Kentucky Wildcats Basketball has nothing to gain and a lot to lose
By Drew Koch
The Kentucky Wildcats have nothing to gain and a lot to lose against the Louisville Cardinals on Friday.
Kentucky goes head-to-head with arch rival Louisville on Friday. While a victory against your cross-state foe is always great for bragging rights, that’s about all that the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team will receive if they beat the Cardinals later this week.
The Louisville basketball program is embroiled in controversy this season. After the Cardinals were busted by the FBI for a ‘pay-to-play’ scheme involving members of the Louisville coaching staff, the program went through a whirlwind of changes. Head coach, Rick Pitino, and two assistants were fired, Louisville recruit Brian Bowen was dismissed from the team and former Louisville player David Padgett was promoted to the head coach position for the Cardinals.
As soon all this came down the expectations for the Louisville basketball program hit rock bottom. With Padgett as a first-year head coach and their lone top 20 recruit out, the uncertainty surrounding the UofL program has never been greater and expectations have never been lower.
Be that as it may, the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team still has a game against the Cardinals this Friday. If the Wildcats win, so what? I mean c’mon, Louisville is a train wreck right now. Kentucky is a top 20 team and should run over the Cardinals.
Now if the Wildcats lose, then we have a problem on our hands. If Kentucky loses to Louisville on Friday, Big Blue Nation will hit the panic button. Kentucky’s loss to UCLA last weekend already has the fan base on pins and needles for Friday’s clash with the Cards.
Kentucky is in a lose-lose situation this Friday. If they win the game, they expected to. If they lose the game, the pundits and haters will rake them over the coals. Not to mention, the Wildcats play the Georgia Bulldogs two days later to start SEC play. This weekend could go a long way toward shaping the direction of this year’s Kentucky Wildcats basketball team.