Seems like C.J. Leslie and Quincy Miller both love Kentucky. I'd say they are both overwhelmingly favoring the Cats at this point.

2011 might be a monster year for Calipari. There's a chance they could land Marquis Teague, Mike Gilchrist and Quincy Miller, maybe the top 3 players in the country. Next year will be more of a "settling" class...but it could still be #1 if the current targets (Leslie or Jones, Knight or Selby and Lamb and then a 5th guy like Ratcliffe or Ross). Most likely, it would be right there at the top with Memphis, but still not too bad.

Unfortunately, the Kentucky/North Carolina series ended this year and likely won't be renewed. The Cats are going to be starting a 4-game series with Texas, and I wouldn't be surprised if they added Memphis to the schedule very soon. There were also discussions about Kansas as well. Still, none are as good as playing UNC IMO.

centralbucksfan wrote:

thedynasty1998 wrote: Kentucky is by far the most talented team in the country. And I do not see them losing a regular season game.

It is incredible what Calipari has been able to do in one year.

The SEC is what it is..better then last year, still not very good.

4 teams in the top 25, same as the Big 10 with 4 teams in the top 25. I guess the Big 10 isnt very good either, right?

With Calipari at the helm, I think a top 2-3 (possibly #1) recruiting class every single year will become the norm.

The SEC is better than the Big Ten this year. The Big Ten, touted by many to be the best top to bottom in the preseason, may only get 4 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Right now, the SEC, IMO, would get 5 (Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Tennessee) with Florida right on the very edge (Lunardi has him as the first team out). He has 4 Big Ten teams in (Michigan State, Wisconsin, Purdue and Ohio State) and Minnesota and Illinois the 7th and 8th team out. Northwestern is also right on the doorstep, but in all, the Big Ten has been extremely disappointing. I'm not sure there is a worse bottom 3 in a BCS league than Iowa, Penn State and Indiana, and a more disappointing team than 9-9 Michigan.

Azubuike24 wrote:with Florida right on the very edge (Lunardi has him as the first team out).

If Billy Donovan can secure a third straight season without an NCAA birth, after winning back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007, that'd be the single most impressive coaching mark I've seen in many years. Maybe ever. Has this EVER even been approached before? I think it's unprecedented. I'm sure there has been a school that's won a title and missed the tournament the next season. But when was the last time? And I highly doubt any national champion has EVER missed the Dance twice in a row in the two immediate seasons following the hoisting of a title trophy.

Early departures and hard times or not, I think Donovan should be on the serious hot seat if he doesn't produce an NCAA team this March. If he were the coach at any other major school that had just won a title, he'd be there. But he's at a football school -- Florida at that -- and this just isn't as big a deal there. He would have been fired on the spot this past March for winning a title and then missing two NCAAs in a row if he were at Kentucky.