Can Anybody Stop the Kentucky Wildcat's Juggernaut in March Madness?

.

 

In the Bluegrass State known for thoroughbred

champions, UK has that championship "pedigree"

Thirty-seven teams have tried to stop the Kentucky Wildcats from making NCAA basketball history and none succeeded.  In fact, since UK won their conference, then won their conference tournament, they have been getting stronger and stronger.

In three rounds of the NCAA tourney as only the strong survive from round to round, the amazing Kentucky Cats have won by a combined 75 points, an unheard of average victory of 25 points per game.

Well, to set the record straight, Kentucky already has the longest unbeaten streak in tournament history.  Indiana was the last unbeaten national champion thirty-nine years ago, in 1976, and they were the team tied for the most wins in history with a 32-0 record.

UCLA had four unbeaten teams during the John Wooden era from 1964-1973 when they won ten national titles, but they were 30-0 each time.  Only two other teams in NCAA history finished unbeaten, North Carolina in 1957 (32-0) and San Francisco in 1956 (29-0) finished unbeaten.

Kentucky has never finished unbeaten, even during the eight years they won they national championship.  However, in their 113 years of NCAA basketball they have the best record of all college teams with 2,214 victories and 672 losses in 2,886 games.

In the jargon of the Bluegrass State known for thoroughbred champions, the UK Wildcats have the "pedigree" to pull off the impossible, finish off winning the national title with a 40-0 record.

Coach John Calipari should have been named NCAA coach of the year, even his chief rival Rick Pitino from Louisville agrees.  However, there is an anti-Kentucky bias because of his "one and done" policy of recruiting and starting freshmen, recognizing they would jump to the NBA at the earliest possible moment.

Ironically, in this his sixth year at UK, so many freshmen returned he incorporate a platoon system to give the top ten players equal playing time, an act requiring the athletes to forgo personal statistics for the good of the team.  In this day and age teaching college basketball stars to be humble, team oriented and unselfish is rare indeed.

A "players-first" coach with a penchant for helping people reach their dreams, John Calipari has guided five teams to the Final Four, led one to a national championship and helped 31 players make it to the NBA during his 22-year college coaching career.

Calipari reached the mountaintop in his third year in Lexington, guiding Kentucky to its eighth national championship and his first national title. He is one of only two coaches to lead three different schools to a Final Four (UMass-1996; Memphis-2008; Kentucky-2011, 2012, 2014).

The Wildcats rode the trademark hard-nosed Calipari defense to the 2012 title, finishing the season as the nation's top-ranked team in field-goal percentage defense and blocked shots.

Following a 3.4 grade-point average in the 2013 spring semester -- the highest in Coach Cal's tenure at UK -- the Wildcats' scholarship players posted a 3.11 GPA for the second consecutive semester in the 2014 fall semester. It marked the seventh time in the last eight semesters Coach Cal's team earned a 3.0 or better.

As someone who prides himself on helping young men reach their dreams, he has placed 31 players in the NBA during his college coaching career, including 19 over his first five seasons at Kentucky. The 19 picks over that five-season span is the most of any coach.

So here we are, UK may be playing for the national title for the third time in three years, if only they can win three more games.  I say history awaits the Kentucky Wildcats and that no one will stop the Kentucky juggernaut.

.

Kentucky Basketball - How Good Can it Get?

.

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.
.

The Battle of Redemption for the Bluegrass Bluebloods

.

Kentucky versus Louisville - Calipari versus Pitino

As if the significance of the basketball game was not enough when Bluegrass Bluebloods Kentucky and Louisville take the court in the NCAA national semi-finals in New Orleans Saturday there are a host of sidebar stories worthy of merit as well.

Start with the fact both are coached by fiery Italians from the Eastern US, Rick Pitino of New York City and John Calipari of Moon Township just outside of Pittsburgh, PA.

Both played out east in college.

Pitino played for U. Mass while Calipari played for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington before transferring to Clarion University in Pennsylvania.

Both were assistant coaches for coaching legends, Pitino at Syracuse under Jim Boeheim and Calipari at Kansas under Larry Brown.

Both got first head coaching jobs in Massachusetts, Pitino at Boston University and Calipari at U. Mass.

Pitino, former star player at U. Mass, was on selection committee to hire Calapari.

Both revived their schools making them national powerhouses.

Both coached Kentucky.

Both coached in college and the pros.  

They are the only coaches in history to take three different schools to the NCAA final 4.  (Yes I know 2 Calipari trips no longer count.)

Both are among the top winning coaches in college.

Pitino is one of a select group of eight coaches who have taken teams from four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.

Pitino is one of 10 coaches all-time who have reached the Final Four on at least five occasions.

Both are seeking redemption, Pitino from personal blackmail scandal and Calipari from coaching violations at U. Mass and Memphis.

Pitino is seeking his second national championship while Calipari is seeking his first national championship.

Pitino is the Dapper Dan of college coaches whose sterling courtside dress style changed forever the coaches bench in college basketball.

Not only are they two of the best college coaches of all time but they are also two of the most animated and entertaining coaches of all time.

Let the game begin.

.