USA Today asked several writers a simple question this week: does Kentucky or Virginia lose first?
Of the six writers who were asked, four said Virginia and two said Kentucky.
It came as no surprise that David Aldridge of Duke Report picked the Wildcats. Aldridge and Randy McClure of Rush The Court both cited Kentucky’s difficult upcoming road schedule as their reason for picking the Wildcats to lose first.
Here is an excerpt:
David Aldridge, Duke Report: It’s Kentucky. To me, this is about assessing which team has the most difficult upcoming road games because I don’t foresee Virginia or Kentucky dropping a game at home. While Kentucky is the more talented team, Virginia has the more experienced squad and the Cavaliers already have proven themselves capable of beating good teams in hostile environments. With road wins against VCU, Maryland, and Notre Dame, there’s not a team with a better road resume than Virginia.
Kentucky looked extremely vulnerable in its first conference road game against Texas A&M last weekend, and the Cats have upcoming trips to Alabama and South Carolina in the next couple of weeks — two teams that are more talented than the Texas A&M squad that took Kentucky to double overtime. John Calipari’s team also has to deal with the pressure of being the biggest game on every opponent’s schedule, which makes them even more susceptible to an upset.
Next 5 games for each team:
Kentucky: @ Alabama; Vanderbilt; @ South Carolina; @ Missouri; Alabama
Virginia: @ Boston College; Georgia Tech; @ Virginia Tech; (4) Duke; @ (15) North Carolina
