2006-08 vs. Today

[NKR1978]

I'd agree with that, right through the Seton Hall game.

Around that time we seemed to plateau; we were just toying with teams. Lost Fab a few weeks later, his development got cut off, Dion's play went into the tank for a month, and I never felt we were dominant after that. Very good, but not at the same level as we were for stretches in November and December.

Agree that Kentucky would've taken 3 or 4 losses in the Big East. They needed some help (Mississippi State comes to mind) to get through a much inferior league with only 1 loss. That we were able to go 17-1 was special.

The thing about last year's team that I absolutely loved is that they fought for every win. Lots of dog fights. They took a lot of punches and never backed down. Even Notre Dame they fought back after getting blitzed early to get within a couple possessions at one point. The Cincy game they really fought to get back in that one as well, but just dug too great a hole. The difference between this year and last year is that we won these close heart pounding games last year (Louisville x2, Georgetown, @ UConn, WVU, @ Cincy, Wisconsin). This year we've won two of them.

After Fab went out every single game against SJU, UConn at the Dome and KSU was a root canal. Kind of shows what special year they had last season in spite of the lack of Final Four.

 

[jncuse]

I remember the head-to-head comparison with Stanford and it was insane how much better our resume was on every appreciable measure.

Stanford was the most idiotic pick in 2007. Arkansas sort of snuck in the back door on everyone in the last two weeks of the season, but IIRC they won 2 good conference games in the last week of the regular season, and at least one quality win in tournament really solidifying their resume.

 

[jncuse]

2007 doesnt bother me as much as most. Don't lose at home to Drexel and Witchita State if you want to make the tournament.

That's a fair point. Everybody was saying it was because of SU's schedule, but in reality we did not take care of business at home in OOC, and that is what is killed us.

Drexel was also on the bubble that year - I thought they got the shaft as much as us. Either us or them over Stanford.