Calipari foresees more close games in SEC

Here's a sobering thought: Alabama, which led Kentucky by 20 points in the second half Tuesday, held on to win by two. The rest of UK's schedule makes the Tide look like relatively easy pickings.

According to Collegerpi.com, all but one of Kentucky's opponents the rest of the season have a better Ratings Percentage Index than Alabama's No. 143. That exception is Mississippi State, which added point guard Dee Bost and highly touted freshman Renardo Sidney this month, thus making its RPI of 183 misleading.

The Sagarin ratings also suggest the remaining 12 regular-season games on Kentucky's schedule will be challenging. Of those 12 games, 11 are against teams in the top 100.

So far, the Cats have played nine teams in the Sagarin top 100. UK had a record of 5-4 in those games.

No wonder in his post-Alabama game remarks Coach John Calipari emphasized the need for crisp execution. Crunching the Collegerpi.com and Sagarin numbers suggest the margin for error will not be great the rest of the way.

Charisma Carpenter Hilarie Burton Kelly Carlson Sara Foster Natassia Malthe