The Stakes

It's an important year for Bluegrass basketball. Sure, when isn't it? But the upcoming season is going to be carrying extra juice for both UofL and UK.

By any measure, Calipari has bested Pitino in every way since he took on the UK gig. He's beat him twice on the court, taken his teams further in the tournament, and staked his claim as the best recruiter in the land, and perhaps most importantly, hasn't attached his program's name to one of the most humiliating scandals in college basketball history.

So why do I have a small sense of optimism? I dunno, maybe it is misplaced. But it's still there, it's genuine.

Maybe it's because despite all the slings and arrows suffered in the last 3 years, Louisville is still looking ahead towards a Top 10 team, the likely favorites to take the best conference in college basketball. Maybe it's because I like the guys, and feel actual respect for people like Peyton Siva, Kyle Kuric and Gorgui Dieng. While I won't pretend to know any of them personally, the affection for Louisville fans towards their team feels more real and genuine than the pretentious "love" UK fans already lavish upon the next crop of stars they've yet to see play.

The pressure is on Rick Pitino, well, as much as it can be for the Jurich-tenured coach. If we have a three-year losing streak against Cal/UK, and if a promising season doesn't extend beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, then I think the pressure put on Pitino to step aside will be large. No firing, nothing like that, but a Dennyesque, quiet request for a transfusion of new blood will likely be forthcoming.

That's the worst case scenario. But if Pitino beats a Cal-led UK team, the Miami Heat of college basketball, if he marshals his talented squad towards some Big East hardware and a tournament run, well then that's a horse of a different color.

I think Pitino's "Louisville First" mantra becomes less of a contrivance, and will take on more substance. I think Cal's savant-like recruiting begins to become a liability for the first time. The margin between "best recruiter of all time" and "well, he can't coach a lick" is thin.

Next year matters. It matters a ton. Trajectories for the next decade will be set, and I'll be the first to admit it if we don't hit ours.