Cats fans have plenty to watch while waiting for weekend’s games

As soon as the men’s basketball team gets on a roll and wins two straight games … they get a week off.

Yes, the Cats have it going now. They’ve won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 27, and they’ll have a chance to get back over .500 — a mark they haven’t seen since Dec. 8 — this weekend at Georgia.

But until then, and until the undefeated Patriots blow out the Giants in Super Bowl XLII on Sunday, UK fans are going to have to find something to do with their time.

Here’s a list of three UK teams that have big events this week that all UK fans should keep track of:

n Wednesday, women’s tennis, versus Louisville. It’s exciting anytime U of L and UK play each other. This tennis match should be no different.

UK is off to a 3-0 start and the Cats are up to No. 34 in the national rankings. They are coming off a 7-0 win over No. 23 Michigan. The Cards are 1-1 on the year, and they just beat Michigan State.

Last year, UK beat the Cards 6-1 at Louisville. Most of that UK team is gone this season — the Cats have three freshman, three sophomores and no seniors — so it would be worth seeing what the UK squad is going to look like over the next few seasons.

n Thursday, women’s basketball, at Georgia. Remember when the UK football team had to play South Carolina, Louisiana State and Florida this year? At the time, each of those teams was ranked in the top-12. The women’s basketball team is up against the same type of stretch right now.

On Sunday, the Cats played then-No. 9 LSU and lost 72-46. Thursday they’ll play at No. 17 Georgia. Sunday they’ll travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to play No. 2 Tennessee.

Three games in seven days against teams with an average ranking of about nine. Good thing UK is off to a great start in league play.

After going just 6-8 in non-conference play, the ladies are 4-2 and in third place overall (in Southeastern Conference women’s hoops, the conference isn’t split up into the Eastern and Western Division.)

Just like that stretch for the football team, it will be important for the women’s basketball team to win one of the three games. Thursday’s game against Georgia will probably be the Cats’ best chance since they lost to Tennessee by 25 points at home 12 days ago.

n Friday, gymnastics, at LSU. When people think about the SEC, usually football is the first sport that comes to mind. That’s not to say the SEC isn’t excellent at football — just ask Ohio State — it’s just that the conference is probably even more dominant in gymnastics.

Of the top 10 teams in last week’s national gymnastics rankings, five are from the SEC. The top three teams are Florida, Georgia and Alabama. LSU, UK’s opponent on Friday night, is No. 5.

UK is 1-1 in the conference, but that could change dramatically over the next few weeks.

Look at the run the gymnastics team has to navigate through the rest of the season: last week against No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 LSU on Friday, then No. 1 Florida, No. 10 Arkansas and No. 2 Georgia.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Cats then play three straight non-conference matches against No. 13 Nebraska, No. 14 Arizona and No. 18 Ohio State.

If they can get a win or two out of that gauntlet, then anything is possible.

Maybe even the Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Jonathan Smith is a journalism senior. E-mail [email protected].