University of Kentucky Men's Basketball -- 7th Edition

[Scrap Irony]

From most reports, IU fans acted horribly in Bloomington.

That said, it's not the real reason UK won't play there. Or at least not the primary reason.

1. As he's stated, Cal doesn't like playing friends. Crean is among his best friends. If he can get away with it, he won't play Crean. (Crean likely feels the same way.)

2. Neutral court games are better preparation than home-and-homes for the NCAA Tournament. That's Cal's focus every year. (It'll be Crean's too, IMO.) What good does it do to play in front of 14,000 rabid fans who could very well injure a star player if they storm the court? (Darius Miller and Terrence Jones came awfully close last season to getting stomped. DeMarcus Cousins came closer three years ago at South Carolina, IIRC, when a fan challenged him to a fight.)

3. A December game (and especially a loss) might hurt freshmen psyches. It affected the 2012 team, though they eventually got mad and it helped them win later. A less mentally tough team might have been devastated and never recovered.

4. An almost guaranteed win against a (barely) Top 100 RPI team or a glorified practice against Southwest Directional State University mean just as much to Cal as does a game against IU. He's not into measuring sticks. Especially that early in the season. He claims they mean nothing to him, as he's looking at what can make his teams play best in March.

5. Cal is at the point where his RPI isn't going to mean much with the NCAA. His teams are always going to be ranked high enough pre-season to stick close to the top 15 and his conference is strong enough to keep him in an RPI range that won't hurt him. In short, a victory doesn't mean much mathematically.

6. Every game is on TV anyway. Almost every weekend is a national game already. Why risk the loss on national TV for a win that means so little? His recruiting is monster-ish-- among the best runs CBB has seen since UCLA and Sam Gilbert-- ummm, I mean John Wooden. Why take the risk of adding to IU's reputation while simultaneously taking away from your own? From this year on, Crean and Calipari are likely to go after pretty much the same kids.

[WMR]

You make some interesting points, Scrap, however, Crean has come out on record recently whining about UK's disinterest in going back to Bloomington, so I'm not sure it's accurate to portray him as being as keen on the neutral site games as UK is.

[WMR]

The annual rivalry with Kentucky, though, could soon end if the two schools can't agree on where to play the games.

From 1991-2005, the games had been played at neutral sites in Indianapolis and Louisville. Then the games were moved back to campus. Now the Wildcats, Crean said, don't want to play in Bloomington, where Christian Watford beat them with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in December. It was Kentucky's only regular-season loss.

"The Kentucky game is still being talked about worked on, but it's not set in stone because, as many of you know, Kentucky doesn't want to play on our campus anymore and that's certainly not our first choice," Crean said. "Keeping it on campus is without a doubt our first choice and always has been since I've been here."

A spokesman at Kentucky said the school had no comment and said the Wildcats' schedule was still a work in progress.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...keep-improving

[Hoosier Red]

If I had to guess, it's about money.

Calipari may not like playing friends, but he's perfectly amenable to playing IU if its a neutral court game.

Playing IU in a home and home is lose-lose from a revenue standpoint. Bringing IU to Rupp brings in essentially zero extra fans as opposed to directional state A & T, and of course every other year you lose a home game and have to deal with IU fans who were perfectly horrible to you the last time you made the trip.

That said, I haven't heard any complaints about fans behavior in previous games so I can't imagine fans behavior at a game once, would be enough to disrupt a rivalry that has been going strong for longer than I've been alive.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by WMR

You make some interesting points, Scrap, however, Crean has come out on record recently whining about UK's disinterest in going back to Bloomington, so I'm not sure it's accurate to portray him as being as keen on the neutral site games as UK is.

Whining?

"The Kentucky game is still being talked about worked on, but it's not set in stone because, as many of you know, Kentucky doesn't want to play on our campus anymore and that's certainly not our first choice," Crean said. "Keeping it on campus is without a doubt our first choice and always has been since I've been here."

It's not quite to the level of Chris Carpenter, but yeah big time whining going on there.

[WMR]

Who wouldn't want to bring a kid to this kind of college basketball game atmosphere?


EDIT: NSFW language.


Classy IU Fans - YouTube

[Assembly Hall]

UK made a scheduling mistake a few years back when the game was supposed to be at Louisville. They ended up playing the game at Rupp. It has been home and home ever since as IU was pretty upset about UK making a big time faux pas. I personally dont care one way or another.......but dont blame it on IU's "unruly" fans. You cant tell me if Florida would have beaten' the 'Cats in Gainsville their fans wouldnt have stormed the court after beating the #1 team in the country? I would imagine that it comes down money, friendships, or just how many ooc games against quality opponents you play in general. But whatever the case may be, I hope the rivalry continues, and I dont care where it is played at.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by WMR

Who wouldn't want to bring a kid to this kind of college basketball game atmosphere?


EDIT: NSFW language.


Classy IU Fans - YouTube

Undoubtedly the first time such words were uttered at a sporting event. I dare ask how Chris Carpenter's going to explain it to his son.

I'm not defending any particular actor, but if everything had been fine up until last December then I'd be surprised if one particulary bad 3 hours would be enough to stop the series.

Ultimately the decision comes down to money for UK. The rivalry obviously means less to UK than it does to IU which is fine. If it's not renewed, here's hoping there are more matchups in March.

[Assembly Hall]

Originally Posted by WMR

Who wouldn't want to bring a kid to this kind of college basketball game atmosphere?

Lord knows drunken fans arent at Rupp. Give me a break. Revel in your championship and cherish it.

[Scrap Irony]

It wasn't just the fans after the game, Assembly, it was the fans before and during the game.

According to one of my reporter friends, it was the worst crowd he'd ever seen. And he's been doing these type of games for 30 years. (Maybe more.)

He said bottles, ice, full cans of soda, insults, and poop (!) were thrown at one group of Kentucky fans before the game.

[dabvu2498]

Originally Posted by Assembly Hall

Lord knows drunken fans arent at Rupp. Give me a break. Revel in your championship and cherish it.

Yeah. The streets of Lexington weren't safe after UK's last two wins.

[Assembly Hall]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

It wasn't just the fans after the game, Assembly, it was the fans before and during the game.

According to one of my reporter friends, it was the worst crowd he'd ever seen. And he's been doing these type of games for 30 years. (Maybe more.)

He said bottles, ice, full cans of soda, insults, and poop (!) were thrown at one group of Kentucky fans before the game.

I would say biased reporting after a tough loss.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

It wasn't just the fans after the game, Assembly, it was the fans before and during the game.

According to one of my reporter friends, it was the worst crowd he'd ever seen. And he's been doing these type of games for 30 years. (Maybe more.)

He said bottles, ice, full cans of soda, insults, and poop (!) were thrown at one group of Kentucky fans before the game.

Yep. And numerous, unrelated reports of UK fans being spit on. I'm sorry, but if you spit on someone, you do not deserve to live amongst other humans. Spitting on someone is about as vile as it gets.

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Assembly Hall

I would say biased reporting after a tough loss.

Is that why the President of the college came out and issued an apology? I'm sure it was just dozens of people making things up. (You are an RMK apologist though, aren't you. )

[Assembly Hall]

Originally Posted by WMR

Is that why the President of the college came out and issued an apology? I'm sure it was just dozens of people making things up. (You are an RMK apologist though, aren't you. )

LOL.....as UK fans are Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, and Eddie Sutton apologists. Lord knows that no hint of shame has ever fell over the campus at Lexington. You guys ran into a buzz saw that particular day, it happens. I dont condone anything that might have happened or was reported. Big wins will call for big celebrations, and unfortunately some people take it to an unacceptable level. But dont give me that "Holier than thou" attitude. To think that one game will dissolve the series is wishful thinking.