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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-09-2014, 08:57 AM:

If your wanting to be the best you had better play the best. The Cats do this year in and year out and it pays big dividends.

If you want to tell the world that your team is the greatest of all time, you have to have a brutal schedule to survive. Kentucky starts out with a free and easy sprint, but the second half of its slate turns into a highly treacherous obstacle course.

Names such as Grand Canyon, Buffalo, Montana State and UT Arlington aren't going to scare anybody, but there's the potential for someone to catch the Wildcats with their tongues hanging out. After all, UK's first six games come within 11 days. Wildcats coach John Calipari wants his team in shape in a hurry, it seems.

Smack dab in the middle of that 11-day gauntlet is a trip to Indianapolis to face Kansas in the Champions Classic. Vaunted KU freshmen Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander were once Kentucky targets, so this game will have more going for it than just being a likely battle of Top Five teams.

On Nov. 30, Providence comes to Rupp Arena for the return match of a series that started in Brooklyn last season. The Friars have a very solid freshman class coming in, but coach Ed Cooley desperately needs former McDonald's All-American point guard Kris Dunn to stay healthy.

Starting with a visit from Texas—the marquee matchup of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge—the Cats get back in the plane (like George Carlin, I say "in the plane" instead of "on," for only daredevils elect to ride on the plane—video NSFW) for four games in eight days.

Eastern Kentucky, Columbia and North Carolina form the rest of that string, and the tight spacing of games could leave the Cats ripe for an upset against the Tar Heels.

A trip to Chicago for the CBS Sports Classic gives us Kentucky vs. UCLA, a matchup fraught with talented freshmen and championship banners. Finally, on Dec. 27, the Cats head up I-64 to Louisville for a bout with their archrivals, the Cardinals. UK has won six of the last seven in this series, including the Cards' last two NCAA tournament losses.

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[ 09-11-2014, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: catmandoo ]