00:00Florida versus Kentucky in the SEC.
00:03The preseason projections had these two teams at the top of the conference,
00:08and, well, they are right near it.
00:12What is remarkable, though, is it's not really been a predictable path
00:18for either one of these teams.
00:20I actually want to start on the Kentucky side, JY.
00:25Right now, 17-7 on the year, checking in 8-3.
00:30In conference, they just completed a season sweep of Tennessee
00:34for the second straight year now under Mark Pope,
00:38although Barnes got his back in the tournament when he sent home Kentucky last year.
00:44It's been a long season.
00:45As we sit here now mid-February, what have you made of this Kentucky group
00:51and this turnaround, if I can say that?
00:56Yeah, it's almost like we're just about there, right, Kevin?
01:00You know, they didn't get off to a good start.
01:03Obviously, the loss at Louisville, losing to Michigan State.
01:06Then they beat St. John's before Christmas and said, oh, here we go.
01:10They found themselves.
01:11They're going to make a run.
01:13And then they turn around and lose to Alabama, Missouri, and back to back games.
01:16And then they go, oh, here we go.
01:18Here's five wins in a row.
01:21And then they get their doors blown off to Vanderbilt.
01:23But it's like the movie.
01:26Every time they bring you out, they suck you back in.
01:29And they have sucked themselves back in with me until today.
01:34Because this is the game where if Kentucky's going for people to make them be
01:40considered taken seriously, they have to be in this game.
01:44I'm not saying win.
01:46I'm not even saying, you know, the spread is huge.
01:50And you can understand why, by the way, Florida's playing with 13 and a half.
01:54But to me, if Kentucky comes out of that game, Kevin, and they lose by, you know,
02:00eight or so points, they're in the game until the last minute and a half.
02:04With the amount of talent, I can say, okay, here we go.
02:08Now it's time that maybe we start looking at Kentucky as finding their marks.
02:12Because then they have, you know, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina,
02:15Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and then Florida again.
02:19So then they can get on a run before they get them to end the regular season.
02:24But I need, today is like one of those days as a coach where I need to see
02:28how most folks team adjust to this environment and to this game.
02:31And then I can tell you if I can back this team to win a national championship
02:36or make a deep run in March.
02:37Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
02:39I really couldn't.
02:40And it's not that Kentucky needs to win this game at all.
02:44They can't be down 20 at half again, which is, by the way,
02:50what they keep doing in the games against Tennessee, that they find ways to win.
02:53You're not going to do that against Florida.
02:57Kentucky is a gutty bunch.
03:01And I think they really like to play for Mark Pope.
03:05And I think Mark Pope likes coaching this team.
03:08It is not what they were supposed to be, though, right?
03:12Look, I don't know if we'll ever understand what the real numbers are,
03:16but we know it's an expensive roster.
03:17I think we can all agree on that.
03:20You're not supposed to be gutty.
03:22You're supposed to be great.
03:24You're supposed to be talented and dominant, and that is not what Kentucky feels like, really.
03:34And we've seen it against Vanderbilt and Bama and Gonzaga and Michigan State.
03:42Hey, these games all get ugly.
03:46And if this one gets ugly again, you'll look at Kentucky and say, probably you'll win their opening game.
03:56Maybe the matchup works for them in the round of 32.
03:59And then let's line up this firing squad, and this team's going to get smashed in the Sweet 16.
04:05Now, if you wanted to cover for Kentucky, maybe this isn't the fairest game to say, hey, please show me
04:12you can hang,
04:13because Florida right now, I mean, ew, boy.
04:19This looks like something special.
04:22I have the national title ticket, so, you know, is there a world where I'm maybe trying to will it
04:28in?
04:29Maybe.
04:31But, and I'm trying not to get lost in the fact that five games ago they lost at home to
04:36Auburn,
04:37but JY sensed that.
04:38That, to me, this feels like the covering UConn teams, where it was like, what are we even doing here?
04:47Why are we even playing these games?
04:48They are embarrassing, really good offenses who play at tempo and can do nothing with Florida right now on that
04:59side of the ball.
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