CollegeKingRex
CTG Regular
LSU invades Commonwealth Stadium for a CBS Saturday afternoon affair with the Wildcats. Let's hope all the UK fans haven't hopped off the bandwagon and are gonna go to Keeneland instead (a very tempting thought considering the quality of racing during this fall meet)...
The Tigers are the undisputed best team in football at this point (though I did bet them "NO" to win the BCS Tuesday afternoon at -168 for a medium bet)... They do pretty much everything well. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are coming off a shameful loss in Columbia where they pretty much gift-wrapped one for South Carolina. Andre Woodson looks to atone for his sub-par performance and the only way for him to vault back into the Heisman race is to win at least one - if not both - of these next two home games, each of which UK will be the underdog.
The schedule gets brutal at this point for UK, and naysayers will criticize each of the teams UK has beaten thus far - and perhaps rightfully so. But you can only beat who they put in front of you. Perhaps UK is like the Cowboys - and USC is like New England... Once you finally play a real team, one with players, then you stumble. But we'll not know until Saturday.
Kentucky saw some of the things Florida did the other night. No, the Cats don't run the spread option. But with a quarterback who usually makes good decisions, they have a chance at having some success against the Tigers. Also, you have to think Woodson won't play another game that poorly from here on out if he's the quarterback that most of the scouts are making him out to be. It happens to everyone (except for the robot who plays for the Colts); so I'm willing to cut him some slack as a UK fan.
It's a dream situation for the Cats, who face LSU in the biggest sammich since "The Sweet Daddy" was introduced at Jenny's Diner in Louisville. Eat it and the fries, and the meal's on the house - that's how big this sammich is.
The Tigers played in a game in perhaps the best environment of the season (had Florida gone in unbeaten you can mark me down as saying it would have been the most anticipated SEC regular season game of the 2000's).... Next up, they have a rapidly-improving Auburn team in a game that could well decide the West Division should Auburn continue to handle business from here on out. Add in the 49-0 win over Kentucky last year (in which LSU was coming off a loss and seething), the UK loss to drop it out of the ranks of the unblemished, and you get a recipe for a big, big look-ahead for the Bayou Bengals, who traditionally always struggle in Rexington.
I was there in 2003 when the goalposts were about to come down. I tried, unsuccessfully, to keep a couple of friends off the field as to not "hex" the Wildcats... Sure enough, LSU completes the play of the year (ESPY-ized), if not the play of the decade, to beat the Cats at Commonwealth Stadium and send us all home in stunned dismay.
Point is, LSU is about the same favorite now as they were then, and they had no business winning that day. Something tells me the same thing is going to happen Saturday. UK has had two extra days to prepare and LSU winning the way they did last week was the best thing possible for the Cats. I am fairly sure LSU comes out as flat as a pancake. A performance like they put up against Tulane in the first half is not out of the question. If that happens, the Tigers are in deep, deep trouble.
As far as power ratings go, I made the game pretty close to where it opened - LSU a 9-point favorite... But that's just raw numbers. You have to account for sammich/look-ahead factors... emotional drainage from the UF win last week on one side... and extra rest, motivation to avenge a rotten loss last week, motivation from the Henderson Hail Mary, motivation from 2006's 49-0 embarassment that had many calling for Brooks's ass... and motivation to play No. 1. Factor that all in, and I would think most situational cappers will be all over UK.
I won't go as far as calling the outright upset at this point, but will take the points for a medium play. I'm sure "homerism" will set in and I'll make a small ML play Saturday should I get the right price. I look forward to watching it and here's my agenda IF I were home.
8:00 - First beer.
10:30 - Leave home.
11:30 - Get to Keeneland. Make most wagers for the day.
12:10 - Get to Commonwealth Stadium and tailgate. Watch game.
I'll let you guys decide what else I should do - too bad it's not realistic - or I would be there!
Hope everyone who goes has fun, and hope this incessant drunken babbling hasn't gotten everyone bored.
Go Cats!
:cheers:
The Tigers are the undisputed best team in football at this point (though I did bet them "NO" to win the BCS Tuesday afternoon at -168 for a medium bet)... They do pretty much everything well. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are coming off a shameful loss in Columbia where they pretty much gift-wrapped one for South Carolina. Andre Woodson looks to atone for his sub-par performance and the only way for him to vault back into the Heisman race is to win at least one - if not both - of these next two home games, each of which UK will be the underdog.
The schedule gets brutal at this point for UK, and naysayers will criticize each of the teams UK has beaten thus far - and perhaps rightfully so. But you can only beat who they put in front of you. Perhaps UK is like the Cowboys - and USC is like New England... Once you finally play a real team, one with players, then you stumble. But we'll not know until Saturday.
Kentucky saw some of the things Florida did the other night. No, the Cats don't run the spread option. But with a quarterback who usually makes good decisions, they have a chance at having some success against the Tigers. Also, you have to think Woodson won't play another game that poorly from here on out if he's the quarterback that most of the scouts are making him out to be. It happens to everyone (except for the robot who plays for the Colts); so I'm willing to cut him some slack as a UK fan.
It's a dream situation for the Cats, who face LSU in the biggest sammich since "The Sweet Daddy" was introduced at Jenny's Diner in Louisville. Eat it and the fries, and the meal's on the house - that's how big this sammich is.
The Tigers played in a game in perhaps the best environment of the season (had Florida gone in unbeaten you can mark me down as saying it would have been the most anticipated SEC regular season game of the 2000's).... Next up, they have a rapidly-improving Auburn team in a game that could well decide the West Division should Auburn continue to handle business from here on out. Add in the 49-0 win over Kentucky last year (in which LSU was coming off a loss and seething), the UK loss to drop it out of the ranks of the unblemished, and you get a recipe for a big, big look-ahead for the Bayou Bengals, who traditionally always struggle in Rexington.
I was there in 2003 when the goalposts were about to come down. I tried, unsuccessfully, to keep a couple of friends off the field as to not "hex" the Wildcats... Sure enough, LSU completes the play of the year (ESPY-ized), if not the play of the decade, to beat the Cats at Commonwealth Stadium and send us all home in stunned dismay.
Point is, LSU is about the same favorite now as they were then, and they had no business winning that day. Something tells me the same thing is going to happen Saturday. UK has had two extra days to prepare and LSU winning the way they did last week was the best thing possible for the Cats. I am fairly sure LSU comes out as flat as a pancake. A performance like they put up against Tulane in the first half is not out of the question. If that happens, the Tigers are in deep, deep trouble.
As far as power ratings go, I made the game pretty close to where it opened - LSU a 9-point favorite... But that's just raw numbers. You have to account for sammich/look-ahead factors... emotional drainage from the UF win last week on one side... and extra rest, motivation to avenge a rotten loss last week, motivation from the Henderson Hail Mary, motivation from 2006's 49-0 embarassment that had many calling for Brooks's ass... and motivation to play No. 1. Factor that all in, and I would think most situational cappers will be all over UK.
I won't go as far as calling the outright upset at this point, but will take the points for a medium play. I'm sure "homerism" will set in and I'll make a small ML play Saturday should I get the right price. I look forward to watching it and here's my agenda IF I were home.
8:00 - First beer.
10:30 - Leave home.
11:30 - Get to Keeneland. Make most wagers for the day.
12:10 - Get to Commonwealth Stadium and tailgate. Watch game.
I'll let you guys decide what else I should do - too bad it's not realistic - or I would be there!
Hope everyone who goes has fun, and hope this incessant drunken babbling hasn't gotten everyone bored.
Go Cats!
:cheers:
