The House of Blue

That is accurate and they should be dissapointed EVERY year that they don't win 9+ games. That's why I'm not impressed with Charlie Strong. Their schedule is gawdawful! Look at this creme puff schedule. They will be favored in EVERY game this year. UK will be one of the 4 toughest teams they face all year outside of the bowl game and possibly even then. They have a legit shot at going undefeated... Yet, in the SEC they would be right there with us, Vandy, Miss St, and Ole Miss...

UK
Missouri St
UNC
FIU
Southern Miss
bye
Pitt
USF
Cinci
Temple
Cuse
bye
Uconn
Rutgers

Yes, they could have a big season due to schedule, but UL fans expectations are always ridiculously exaggerated. Need I remind you we are talking about the fanbase that nicknamed their QB Teddy "Heisman" before he'd ever stepped onto the college field? The same fanbase that assumed because they made it to the orangebowl once, that they would suddenly contend for national championships on a yearly basis?

By all means, I believe Charlie Strong is a very good football coach, but what has he really done at UL? He's gotten 7 wins twice in a worthless Big East conference. If UL does manage to take advantage of their weak schedule, the will get absolutely embarrased when they play a real team from a real conference in a bowl game. They may have a very good season this year, but Charlie will eventually peak out at around 10 wins at best if he stays at UL, and he will seldom win his BCS bowl game.

ACC > Big East. Heck, last year the MWC and CUSA were better than the BE in conference power rankings the majority of the year. The BE slide just ahead of both the CUSA and BE in the final rankings only because they did better in the bowl games. Midway through the year, IIRC even the MAC was ahead of the BE.

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/36233/sec-finishes-atop-football-power-rankings
Final Conference Power Rankings

Rank Conference AP Rank Computers Rank Final Rating Final Ranking Rank Change
1 SEC 1 2 96.5 1 0.4
2 Big 12 2 1 91.0 2 1.2
3 Pac-12 3 4 76.6 3 -1.8
4 Big Ten 4 3 69.4 4 -2.2
5 MWC 5 8 55.7 5 -2.3
6 Big East 6 5 38.1 6 9.1
7 ACC 8 6 32.4 7 -12.6
8 C-USA 7 7 30.5 8 4.2
9 MAC 9 9 16.1 9 2.0
10 Sun Belt 10 10 13.6 10 0.0
11 WAC 10 11 12.1 11 -1.4

The Slobberdog guy & their fanbase are ENTIRELY justified in thinking this for their season. Strong ought to be fired if they don't go at least 9-3. Really 10-2 is a valid expectation, there isnt any West Virginia or TCU in their conference any longer, and Boise St hasnt shown up yet.

Hell fire look at that schedule, tell me the 3 losses? Tell me when they WON'T be favored? Please, someone? North Carolina, with a new coach and new systems and under the dark cloud of NCAA punishment? Us, sure would be wonderful if it happens but it isnt expected. The rematch against Florida International? UL isnt anything special and wouldnt do anything in a real conference or against real competition, but damn who of their 12 game schedule is worth a crap?

JMO but if they go 9-3 this season it will likely be Strong's last at UL. There are far too many anxious ADs out there that will see just the improvement in record at UL and will be willing to dump some major cash on Charlie.

Screw them...how bout that.

Not this year... I went to their spring game and they have much more talent on OFF and there back 7 on defense is more talented as well. Their DE's are everybit as good as ours and Philon is better than Cobble or Rumph but he's the only one that is that talented, other than him the rest the DT's are Coleman like (as a freshman), did I mention Joker and co didn't even offer Philon??? That's the dumbest move I think he's made along with not offering Canady, Bloofield, Harris kid from GA that wanted to committ. Sweat and Legree must be outrageously good, for Joker to offer them and not Harris because everyone is high on Harris saying he's going to surprise some people...

Just saying, but if some think we can win 7 games this year (and UofL is more talented than us) it's safe to say they could win more, because they are better... When i'm realistic I think we will win around 5 games maybe 6, and since UofL had the best true freshman qb in the country a group of talented WR's and a O-line that Strong done a fantastic job of developing last year I think UofL could win 7 to 8 games in the SEC.

I know that will piss alot off but I was at the spring game and they are talented, they have a little white kid at wr in the slot that's a stud along with Parker and a few others... We do have a chance of beating them but IMO they will be atleast 6-10 point favorites when we play.

Ha, I like the way that sarcasm was slid in there. Excellent.

Yea they suddenly morphed into a powerhouse over the course of the offseason. Funny. You have to remember this is Todd we are talking about. This is the same guy who said Petri was a better evaluator of talent than Joker. I would (and do) take anything said by that guy with a grain of salt. That being said, I worry about the UL game solely because they have a mobile QB. I am always afraid of those being a UK fan! On top of that apparently he was the best freshman QB in the country last year. SMH.

Their talent just seems to be a year ahead, it may be that they have brought in so many early enrollies the past few years IDK, but I think if they played our schedule I think they would have alot better shot at getting 7 or 8 "W's" than we do. Their Off is good at every spot. Dominque Brown is a beast and his backup the Wright kid is also a good RB. Both have very good quickness especially the Wright kid and Brown runs harder than anyone we have, he looks like Miles Simpson at RB at 6'2 225#.

One thing I have to mention is how it seemed like their entire team was ripped, after talking to a couple guys I knew at the SG they told me that Strong said he doesn't place a ton of emphasis on guys adding 20-30# that he would rather have them add 5-10# a year so they don't loose their speed or quickness. Those same two guys both told me that Strong keeps very close tabs on these things too, if a kid gets "soft" or starts to add un-needed size they pay for it by doing extra work. As a result they always look to be in great condition.

Those guys also told me that there are talks the TB didn't throw a pick all the way through Spring. Parker, Michealee Harris, Andrell Smith and TB's new found playmaker Scott Radcliff can all run and catch. Radcliff had 9 or 10 catches and was very quick. He's going to give people fits because he catches everything thrown his way and is very quick.

On defense the biggest gap between the two teams is in their back 7. Their LB's and DB's all seem to be alittle more athletic that could be do to the fact that our guys are bigger. Their only big LB was their Sam backer the Brown kid the other 2 were just about 220 but could fly. Their De's are also very very athletic. None of the starters were even as big as Bud Dupree but they had great get off but should fit Strong's zone blitzing scheme very well. They do have one very big DE in BJ Butler at 6'2 270# but it seems he has lost his spot to a younger more athletic kid.

If some of you guys could have saw their SG you would see what i'm talking about. I dislike UofL as much as anyone but they are a talented team in a weak conf. UofL is already the favorites to win the BE. Their Off is very explosive, Dominque Brown and those WR's could all play SEC ball, it also doesn't hurt that they seem to have the best Soph QB in the country.

Todd, statistically, none of your opinions on the amazing talent UL has are grounded in reality.

Brown, the beast, played last year. He averaged 3.8 yards per rush and had more carries than anyone else on the team.

Radcliff, the new playmaker, played last year as well. 8 catches for 84 yards in 13 games.

Philon (4th year Junior), better than both Cobble and Rumph (Sophomore and 3rd year Junior), had 36 tackles (6 for loss) and 1.5 sacks. Cobble and Rumph had 33 (3) 1.0 and 31 (3) 1.0, respectively.

Let's talk about the OL that "Strong did a fantastic job of developing" last year. They allowed 41 sacks on the season. The allowed the "best freshman quarterback in the country" to get demolished in the Belk Bowl. Not to mention that they averaged 3.3 yards per carry, 6.4 yards per pass, and the "best freshman quarterback" tossed 3 interceptions in their bowl game, losing to a middle of the pack ACC team.

Also, Bridgewater was 14:12 td:int last season and averaged 163 yards per game. If their defense couldn't pick this guy "all spring practice" (and it must be true, since some UL fan at the spring game told you that) then they aren't very good, or at least didn't have a very good spring.

Your posts slobbered all over UL's team and coaches while downgrading our talent and coaches. Worse, those posts weren't even factually accurate. If your presence here was mostly to tell us how great UL is, I'm not buying.

For every freshman QB, WR, OLineman, DB, Dlineman, and LB that UL expects improvement from, we have a freshman QB, WR, Olineman, DB, Dlineman, and LB that we expect improvment from. Until the final whistle blows on Sept. 2 of this year, I give our guys as good a shot at beating UL as anyone.

Actually, looking back, I think they were both sophomores last season. I'm basing that on UK Athletics roster though, so TIFWIW.