Men's Basketball

KY Insider Ranking and Bracketology Update

Published

5 years ago

February 25, 2019

This past week in college basketball has shuffled some teams around in the latest rankings and bracketology predictions. After dominating Auburn on Saturday in an 80-53 win the Cats remain at no. 4 in the latest AP poll and are now predicted as a 1 seed by most experts.

AP Top 25

1. Gonzaga (44), 27-2

2. Virginia (15), 24-2

3. Duke (3), 24-3

4. Kentucky (2), 23-4

5. North Carolina, 22-5

6. Michigan State, 23-5

7. Tennessee, 24-3

8. Houston, 26-1

9. Michigan, 24-4

10. Marquette, 23-4

11. Texas Tech, 22-5

12. Nevada, 25-2

13. LSU, 22-5

14. Purdue, 20-7

15. Kansas, 20-7

16. Kansas State, 21-6

17. Maryland, 21-7

18. Florida State, 21-6

19. Wisconsin, 19-8

20. Virginia Tech, 21-6

21. Buffalo, 24-3

22. Iowa, 21-6

23. Cincinnati, 23-4

24. Wofford, 24-4

25. Washington, 22-5

Others Receiving Votes: Louisville 90 (LOL), Villanova 63, Iowa St. 58, Mississippi St. 28, Auburn 16, Baylor 10, VCU 4, Old Dominion 2, New Mexico St. 1.

Notable Moves

Duke: After losing Zion Williamson 36 seconds into the game and losing 88-72 to North Carolina the Blue Devils fell to no. 3

North Carolina: Jumped to no. 5 after two impressive double-digit wins over a top 5 Duke team and a then no. 16 Florida State team.

Tennessee: Fell to no. 7 after a controversial loss at LSU

ESPN Power Rankings

The Cats are sitting 4th in the ESPN power rankings and here is what ESPN’s Jeff Borzello had to say about the Cats.

EJ Montgomery and Nick Richards appear likely to split the minutes down low while Reid Travis is sidelined. On Saturday against Auburn, Montgomery got the start and played 23 minutes, finishing with six points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Richards played 20 minutes off the bench, also blocking three shots and finishing with four points and three boards. That combined production will make John Calipari happy.

Andy Katz Power 36

Katz ranked Kentucky no. 3 in his power 36 rankings and had this to say about the Cats.

The Wildcats are smoking right now. The second showdown with Tennessee is on tap Saturday.

Bracketology

CBS Sports

USA Today

I like each of these brackets and each gives the Cats a great chance of advancing to the Final Four. North Carolina is one of the hottest teams in the country but Kentucky was able to handle them in their December matchup. Personally, I would rather be the top 2-seed in the South Region (Louisville) and practically play 4 straight home games with Virginia as the 1 seed.

Kentucky is playing like a force to be reckoned with and if some upsets were to happen could move up a little a spot or two in the last two weeks. However, the Cats have one of the toughest remaining schedules of the top 5. This team is playing better than their no. 4 ranking.

Men's Basketball

The Details of Mark Pope’s Kentucky Contract, Top 10 Paid Coach in the Country

Published

20 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Tristan Pharis

Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Per an open records request, here is Mark Pope’s Kentucky contract details. It is a 5-year, $27.5 million deal. This contract gives Pope a significant raise, as he was estimated to be making around $2-$3 million at BYU (private university). Pope’s salary now puts him in the top 10 highest paid in the country and tied for third in the SEC with Nate Oats (Alabama, $5 million), behind Bruce Pearl (Auburn, $5.7 million) and Rick Barnes (Tennessee, $5 million).

Annual Compensation

YR1 (2024-25): $5,000,000 (Date of hire-March 31, 2025) (annualized)

YR 2(2025-26): $5,250,000 (April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026)
YR 3(2026-27): $5,500,000 (April 1, 2026-March 31, 2027)

YR 4(2027-28): $5,750,000 (April 1, 2027-March 31, 2028)
YR 5(2028-29): $5,750,000 (April 1, 2027-March 31, 2028)

Guarantee (University Terminates Without Cause)

75% of total remaining Annual Compensation due through the otherwise unexpired term.

Payable in monthly installments over the overwise unexpired term
Coach shall have affirmative obligation to mitigate/offset with other employment.

Buyout (Coach Terminates Without Cause)

33% of the total remaining Annual Compensation otherwise due Coach through the remainder of the Term if current athletics director is in the athletics director position

20% of the total remaining Annual Compensation otherwise due Coach through the remainder of the Term it current athletics director is no longer the athletics director

Benefits to Coach

Standard University benefits package (retirement, health, etc.)
Coach’s choice of use of two (2) late model, luxury automobiles or standard, University head coach stipend

Private air travel for personal use for 30 hours per Contract Year (up to 15 unused hours may roll over to the following Contract Year)
Twenty (20) prime, lower-level basketball tickets for each men’s basketball home game and eight (8) football tickets for each home football game
Ten (1 0) Lower level, prime tickets for each men’s basketball away or neutral site game(s)

Membership in one private mutually agreed upon club/golf club membership

Assistants and Support Staff Salary Pools

Such amount shall be set at a level commensurate with high-level SEC programs and peer institutions.

Annual Performance Incentives

Such amounts shall be due and payable at the next regular payroll date subsequent to the achievement(s); incentives are earned as long as Coach is serving as Head Coach on the date upon Which any bonus incentive is achieved. Maximum bonus is $700,000 per season (i.e. $500,000 for National Championship plus $100,000 SEC Regular Season plus $50,000 for SEC Tournament Championship plus $25,000 for a Cumulative Team GPA of 3.0 or greater plus $25,000 for a Team GPA of $25,0000).

Win NCAA National Championship – $500,000 OR
Final Four Appearance – $250,000 OR

Elite Eight Appearance – $100,000 OR
Sweet Sixteen Appearance – $50,000

PLUS

Regular Season SEC Championship (or share of) – $100,000 AND

SEC Tournament Championship – $50,000 AND
Cumulative Team GPA of 3.0 or greater – $25,000 AND
Team APR of 975 or greater – $25,000

Men's Basketball

Coaches Give Their Opinion On Kentucky’s Hire of Mark Pope

Published

21 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Tristan Pharis

The hiring of Mark Pope was met with mixed reactions from Kentucky fans, but he is well respected in the coaching community.

Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The hiring of Mark Pope was met with mixed reactions from Kentucky fans. On one hand, he is a great Xs and Os coach and one of Kentucky’s own, winning an NCAA Championship as captain of the 1996 team. On the other hand, he has yet to win an NCAA Tournament game.

While fans may have mixed reactions, Pope is well respected among the coaching community for his work ethic and creative offense. After speaking with several coaches who competed against Pope at BYU and Utah Valley, here is what some had to say.

Anonymous Coach #1

They play an uptempo style on offense. They are more physical defensively than many people think.

Anonymous Coach #2

Coach Pope’s teams were always well-prepared. Had a great plan combined with grit and toughness. I learned a lot by scouting his teams especially offensively.

No, I’ve known him since his days at Utah Valley. Think he has the right personality and swagger to him to lead BBN. May take time but sneaky good hire.

Anonymous Coach #3

Kentucky fans should expect to win. His teams are extremely hard to guard, his players are well-schooled on how to play, and they play smart from an analytical standpoint. Hardly run any sets; just play really fast and try to score in transition or from their early offense. He does ‘modern basketball’ really well .. if he can get players that fit his system — look out.

The only concern from me would be if he will feel pressure to chase a different pool of players resulting in losing what got him the job in the first place.

Anonymous Coach #4

They (BYU) were by far the hardest team to prepare for. Run a lot of actions that put the defense in conflict. Probably my favorite offensive system I’ve watched.

I thought the system was fine for the talent and types of athletes they had. Very NBA-like where the big is in a drop and the guard chases over the screen with everyone else staying home on shooters. They wanted to stay out of help/rotations as much as possible. They tried to impact you defensively by being physical without fouling on drives. Analytics wise their defense was pretty good. Want you to take tough 2s and then they did a really good job of blocking out and not fouling. With the way they played, they don’t force many turnovers though. The SEC team that they played the most similar to was Alabama just way less athletic.

If he can get the level of recruits to compete for national championships and if he does are they skilled enough with high enough basketball IQs to be able to succeed in his system? I think it might be tough to teach the concepts they run to 5-star freshmen.

Anonymous Coach #5

Pope is an extremely competitive coach, his teams always competed and fought to the end. Elite offensive mind, especially embracing the modern game and overall analytics. They shot a ton of 3’s and played with great pace – I’m sure a very fun style for their fans but also a tough style to defend.

Anonymous Coach #6

BYU was my scout this year, such a unique style of play. They want to play in Transition and SHOOT 3’s. In Early Offense and HC Offense run a bunch of 5-Out, I think at UK he will have/recruit guys who can all Pass and Shoot. You just couldn’t fall asleep against them at all, had to guard all 5 guys.

I think he is very well respected from other coaches in the league and around the country. Recruiting would be my only concern, but now he’s at UK.

Other Coaches I have talked to believe he wouldn’t have had any shot if he didn’t play at UK, which I hate saying that, because he did in fact play at UK. So can’t take that away from him.

I think his recruiting style will be all about FIT and BUILDING the right team. He will be very strategic in the type of guys he recruits. The days of 4-5 Burger Boys are over. Will be different than Cal. Also, don’t be surprised if he wins IMMEDIATELY.

Men's Basketball

Rick Pitino Verbally Accepts Two Game Series With Kentucky, “Looking Forward To Saying Goodbye To Kentucky”

Published

24 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Tristan Pharis

Former Kentucky basketball head coach has verbally agreed to a two-game series with Kentucky, incuding a "Goodbye" game at Rupp Arena.

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The last time Rick Pitino was in Rupp Arena, he flipped off a crowd of 24,000+ Kentucky fans after a 75-73 loss in 2015, which he later denied, saying, “My recollection, it was a, ‘We are #1.’”

A lot has changed since then. Louisville is now on their third coach since Pitino and John Calipari is now at Arkansas. With Mark Pope now the coach of the Wildcats, a captain under Rick Pitino’s 95 and 96 Kentucky teams, it felt like it was just a matter of time before Pitino was back on the schedule.

On Sunday, during his introductory press conference, Pope asked a packed Rupp Arena, “Anybody here down for the game versus St. John’s?” Which was answered with a loud roar. On Monday morning, Pitino verbally accepted the invite via social media.

“St John’s accepts,” Pitino said. “This year at UK, next year at the Mecca! Looking forward to saying goodbye to Kentucky”

Wow, just saw clips from our Captain’s press conference. Not shocked, but pleasantly surprised. Would expect nothing less from @CoachMarkPope. Also, @StJohnsBBall accepts, this year at UK, next year at the Mecca! Looking forward to saying goodbye to @KentuckyMBB.— Rick Pitino (@RealPitino) April 15, 2024