An Outsider's Perspective on Big Blue Nation

Good morning, Big Blue Nation! 

For those of you who don’t know me (which I assume is most of you) my name is Jacob Polacheck and I’m the newest member of the KSR team. I’m incredibly excited to join a special group of talented writers, podcasters, reporters and great people. 

Before we start, I have a confession to make. Yes, I spent the last few months covering the University of Tennessee for Rivals. No, I have never been and will never be a Vols fan. I consider this move to University of Kentucky reporting to be a promotion of the highest level. I’m honored to have the opportunity to share my insight, analysis, and thoughts on this team. 

That being said, I’m not a lifelong Kentucky fan like most of the people that will read this. However, I’m still here to provide the best possible premium content of this program and fully entrench myself in the world of Big Blue Nation. I won’t be able to give the analysis of a reporter who has covered this program all their life, but instead, I can provide an outsider’s perspective on this one-of-a-kind fan base and community. 

I’m delighted to have the opportunity to be the first full-time reporter for KSR+, Kentucky Sports Radio’s new premium platform. I’ll be providing features, profiles, packages, and more on UK basketball, football, recruiting, and more. I’ll also be in charge of managing the brand-new message board on KSR+, which will allow me to really get to know all of you. 

Impressions of the 2022-23 Kentucky Basketball team

All of this brings me to my first task with KSR, giving you my outside view of Big Blue Nation. Even though I’ve been following this basketball team all season and have avidly read everything on KSR, I’m no expert. But here are my initial thoughts on this year’s Kentucky team. Hopefully, you enjoy and feel free to be as honest as possible with me on the message boards. 

I spent most of last month watching this basketball team closely and felt that I got to witness the full array of Kentucky basketball – the good (winning at No. 5 Tennessee), the bad (losing to South Carolina at home), and everything in between. I even got my first-ever Rupp Arena experience to finish out the month on January 28th in a tough loss against my alma mater, No. 9 Kansas. 

I want to start off on a positive note. This Kentucky men’s basketball team has a lot of talent; that is obvious. Oscar Tshiebwe, at his best, has a case for being better than any big in the country. Cason Wallace is easily the best freshman point guard in the SEC. After losing a must-win game, this team is in trouble and needs a very strong late-season run to make the NCAA Tournament.

My impression after watching the team’s recent loss to Georgia was that the issues this team has continue to linger. You can chalk up some of the recent struggles to injuries, being without CJ Fredrick and Sahvir Wheeler, but games like that will require much, much more from Cason Wallace, who I believe should be a lottery pick in this year’s draft.

This Georgia loss was particularly concerning because of such a sluggish start for the Wildcats, especially in a game with the NCAA Tournaments implications so high.

As I mentioned before, I’m no expert, so I won’t make any outlandish predictions about this year’s team. I will say, however, that in my couple of brief trips to Lexington so far, it’s clear that this fan base is like nothing I have ever seen before – and that’s coming from a University of Kansas alum. The passion and enthusiasm for this team is amazing and I’m thrilled to get the opportunity to witness it first-hand. 

I also want to express how excited I am to move to Lexington and get to know the most energetic fan base in all of college sports! I invite you all to join me on this exciting journey and I’m looking forward to providing you with the best possible coverage of this great program.

Lastly, I want to hear from you! Whether it’s questions, comments, ideas, or just your latest thoughts on this program, I encourage all of you to be active with your engagement on the brand-new message board. Go Big Blue! 

Jacob Polacheck is covering football and basketball for Kentucky Sports Radio’s new premium site KSR+ after several years of covering college basketball and recruiting for various websites. Follow him on Twitter @JacobPolacheck, Instagram, or e-mail at [email protected].