Survey says...!

Gomez here... We asked you what you thought was the most difficult basketball game still on the schedule and the results were pretty one-sided...

1.) at Tennessee 58%
2.) at Florida 23%
3.) at Mississippi State 9%
4.) at Vandy 4%
5.) Louisville 3%

What can we gather from these results? Well, first of all, most of us think visiting Tennessee will be the toughest test for the Cats to remain unbeaten. However, that game is still two months away, and I find it very unlikely that we'll be undefeated for that long. In the SEC, every game will be a test, and there's a ton of tough road games before our away date with the Fighting Pearls of UT.

One of those is the game that ranked second in our poll, at Florida, on January 12. Florida has certainly been a tale of two teams so far this season. After quality wins over Florida State and Michigan State and a jump into the top 25, Florida has lost three in a row. Okay, the loss to Syracuse is acceptable, but losses to Richmond and South Alabama? Ummm... not so much. But Florida has proven they can beat quality opponents when they're playing up to their potential, and UK fans can count on a hostile environment down there in Gainesville. I expect a tough contest.

Maybe the most surprising thing about the poll was the small amount of respect for Louisville. Yes, the Cardinals have lost three games already, and probably all three to teams they should have beat (with the possible exception being UNLV), but they have seemingly pulled it together with four consecutive wins by very large margins. There's no denying that Pitino wants this victory and he'll be prepared for Cal and the Cats. Of course, Cal wants the game too, so don't expect any kind of let down from the boys in blue either. Just as you can expect with any big rivalry game, I really think the game on Saturday will be a close one, and another tough test for our young team.

At this point, all of this is just fun for discussion. To be completely honest, the toughest game on the schedule is Hartford, because we play them next. While fans can look down the schedule and circle big games, the coaches and players don't have that luxury. They have to take them one game at a time. And if last week's odd game against Long Beach State is any indication, that can be a tricky affair, no matter the opponent.