Kentucky Wildcats Basketball 2011-12 Preview

The Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team would be the consensus #1 team in the country for the 2011-12 season if the freshman class was all that counted. ESPN1, Rivals.com2, Scout.com3, and MaxPreps.com4 all rank the University of Kentucky’s incoming recruits the best in the country.

Since Kentucky was also #1 in recruiting in 2010 and 2009, if all the players from those two years were back to play for their sophomore and junior years Kentucky might be favored over any NBA team! However, Kentucky was blessed with some players whose basketball education progressed so much they could go to the NBA and become millionaires long before completing their four years of college eligibility. Also, the NCAA limits the number of athletic scholarships Division I men’s teams can hand out at one time to thirteen.

Still, Kentucky’s incoming class and remaining players from previous classes ought to be enough to make Kentucky a favorite for the Final Four again. My guess is that Coach John Calipari will emphasize a six person rotation. I think returnees Darius Miller, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb will join freshmen Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, and Marquis Teague as the key players, though the Cats certainly have the talent to play deeper. The keys are getting experience and playing well as a team. The complete team roster is listed on the University of Kentucky Athletics website, UKAthletics.com,5 as well as several other places.

The Schedule and Preseason Forecast

In a sense the season officially begins with Big Blue Madness, the first open practice of the season, which occurs this year on October 14 according to UKAthletics.com6, which states tickets will be given out on October 1 and lines for the tickets may begin forming on September 28 at 7 a.m.

The complete University of Kentucky men’s basketball team schedule for 2011-12 is available on UKAthletics.com7 and lots of other places. The first exhibition game is November 2, 2011 against Transylvania University and the regular season opens on November 11, 2011 against Marist. Kansas, North Carolina, and Louisville highlight the nonconference schedule.

A consensus of several preseason polls I’ve seen seems to pick Kentucky #2 behind North Carolina. Among the polls I’ve seen are those of Fox Sports8, Rivals.com9, SportingNews.com10, ESPN.com’s Andy Katz11, and ESPN’s Dick Vitale12.

In fact, even as young as Kentucky’s team is, the Kansas game (played in New York on November 15) and the North Carolina game may be the only two on Kentucky’s regular season schedule in which the Wildcats will be considered the underdogs. Most will probably even favor Kentucky over Kansas. But I think the Jayhawks will have the emotional edge due to Kentucky’s high ranking and pull off the upset in Kentucky’s first game of the season away from Rupp Arena and its first game against a nationally ranked opponent.

Kentucky is scheduled to play at home against North Carolina in Rupp Arena on December 3, 2011. If both teams are undefeated and ranked #1 and #2 in the country then, I think a million University of Kentucky basketball fans might buy tickets to that game if they were reasonably priced and Rupp Arena could seat that many people. Yes, I think Kentucky has that many dedicated fans!

Despite the home court advantage, North Carolina has to be favored over Kentucky, especially early in the season. But as Kentucky’s freshmen and upperclassmen blend together and improve as a team, Kentucky will (I hope as a Kentucky fan!) be ready to upset North Carolina in the NCAA tournament.

My Kentucky Wildcats 2011-12 preseason forecast anticipates Kentucky losing five games during the season (Kansas, North Carolina, and three Southeastern Conference road games) en route to a repeat appearance in the Final Four. And as a UK alumnus, I optimistically predict Kentucky will win its eighth national championship this season, though the consensus seems inclined to favor the Tar Heels.

Note: This article was last revised on September 14, 2011.

Sources/References:

1 ESPN, “Class of 2011 Team Basketball Recruiting Rankings”, ESPN, May 19, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011.)

2 Rivals.com recruiting staff, “Late addition boosts UConn class – 2011 Team Rankings”, Rivals.com, June 23, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011.)

3 Evan Daniels, “Updated 2011 Class Rankings,” Scout.com, May 25, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011.)

4 Jason Hickman, “Top 25 College Basketball Team Recruiting Rankings”, MaxPreps.com, April 19, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011.)

5 UK Athletics.com, “UK Men’s Basketball 2011-12 Roster”, UKAthletics.com (CBS Sports.com College Network) (Website accessed September 12, 2011)

6 UKAthletics.com, “Madness Tickets Distributed Oct. 1″, UKAthletics.com (CBS Sports.com College Network), September 8, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011)

7 UKAthletics.com, “UK Men’s Basketball 2011-12 Schedule”, UKAthletics.com (CBS Sports.com College Network) (Website accessed September 12, 2011.)

8 Fox Sports, “Updated early preseason Top 25″, Fox Sports, Updated June 1, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011)

9 Rivals.com College Basketball Staff, “Rivals.com 2011-2012 Early Preseason Top 25″, Rivals.com, April 6, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011)

10 SportingNews.com, “2011-12 preseason college basketball Top 25; UNC, UK lead the way”, SportingNews.com, (Website accessed September 12, 2011)

11 Andy Katz, “Returnees bolster UNC, UK and OSU”, ESPN.com, Originally published May 9, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011)

12 Dick Vitale, “Dickie V Preseason Top 40: Top 10″, ESPN.com, Updated July 26, 2011 (Website accessed September 12, 2011)


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