Misplaced Priorities: Kentucky Can't Take Up Slack for Noel's Knee Injury
February 24th, 2013 - 8:49
Projections go up and down like projectiles. Kentucky, despite the Wildcats' win over an underachieving Missouri club, probably will be the next touted team to fail to live up to preseason hype.
Even with freshman phenom Nerlens Noel in the lineup, this year's Big Blue edition in a mediocre SEC might be one of the five worst Wildcat squads in the last 75 years. With Noel lost for the season because of a knee injury, UK (ranked #3 entering this year) will join the following list of more than 20 disappointing teams, including Michigan State under Tom Izzo three times in an eight-year span from 2003-04 through 2010-11, that were preseason Top 5 selections since 1968-69 but finished out of the AP's final Top 20 poll:
| Preseason Top 5 Team | Season | PS Ranking by AP | Coach | Record | Top Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | 1968-69 | 4th | Johnny Dee | 20-7 | Austin Carr, Bob Arnzen, Bob Whitmore, Dwight Murphy, Collis Jones and Sid Catlett |
| Purdue | 1969-70 | 3rd | George King | 18-6 | Rick Mount, Larry Weatherford, George Faerber, Bob Ford, William Franklin and Tyrone Bedford |
| Southern California | 1971-72 | 3rd | Bob Boyd | 16-10 | Paul Westphal, Joe Mackey, Ron Riley, Dan Anderson and Mike Westra |
| Florida State | 1972-73 | 2nd | Hugh Durham | 18-8 | Reggie Royals, Lawrence McCray, Otis Cole, Benny Clyde and Otis Johnson |
| Indiana | 1976-77 | 5th | Bob Knight | 14-13 | Kent Benson, Mike Woodson, Wayne Radford and Derek Holcomb |
| Kansas | 1978-79 | 5th | Ted Owens | 18-11 | Darnell Valentine, Paul Mokeski, John Crawford, Wilmore Fowler and Tony Guy |
| DePaul | 1984-85 | 3rd | Joey Meyer | 19-10 | Tyrone Corbin, Kenny Patterson, Dallas Comegys, Marty Embry, Tony Jackson and Kevin Holmes |
| Indiana | 1984-85 | 4th | Bob Knight | 19-14 | Steve Alford, Uwe Blab, Stew Robinson, Dan Dakich, Delray Brooks and Daryl Thomas |
| Louisville | 1986-87 | 2nd | Denny Crum | 18-14 | Herbert Crook, Pervis Ellison, Tony Kimbro, Mark McSwain, Keith Williams, Kenny Payne and Felton Spencer |
| Michigan State | 1990-91 | 4th | Jud Heathcote | 19-11 | Steve Smith, Matt Steigenga, Mike Peplowski and Mark Montgomery |
| Clemson | 1997-98 | 5th | Rick Barnes | 18-14 | Greg Buckner, Terrell McIntyre, Harold Jamison and Tony Christie |
| Auburn | 1999-2000 | 4th | Cliff Ellis | 24-10 | Chris Porter, Doc Robinson, Scott Pohlman, Daymeon Fishback, Mamadou N'diaye and Mack McGadney |
| UCLA | 2001-02 | 5th | Steve Lavin | 21-12 | Jason Kapono, Billy Knight, Matt Barnes, Dan Gadzuric and T.J. Cummings |
| Arizona | 2003-04 | 4th | Lute Olson | 20-10 | Hassan Adams, Salim Stoudamire, Channing Frye, Andre Iguodala and Mustafa Shakur |
| Michigan State | 2003-04 | 3rd | Tom Izzo | 18-12 | Paul Davis, Chris Hill, Kelvin Torbert, Maurice Ager and Alan Anderson |
| Missouri | 2003-04 | 5th | Quin Snyder | 16-14 | Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding, Linas Kleiza, Jimmy McKinney, Travon Bryant and Jason Conley |
| Georgia Tech | 2004-05 | 3rd | Paul Hewitt | 20-12 | Jarrett Jack, B.J. Elder, Will Bynum, Luke Schenscher and Isma'll Muhammad |
| Michigan State | 2005-06 | 4th | Tom Izzo | 22-12 | Maurice Ager, Paul Davis, Shannon Brown and Drew Neitzel |
| Louisiana State | 2006-07 | 5th | John Brady | 17-15 | Glen Davis, Tasmin Mitchell, Terry Martin, Garrett Temple and Darnell Lazare |
| Texas | 2009-10 | 3rd | Rick Barnes | 24-10 | Damion James, Avery Bradley, Dexter Pittman, J'Covan Brown, Gary Johnson and Dogus Balbay |
| Kansas State | 2010-11 | 3rd | Frank Martin | 23-11 | Jacob Pullen, Rodney McGruder, Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels |
| Michigan State | 2010-11 | 2nd | Tom Izzo | 19-15 | Kalin Lucas, Draymond Green, Durrell Summers, Delvon Roe and Keith Appling |
| Connecticut | 2011-12 | 4th | Jim Calhoun | 20-14 | Andre Drummond, Jeremy Lamb, Ryan Boatright, Alex Oriakhi, Shabazz Napier, Roscoe Smith, Tony Olander |