It's all a matter of perspective.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari has gotten used to the fact that his team is going to be viewed as a contender for the national championship.
And with good reason. His team is the No. 1-ranked team in the Associated Press' preseason poll for the second consecutive year.
He's also gotten used to comments that his team could beat some of the worst NBA teams, even if he doesn't believe a word of it.
That kind of talk circulated in the 2011-2012 season when the Wildcats won the national championship with a 38-2 record. Four players from that team were taken in the first round of the NBA Draft, including the top two picks in center Anthony Davis and small forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to New Orleans and Charlotte. In addition, power forward Terrence Jones went No. 18 to Houston and point guard Marquis Teague went to Chicago with the No. 29 pick.
Such talk is circulating again. Sunday night, Kentucky defeated Georgetown College, an NAIA team 121-52 in an exhibition game.
"Those guys are unreal," Georgetown Coach Chris Briggs said. "I told the guys in the locker room the Wildcats could have beaten some NBA teams tonight, there's no question in my mind."
Is Briggs overstating things?
"I knew they were good coming into this game, but sitting out there watching it on the sideline, honestly, I don't see how they're going to be beat this year," Briggs said. "I don't like to say that, because I know people have off nights, and things can happen and this and that, and injuries and things like that, but if they play like they did tonight, they're an NBA playoff team."
Based on experience, Calipari knows better.
A year ago, his team was preseason No. 1 and was bringing in the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. Expectations were so high that "40-0" T-shirt were being sold on campus. Those T-shirts became collector's items when the Wildcats lost their second game of the season to Michigan State.
The Wildcats did reach the national championship game a year ago, losing 60-54 to Connecticut. But it wasn't easy -- the Wildcats finished the season 29-11, including a 12-6 mark in the SEC. They entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed before beating Kansas State, Wichita State, Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament.
Monday, Calipari tweeted, "I hear Coach Briggs got excited after the game last night. Let me be clear: If we played any NBA team, we would get buried. Any."
Again, it's all a matter of perspective.
Helps to play bad team
Spending a week in London and playing the 1-9 Jacksonville Jaguars, it's understandable if some of the Dallas Cowboys decided to blow off curfew and have some fun even if owner Jerry Jones refuted reports that 20 players were out late Friday night.
One of those players was wide receiver Dez Bryant, who acknowledged to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he was one of those players.
Regardless of how late Bryant stayed out or what he did, it didn't seem to make much difference. He caught 6 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Cowboys' 31-17 victory.
Good thing the opponent was the Jaguars.
Web heads
From the website Fark.com:
• "Looks like [Carson] Palmer signed that extension just in time."
• "Marc Trestman 'extremely disturbed' by the Bears' record loss to Green Bay. Well, maybe that's because he could be out of a job."
Sports quiz
What is John Calipari's record at Kentucky?
Answer
152-37
Sports on 11/11/2014