March Madness concludes 1st week amid carnage and chaos - Sweet 16 left standing

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After the first two rounds the NCAA March Madness has all the makings of the Mad Hatters Tea Party with upsets aplenty and about half the games last second thrillers and the other half last second laughers.

So what team is playing far better than their NCAA seeding?  Kentucky, of course, along with Louisville.  These are the defending national champions of the last two years and one of the greatest rivalries in America yet they were seeded 8th, Kentucky and 4th, Louisville.

I think there is a media bias against Kentucky teams most likely because they are dominant forces in basketball.  Certainly it is not from the fact Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky although didn't the Civil War end about 150 years ago?  Or not?

Anyway the tournament selection committee clearly does not like freshman dominated teams any more than the Associated Press basketball poll.  John Calipari's "One and Done" coaching philosophy of recruiting freshman who will jump to the pros rather than finish college is quite controversial to say the least.

So in the last AP poll of the season before the tournament Kentucky was no where to be found among the top 25.  Even the USA Today/ESPN experts poll had Kentucky far down at number 21.  Louisville fared better finishing number 5 in AP and 4 in USA Today/ESPN.

So there are 4 number one seeds, one from each region.  One might think the top four teams in the rankings would be the top four teams.  Louisville was in the top four in USA Today/ESPN and #5 in AP so should have been seeded 1, or 2 at worst since the top 8 teams should be number 1 or 2.  Louisville landed number 4.  What is that all about?

Ashley Judd loves UK

As for UK who did not even make the top 25 in the minds of the sports writers, a week ago they lost to the number one team in America, Florida, in the SEC conference championship in the last second 61-60 and a week later they beat Wichita State, seeded #1 and ranked #2 in the nation, the only unbeaten team in the tournament, 78-76 ending the Shockers quest for a national title.

No doubt it will be remembered as one of the best fought games in NCAA tournament history and both teams fought valiantly and could have won but the Kentucky Wildcats did win.  What the newspaper writers forgot to mention, however, when telling us how great Kentucky has become in spite of having all freshmen as starters, is they didn't even think enough of UK to put them in the top 25 and they seeded them way down at 8th.

When was the last time an unranked team played the number 1 and 2 teams within a week losing by 1 point and winning by two points?  Are you kidding me?  The people doing the polls for national rankings and tournament seedings should go into politics where everybody knows the polls are nonsense.

Now the press hype will turn to the Kentucky - Louisville game next Friday at Indianapolis, just across the border from Kentucky.  Not only is it s bitter rivalry but both coaches, John Calipari of UK and Rick Pitino of Louisville have won national championships.  In fact both won national championships for UK, then Pitino won another last year for Louisville.  It will be entertaining.

Other notable survivors doing quite well were Arizona and Virginia, both seeded #1.  Florida struggled but also advanced.  There are still 2 #11 seeds, 1 #10 seed and 1 #8 seed left in the Sweet 16.  Giant killer Dayton, coached by Archie Miller, brother of Arizona coach Sean Miller, is the most valid Cinderella team and if both teams keep winning the brothers would meet in the championship game.

Before the season started I wrote a profile on Kentucky basketball saying we should watch both schools and both the men's and women's teams this year.  So here we are at tourney time and UK and Louisville are about to square off in a classic quarter-final battle to see who gets to the semi-finals while the women's teams, both UK and Louisville, survived the women's first rounds and both are seeded #3, a testament to Kentucky basketball and of course the foresight of the Coltons Point Times.

Just kidding...

PS  As much as I like the UK Wildcats, my heart remains with the Arizona Wildcats where long ago I once played.

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Kentucky Basketball - How Good Can it Get?

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Rick Pitino & John Calipari

In 2012 the University of Kentucky won the men's national championship.

 

In 2013 Louisville won the men's national championship.

 

In 2013 the UK women reached their 3rd straight regional finals.

 

In 2013 the Louisville women reached the national finals finishing 2nd.

 

So here are the final preseason national polls for the upcoming season.

 

UK Men - #1

 

Louisville Men - #3

 

Louisville Women - #5

 

UK Women - #7

 

 

Are you kidding me, all four teams in the top seven in the nation?

 

With the top recruiting class in college history, the UK men look to make up their fall from grace last year when the defending national champion didn't even qualify for March Madness.

 

 

Now basketball at UK is sacred and has been since Adolph Rupp started a run of 8 national championship in 1948.  Only UCLA has more (11), and 10 of them came over a 12 year span, 1964-1975.  UCLA has won once since 1975 while UK has won 4 times since then.

 

 

Of course the irony is that both UK and Louisville programs have been built on the backs of east coast coaches.  Rick Pitino of Louisville, recognized as one of the deans of college coaching, was born in New York City.  John Calipari of UK was born in Moon Township Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.

 

 

Pitino had the distinct, yet dubious honor of having built both Kentucky programs to national prominence and leading both teams to national championships, something no other coach in the history of college basketball has achieved.

 

Distinct because no one has won the NCAA crown with two different schools.  Dubious because in Kentucky you are for UK or Louisville.  The intra-state rivalry is among the most intense in our nation.

 

 

When Pitino left UK and then returned to Louisville about half the state considered him enlightened while the other half considered him a traitor of the stature of Judas.  Only a kid from the streets of New York could overcome such a swing from conquering hero to Shakespearean villain, and then fight his way back to the top of the basketball pinnacle.

 

And look at the homes they have built for their respective teams.  Massive stadiums, the modern day Roman Coliseums, welcome over 20,000 people to the games but it is more than that.

 

UK

Louisville

 

The same stadiums are filled for midnight openings of the practice season and pep rallies before games.  Season tickets are so coveted they can be a major part of divorce property settlements.

 

 

I have a lot of relatives in Kentucky and their loyalty is split between UK and Louisville.  There are nieces, nephews and in laws that attended both schools.  Kentuckians are a rather strange bunch but one thing binds them together, the sacred nature of basketball and the hunger to win.

 

 

This should be a most entertaining year in the land of thoroughbreds and Bluegrass.

 

Here is what the AP has to say about Kentucky basketball.

 

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- There is a battle brewing for women's basketball supremacy in the Bluegrass State.

The Louisville and Kentucky women's teams are ranked in the top 10 and have national championship aspirations after making deep runs in last year's NCAA tournament.

The fifth-ranked Cardinals will start the season Saturday against Loyola-Chicago after their stunning march to the national championship game with an injury-depleted roster. Louisville is healthy, welcoming back three regulars to have one of its deepest rosters in several seasons.

Kentucky, ranked No. 7, opens Friday at Marist with its sights set on reaching the Final Four coming off the Wildcats' third regional final appearance in four years. The Wildcats lost No. 2 career scorer A'dia Mathies to the WNBA but have added two high school All-Americans to the rotation.

''It's just incredible, I think, for the Commonwealth of Kentucky,'' Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said Wednesday of both schools' success. ''It's just a real point of pride and basketball brings people together, it excites people, it motivates people. I think it's a terrific place to be and I'm humbled to be here during this exciting time.''

The Kentucky men's team is ranked No. 1 and defending national champion Louisville is No. 3.

The women's teams won't have to wait long to settle bragging rights. Louisville travels to Lexington on Dec. 1, aiming to avenge last year's 48-47 loss decided by freshman Janee Thompson's 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining.

Before that in-state showdown, the Wildcats and Cardinals continue honing the chemistry that has both teams excited about their championship prospects.

Louisville's cohesion has been a work in progress in recent years as hip injuries sidelined senior guard Tia Gibbs for the past two seasons while 6-foot-1 senior forward Asia Taylor sat out last year. Junior forward Shawnta' Dyer tore the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in her left knee last December.

The Cardinals (29-9, 11-5 Big East Conference) endured some frustrating losses along the way but hit stride in the NCAA tournament, highlighted by a monumental 82-81 upset of No. 1 and defending champion Baylor in the regional semifinal. Louisville led for all but a few seconds in the final minute, winning on Monique Reid's two free throws with 2.6 seconds left.

Upsets of Tennessee and California followed before Connecticut trounced Louisville 93-60 in the championship at New Orleans.

Taylor can't wait to be part of what she hopes is a return trip down Interstate 65 to Nashville for this year's Final Four.

''I was happy for my teammates and the program,'' she said, ''but as a competitor you want to be out there and be in a big game like that. The fact that I knew I was coming back was my motivation to work hard.''

Though forward Sheronne Vails is out for the year following offseason knee surgery, Walz is eager to see if having his healthiest squad in some time can carry the Cardinals past favored UConn in the newly renamed American Athletic Conference and deeper in the NCAA tournament.

Besides senior guard and leading scorer Shoni Schimmel (14.2 points), Louisville returns junior forward Sara Hammond (10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds), wing Antonita Slaughter and junior guard Bria Smith (9.5 points).

''We'll probably have the biggest game of rock-paper-scissors that you've ever seen, and the last five will be our starters,'' Walz joked about the process of choosing a lineup. ''It's a great problem to have.''

Mitchell can say the same thing about his own well-stocked Kentucky roster.

The returns of senior forward and leading scorer DeNesha Stallworth (12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Samarie Walker (8.7 points, 8.1 rebounds) provide a strong post presence for the Wildcats (30-6, 13-3 Southeastern Conference), who fell to UConn in the regional final for the second straight year.

''It took some months, and we still look back and wonder why didn't get over that hump,'' Stallworth said. ''We've gotten better in our offensive execution and are looking good. We don't want to be in that spot (of missing the Final Four) for the fifth straight year.''

Kentucky's backcourt is its deepest area with senior Kastine Evans, juniors Bria Goss and Jennifer O'Neill and sophomore Thompson able to play anywhere in the three-guard alignment. The additions of McDonald's All-Americans Linnae Harper and Makayla Epps could pay off right away for a Wildcats team determined to go a step further - and possibly meeting a familiar foe along the way.
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