Basketball season is upon us.

We are in the middle of our Big East and SEC previews. The SEC West was up first, the first half of the Big East will come on Wednesday, the SEC East will be on Thursday, and the second half of the Big East on Friday.  However, I’m not slated to write any of those previews.

If you are a regular Pinkie reader, you’ll know that I can’t stay quiet for that long, especially with UK’s first game on Friday. Then, I realized that we haven’t yet taken a detailed look at UK’s 2009-2010 schedule, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

I looked at UK’s schedule and it jumped out at me that the schedule breaks down nicely into different sections of games, so that’s the way we’re going to look at it.

The Warmup

Morehead State – H
Miami (OH) – H
Sam Houston State – H
Rider – H
Cleveland State – N (Cancun, Mexico)
Stanford/Virginia – N (Cancun, Mexico)
UNC-Asheville – N (Louisville, Kentucky)

Projected Record: 6-1

I realize I’m going to cause some disagreement and concern by predicting a loss in this set of 7 games, but we all know that it’s going to take a while before UK becomes the team we all know it can become.

Kentucky may not be playing the cream in the crop in this stretch of games, but Morehead State and Cleveland State are both teams that played competitively in the NCAA Tournament last year. Plus, Virginia and Stanford are major conference opponents who have talent. If UK puts up a performance like they did against Clarion, they are in for a fight against any of these four squads.

The Early December Tests

North Carolina – H
Connecticut – N (New York City)
Indiana – A

Projected Record: 2-1 (8-2 overall)

North Carolina and Connecticut are teams that are very similar to UK. They have serious young talent to integrate with some experienced players. They were two of the top teams in the nation last year, but lost veterans to the NBA.

However, they don’t have John Wall.

Even so, UK will play close games against both, and I’m just not sure that UK will be ready for the big stage quite yet.

Christmas Break and UofL

Austin Peay – H
Drexel – H
Long Beach State – H
Hartford – H
Louisville – H

Projected Record: 5-0 (13-2 overall)

This will be the time when the ‘Cats really start to put things together. John Calipari will position his team for an in-season peak against Rick Pitino, and UofL, and I don’t think the Cards, or anyone else UK plays during this set of games, will be able to handle them.

Early SEC Play

Georgia – H
Florida – A
Auburn – A
Arkansas – H

Predicted Record: 4-0 (17-2)

During UK’s four opening SEC games, the ‘Cats play four teams projected to finish at the bottom of the conference. Oh how far Billy D and the Gators have fallen. The O Dome will likely be rocking for a big early SEC matchup, but Florida just doesn’t have the kind of team to match up with Cal’s ‘Cats.

The Tougher Middle

South Carolina – A
Vanderbilt – H
Ole Miss – H
LSU – A
Alabama – H
Tennessee – H

Projected Record: 5-1 (22-3)

Four of UK’s opponents in these six games look like tournament teams (USC, Vandy, Ole Miss, Tennessee). Luckily, three of those four games are in Lexington, and by this point in the season, it’s going to be tough for anyone to beat UK in Rupp.

The Pre-March Madness Tests

Mississippi State – A
Vanderbilt – A
South Carolina – H
Tennessee – A
Georgia – A
Florida – H

Projected Record: 5-1 (27-4/14-2 SEC)

Lots of tough road games here. Not only does UK play the best four teams in the SEC in my opinion, they play the three top teams on the road (Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee) in four games.

It will be tough to make it out of these games unscathed even though Calipari and company should be clicking on all cylinders. I say the ‘Cats win 5 of 6, the SEC regular season title, and position themselves for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, pending what they do in the conference tournament.

So there you go, that’s how I (prematurely) see UK’s regular season playing out. Am I too optimistic? Too conservative? Silly to even try? Don’t answer that last one, I know the answer to that one is yes.