What is really at stake in the UK-U of L men’s basketball scheduling dust-up
Fast-break points from contact-tracing headquarters:
21. The Chris Mack video. On a Zoom news conference Monday, John Calipari claimed not to have seen the Twitter video posted by Louisville head man Mack taking several sarcastic swipes at the Kentucky coach over the scheduling of this year’s UK-U of L men’s hoops game.
20. ‘A lot of whining?’ Calipari acknowledged knowing about Mack’s video. “I can’t even remember who told me, there’s a lot of whining on it,” Cal said.
19. The dispute. In the video, Mack says Kentucky reneged on an agreement to play Louisville this season on Dec. 12. Calipari subsequently tweeted he would see Mack and U of L on Dec. 26
18. The stakes. Everyone knows Calipari is 9-2 vs. Louisville in regular-season games (and 11-2 overall counting two NCAA Tournament meetings) since becoming UK head coach. Of those 11 regular-season games, 10 have been played after Christmas.
17. A direct correlation? The only UK-U of L men’s hoops game played before Christmas in the Calipari era was a Dec. 21 matchup in 2016-17. It is likely not a coincidence that early meeting yielded a rare Louisville victory in the series, 73-70, in the KFC Yum Center.
16. The later the better. Given that Kentucky in its one-and-done era often has an all but totally revamped roster each season, it is incredibly beneficial for UK to play the U of L game as late in its non-conference schedule as possible.
15. The earlier the better. Given that Kentucky in its one-and-done era often has an all but totally revamped roster each season, it would be incredibly beneficial for U of L to play the UK game as early in its non-conference schedule as possible.
14. Battle of self interest. As we wait for official word on when this season’s Cats-Cards Armageddon will go down, I will point out that Dec. 26 is later than Dec. 12.
13. Kentucky football’s Achilles’ heel. My question about UK entering this season was whether the 2020 UK offense would feature enough dynamic playmaking capacity to allow the Wildcats to succeed — especially against an all-SEC schedule.
12. An unhappy verdict. Now that UK has produced 157, 294 and 145 total yards respectively in its past three games, the answer to the above question appears to be an emphatic no.
11. The view from Mark Stoops. At his weekly video news conference Monday, the Kentucky coach acknowledged “we need to continue to recruit playmakers. And we need to do as good a job offensively as we can as coaches to make sure we are putting them in position to do what they do.”
10. Wan’Dale Robinson. When the explosive Western Hills High School slot receiver/running back decommited from Kentucky and instead signed with Nebraska in the class of 2019, it was a recruiting loss for UK with long-reaching ramifications.
9. The playmaking UK needs. In 10 games last year as a Cornhuskers freshman, Robinson caught 40 passes for 443 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 340 yards and three scores.
8. Concentrating on receiver in 2020. This year, Nebraska Coach Scott Frost has vowed to use Robinson exclusively as a wideout. In Ohio State’s 52-17 pasting of Nebraska in last weekend’s delayed Big Ten season opener, Robinson caught a team-high six passes for 49 yards.
7. Adding to the frustration. The recruiting setback with Robinson might have been easier for Kentucky backers to take if UK had lost out to a current, high-flying national power such as Alabama or Clemson. Nebraska was harder to understand.
6. The last four seasons. Since the start of the 2017 season, Kentucky is 27-17, Nebraska is 13-24.
5. Beau Allen. Now that Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood is bracketed on the Kentucky quarterback depth chart at No. 1 with incumbent starter Terry Wilson, I asked Stoops if Allen, the true freshman pocket passer from Lexington Catholic, is also in the mix to play this season.
4. The view from Mark Stoops. “He is in the mix. It’s difficult, as you can imagine, to get three (QBs) game reps during the week, getting them game-ready. But (Allen) has been impressive. I’ve said that from the beginning. He’s a guy that definitely has some great ability, anticipation and can throw the ball.”
3. Monon Rahman. Remember my column from the week before the 2019 Quaker State 400 about Rahman, a Paul Laurence Dunbar alumnus who graduated from UK at age 19 with a degree in mechanical engineering and aspired to make a career as a NASCAR crew chief?
2. Won a major award. The son of immigrants from Bangladesh, Rahman was named Outstanding Intern at NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Awards on Oct. 8 after serving an internship in 2019 at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center.
1. Working in NASCAR. During the current racing season, Rahman has worked as lead engineer for Rick Ware Racing in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series.
