What Will UK Fan Expectations Be Next Year?

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As we mentioned in the SEC East notes, the New York Times has already lifted Kentucky into the #5 slot in their 2009-10 basketball rankings.

No other SEC school makes their Top 10.

First things first, let’s go ahead and say that a ranking this far out is ridiculous.  Especially since no one knows for sure whether Jodie Meeks or Patrick Patterson will be back next year.

Or who John Calipari might bring in from his Memphis days.



But you can bet that more national polls will give a boost to the Cats’ ratings in the months ahead.

What impact will that have on the psyche of Big Blue Nation?

We’re talking about a school that has already driven out a national championship coach (Tubby Smith) and another coach who’d only been in town for two years (Billy Gillispie) since 2007.

How much grace period will Calipari get?



With his salary and the excitement he’s brought in, I thought most UK fans would have been willing to give him a couple of years to re-build Kentucky’s talent base.  That’s his forte, after all.  That might take more than one recruiting class.

But if Meeks and Patterson return and if national pundits list the Wildcats in numerous Top 10 lists, the expectations will be upped immediately.

Do I think Calipari might be run out of town after one season if it’s a bad one?  Of course not. 

But I do believe he could hear grumbles in his first season if UK doesn’t show an immediate bounce.



While I think Calipari will compete for the SEC title next year, there are no guarantees.  He’s a recruiter first, a floor coach second.

He may have a more talented roster than Bruce Pearl, Kevin Stallings and Billy Donovan next year, but that doesn’t mean he’ll smoke those guys in their own gyms.

Remember, Pearl went 2-2 (nearly 3-1) against Calipari while he was at Memphis.  And the talent gap between Memphis and Tennessee was pretty wide.

So let’s say Kentucky — with Meeks and Patterson back — goes 11-5 in the SEC next year, finishes second in the East and finishes in the Top 20 nationally.  Will that be good enough for UK fans?

It should be.  But we’re talking about a fanbase that wanted Gillispie gone after just two seasons.

The easier it is for a fanbase to drive a coach away (and to get their way), the shorter their fuse gets with the next guy.

I don’t think Calipari will take any serious heat in 2009-10.  But the more UK gets thrown into pre-season Top 10 lists, the more gripes he’ll have to hear if they don’t wind up there.

Even in Year One.