We\u2019re on the verge of that panic state that precedes any big trip. We\u2019ve had clothes laid out since the weekend. We have about 38 lists with things we need to buy, pack, and take care of before we depart Friday morning. I\u2019m also writing a baseball preview for my paper, L.\u00a0has a playdate scheduled for this afternoon, and there are still many errands to run.<\/p>\n
Which means I best put down some NCAA picks before I forget and one of my Final Four picks has already been ousted.<\/p>\n
First off, I watched parts of last night\u2019s BYU-Mississippi play-in game. That was absolutely fantastic. We need more games like that.<\/p>\n
Next, while this may surprise you, I\u2019m hoping Kentucky does what everyone expects them to do and gets six more wins to close out the perfect season. It\u2019s not a matter of wanting them to be successful and have something to lord over the rest of college basketball\u2019s blue blood programs. Obviously I\u2019m hoping they lose a heart-breaking game to KU in the Elite 8.<\/p>\n
But after thinking about the ramifications of how their season could end, I think clinching the perfect season would be a good thing. First off, it\u2019s not likely to happen again soon. Which means no matter what UK and John Calipari do from here on out, it will be a disappointment. I relish the thought of Calipari snapping at the media and fans who wonder \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Kentucky?\u201d when his team is 26\u20133 next February.<\/p>\n
Next, if someone beats Kentucky this year, we\u2019re going to start this whole process over again. Which brings a double-edged sword of possibilities. First, to the good for non-Kentucky fans, the pressure on future UK teams will be immense to get to 3X and 0 and then close out the season. The undefeated question has dogged the program the past three seasons. It\u2019s going to be even bigger going forward if this team doesn\u2019t win the title.<\/p>\n
However, if they don\u2019t win, Calipari may go full supernova in recruiting. There\u2019s no question he\u2019s the best in the game right now. But what if he says, \u201cEff it, I HAVE to go undefeated,\u201d and stops recruiting a couple top 30 guys to go with his 3\u20134 top 10 guys in each class? What if he says, each year, \u201cI\u2019m signing the best point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center in this class no matter what,\u201d? At least Jahlil Okafor went to Duke and Andrew Wiggins went to KU. If Kentucky falls short, Calipari may not let those guys get away again.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all meaningless chatter, though. Kentucky ain\u2019t losing.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n My Final Four: As for KU, I feel better about their chances than I did when the bracket first got posted. I still think the odds are better they\u2019re done the first weekend than the second, though.<\/p>\n I worry about Perry Ellis\u2019 health. I\u2019m wondering if he might not play a little like Wayne Simien did in the 2004 tournament, when he was fighting a leg injury. He played well in KU\u2019s opening game and again in the Sweet 16. He was clearly hobbled in the second round and Elite 8. Will Perry be able to come back and play hard and well Sunday if KU gets by New Mexico State in the opening round?<\/p>\n But the thing that gives me a little hope is that they have played seven games now without Cliff Alexander. Landon Lucas and Hunter Mickelson have both provided some solid minutes in his absence. I think they\u2019re both comfortable being asked to play important roles. Those seven games could be the difference in KU moving forward.<\/p>\n I also realized it\u2019s a little funny that I was so disheartened about playing Wichita State. I don\u2019t live in Kansas, or the Kansas City area anymore. I don\u2019t have any family or friends who went to WSU. Why should I care so much about the chances of the Shockers being the team that sends KU home? Especially when KU could be playing Indiana in the second round. And I\u2019m going to be spending a week in Florida with three IU alums.[2]<\/a> And then I\u2019ll come home to a city full of IU fans that may be inclined to engage in friendly discussions with me should the Hoosiers be the team that ends KU\u2019s season.<\/p>\n You know what? Screw them both. Wichita State and Indiana, I mean. Oh, and New Mexico State, too. And Notre Dame. And Kentucky. Screw the whole freaking Midwest bracket.<\/p>\n Rock Chalk, bitches!<\/p>\n We\u2019re on the verge of that panic state that precedes any big trip. We\u2019ve had clothes laid out since the weekend. We have about 38 lists with things we need to buy, pack, and take care of before we depart Friday morning. I\u2019m also writing a baseball preview for my paper, L.\u00a0has a playdate scheduled for this afternoon, and there are still many errands to run. Which means I best put down some NCAA picks before I forget and one of my Final Four picks has already been ousted. First off, I watched parts of last night\u2019s BYU-Mississippi play-in game. That was absolutely fantastic. We need more games like that. Next, while this may surprise you, I\u2019m hoping Kentucky does what everyone expects them to do and gets six more wins to close out the perfect season. It\u2019s not a matter of wanting them to be successful and have something to lord over the rest of college basketball\u2019s blue blood programs. Obviously I\u2019m hoping they lose a heart-breaking game to KU in the Elite 8. But after thinking about the ramifications of how their season could end, I think clinching the perfect season would be a good thing. First off, it\u2019s not likely to happen again soon. Which means no matter what UK and John Calipari do from here on out, it will be a disappointment. I relish the thought of Calipari snapping at the media and fans who wonder \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Kentucky?\u201d when his team is 26\u20133 next February. Next, if someone beats Kentucky this year, we\u2019re going to start this whole process over again. Which brings a double-edged sword of possibilities. First, to the good for non-Kentucky fans, the pressure on future UK teams will be immense to get to 3X and 0 and then close out the season. The undefeated question has dogged the program the past three seasons. It\u2019s going to be even bigger going forward if this team doesn\u2019t win the title. However, if they don\u2019t win, Calipari may go full supernova in recruiting. There\u2019s no question he\u2019s the best in the game right now. But what if he says, \u201cEff it, I HAVE to go undefeated,\u201d and stops recruiting a couple top 30 guys to go with his 3\u20134 top 10 guys in each class? What if he says, each year, \u201cI\u2019m signing the best point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center in this class no matter what,\u201d? At least Jahlil Okafor went to Duke and Andrew Wiggins went to KU. If Kentucky falls short, Calipari may not let those guys get away again. That\u2019s all meaningless chatter, though. Kentucky ain\u2019t losing.[1] My Final Four: Kentucky Arizona (North Carolina upsets Wisconsin in Sweet 16) Villanova Iowa State As for KU, I feel better about their chances than I did when the bracket first got posted. I still think the odds are better they\u2019re done the first weekend than the second, though. I worry about Perry Ellis\u2019 health. I\u2019m wondering if he might not play a little like Wayne Simien did in the 2004 tournament, when he was fighting a leg injury. He played well in KU\u2019s opening game and again in the Sweet 16. He was clearly hobbled in the second round and Elite 8. Will Perry be able to come back and play hard and well Sunday if KU gets by New Mexico State in the opening round? But the thing that gives me a little hope is that they have played seven games now without Cliff Alexander. Landon Lucas and Hunter Mickelson have both provided some solid minutes in his absence. I think they\u2019re both comfortable being asked to play important roles. Those seven games could be the difference in KU moving forward. I also realized it\u2019s a little funny that I was so disheartened about playing Wichita State. I don\u2019t live in Kansas, or the Kansas City area anymore. I don\u2019t have any family or friends who went to WSU. Why should I care so much about the chances of the Shockers being the team that sends KU home? Especially when KU could be playing Indiana in the second round. And I\u2019m going to be spending a week in Florida with three IU alums.[2] And then I\u2019ll come home to a city full of IU fans that may be inclined to engage in friendly discussions with me should the Hoosiers be the team that ends KU\u2019s season. You know what? Screw them both. Wichita State and Indiana, I mean. Oh, and New Mexico State, too. And Notre Dame. And Kentucky. Screw the whole freaking Midwest bracket. Rock Chalk, bitches! Worth noting, my jinx powers are strong this year. Witness what happened to Brannen Greene after I declared he was my favorite KU player. And how Iowa State lost two games immediately after I said they weren\u2019t losing again. \u00a0\u21a9 Fortunately none of the three are big basketball fans, and likely won\u2019t know that KU and IU could play until I tell them. They also know that I get grumpy when KU\u2019s season ends and will leave me alone if that nightmare scenario occurs. \u00a0\u21a9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,52],"class_list":["post-4240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-basketball","tag-college-sports"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14058,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4240\/revisions\/14058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nKentucky
\nArizona (North Carolina upsets Wisconsin in Sweet 16)
\nVillanova
\nIowa State<\/p>\n
\n\n