ku should still be favored to win it all. ku brought in three 5-stars and three McD AA's in '05 and started the season 3-4. People don't realize how much of an adjustment it is from high school to college. Kentucky will be good, but I'd be shocked if they played for a national title next year.
The bigger problem is the whole team is adjusting to a new coach/system. With Patterson and Meeks (maybe) returning, and Wall and Cousins NBA ready right now, the whole freshman thing wouldn't concern me as a Kentucky fan. More likely, I'd know that those 4 are all gone next year, and currently the whole team is effectively freshman to Cal. Beyond that, uk's best 5 is clearly superior in talent to ku's best 5. Only X would come out on top in the match-up column. Kentucky's bench is going to be better too.
You are high on crack.
Collins > Wall
Taylor < Meeks
Henry > Miller/Dodson
Morris < Patterson
Aldrich > Cousins
Bench: Little, Johnson, Robinson, Withey, Morris, CJ Henry, Morningstar, Reed, Releford
Collins over Wall is just ridiculous. Not even worth discussing. You may as well have said Collins was better than Derrick Rose. That's just Bob Krause stupid. Aldrich and Cousins may be a little closer of an argument. Even if I gave you a draw there (and it would be a tremendous gift) Kentucky's is still a better line-up.
Kentucky's bench: Bledsoe, Orton, Dodson/Miller, Hood, Liggins, Stevenson, Harris
Pretty close, but Kentucky's still looks better. Of course, uk is so far over the limit, we won't know exactly who the bench is for a while. FWIW, I'd put ku number one because of the afore mentioned, "new coach, new system" problem. Kentucky has better talent though. Just the way it is.
You're taking an inexperienced freshman over a 1st team All Big 12, 2nd team All-American, McDonald All-American, 5-star senior who already has a national title under his belt. That's awesome. Collins has a better 3-point shot as well. Go back and watch the ku/Memphis national title game... Collins stood toe-to-toe with Rose and made a couple huge plays down the stretch. Based on your "Wall > Collins" logic, Henry > Meeks.
Next, Cole Aldrich is a much better defender than Cousins at this point and has a better mid range jump shot. Aldrich will also be drafted higher than Cousins in next year's NBA Draft. That's far from a draw, but you go ahead and believe what you want. Using Rivals' recruiting rankings, here's how the two benches stack up:
ku:
24. Elijah Johnson *****
31. Thomas Robinson ****
36. Jeff Withey ****
49. Markieff Morris ****
70. Travis Releford ****
108. Tyrel Reed ***
(1) JC. Mario Little ****
NR. Brady Morningstar
NR. CJ Henry
uk:
22. Daniel Orton *****
23. Eric Bledsoe *****
28. DeAndre Liggins ****
40. Jon Hood ****
63. Perry Stevenson ****
148. AJ Stewart ***
(1) JC. Darnell Dodson ****
NR. Ramon Harris
Comparing stats from last year:
Morningstar (6.5 ppg) > Harris (5.5 ppg)
Reed (6.5 ppg) > Miller (5.3 ppg)
Mk. Morris (4.7 ppg) > Liggins (4.2 ppg)
*Note: According to Scout, Thomas Robinson is a 5-star (24 overall) and Eric Bledsoe is a 4-star (37 overall)
