas’ turn to speak:

I don’t think there’s any way that Kentucky can get in unless they win their conference tournament. They’re ten and nine.

He went on to say that Kentucky simply played too poorly in the first half of the season to be considered for an at-large berth. (I would have transcribed all of it but I don’t have access to my DVR right now). He noted that the Selection Committee will not simply ignore the first half of the season, which is true I suppose, but plenty of teams have started well and not made the tournament. (Last year’s Clemson team springs to mind. And this year’s Ole Miss and Vanderbilt teams are certainly no locks to make the tournament despite each going undefeated in non-conference play.) The Selection Committee certainly rewards teams that finish strong more so than it does teams that start fast.

Overall, I don’t really have a beef with what Bilas said. After all, we do have some terrible losses, we are ten and nine, and our RPI is still in the hundreds. An at-large bid is unlikely. And that’s putting it nicely.

That said, I have a hard time believing an at-large bid is definitely out of our reach. And writing that doesn’t make me a total homer. Joe Lunardi seemingly agrees, as does Andy Glockner, who writes ESPN.com’s weekly College Basketball Bubble Watch (”Kentucky is starting to make some noise. We’ll check back on the Cats next week.” [Link]). And then there’s SI.com’s Luke Wynn, who — bizarrely — has Kentucky listed under “On the Cusp, Tier II” in his weekly power rankings. [Link] If you add up the teams in front of us, he’s got us at No. 33.

Suffice it to say, I think there are scenarios in which Kentucky can earn an at-large bid.

Eli gets his. Hey-yo Rick Bozich!

From December 5, 2006:

My guess is their reasoning had something to do with SEC tradition and the league’s record of producing quality NFL players. You know the names — quarterbacks who are turning the NFL upside down, like Rex Grossman, Eli Manning, Tim Couch, Eric Zeier and Heath Shuler.

PS. And what about Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart in Peyton’s booth?

One time UK celebrity fan Eddie Montgomery is playing a concert for Tennessee’s Orange and White game.  (Link)

Country singers Taylor Swift and Montgomery Gentry will headline a Neyland Stadium concert the day before Tennessee’s Orange and White spring game.

Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton compares the football spring game to “midnight madness” in basketball and says the inaugural pre-game Gridiron Bash will boost the fan experience.

This decision is kind of hard to reconcile with Montgomery’s previous comments concerning Kentucky football. (Link)

I love (Kentucky) football and I’ve taken a lot of grief from a lot of guys for a long time over that, especially those guys from Tennessee. They rag on me all the time during football.