I can’t turn away. I’m fascinated by this. I would really like to know what goes through a man’s brain when he sees this in the mirror and say’s to himself, “Yes! That’s what I was trying for”. I guess I’ll never know. But I want to publicly thank Alex Tyus for helping me realize that no matter how bad things get with my own hair as I get older, it could always be worse.
Tomorrow, Kentucky takes on the Florida Gators in the last regular season SEC conference game. The significance of the game will be diminished – only slightly – since South Carolina beat Vandy today, which granted UK sole possession of first (even with a loss tomorrow) and the outright SEC championship. #44 for UK. Think about that for a minute. 44 freaking titles. Simply amazing. I love being a UK fan. But let’s not beat around the bush here. The game tomorrow is about the graduating seniors (and one junior) as well as the probable last game for a couple of freshmen. Mark Krebs, Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris will graduate and will have used up their eligibility at the end of the season. Patterson is graduating early, but has a year left. He’s almost certainly gone. And with Wall and Cousins both projected in the Top 5 of the NBA draft, I can’t see either one of them staying. I’m not going to go into the significance of these players and their contributions in this post, I’ll tackle that in a later post. But, we all need to stop for a minute and realize what we have been able to witness this year as Kentucky fans. We have seen possibly the second most talented team to ever where the Blue (after the ‘96 team). This team has connected with the fans in a way that is truly special. They have brought the program back from the abyss (the Gillispie years). They have put UK at the top of the college hoops world once again.
I’ve been watching Kentucky basketball my whole life and this is probably the most memorable season for me. I’m not sure why other than that the last few years have been so depressing, that being on such a high this year has been a huge contrast and so I think it makes every win that much sweeter. And knowing that we are just beginning what could be one of the greatest eras in UK hoops history only makes it that much sweeter. I’m happy for this team, particularly the three seniors and Patterson, who have been through so much. They will leave this program having played on one of the most loved teams in the program’s history. Truly remarkable to think about when you reflect on where the program was just 11 months ago.
Now, on to tomorrow’s game. Florida comes into Rupp desparately needing a win to improve it’s NCAA tournament resume. They really only have what I would consider to be two high quality wins, Michigan State early in the year and then Tennessee last week. Lose this game and that would put them at 20-11 and 9-7 in conference. Not horrible, but again, not many quality wins. Could the Gators be out of the tourney 3 years in a row, after winning the title 2 years in row? It’s very possible. On a side note, let me say how happy I am that we don’t have Billy Donovan as our coach. Not just because of how Florida has done the last few years, I just never really liked him as the choice. I would have preferred Tom Izzo, Sean Miller, Jay Wright and of course our very own Calipari before Donovan. I’ll leave it at that for now.
AT 9-7, Florida would be tied with Mississippi and Mississippi State from the West division. UK, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are all locks for the tourney. But after that it gets dicey. None of the other teams have really done anything that says “We belong!”. However, I can’t see the SEC only getting 3 teams in the tournament. Particularly with how weak the tourney bubble is this year. I think 5 teams is a stretch, but I definitely think we get four. So, if Florida wins tomorrow (they won’t) then I think they punch their ticket. If they lose, I think the fourth team will come from Miss., Miss. St. and Florida, with the bid going to the team that goes the furthest in the conference tourny. So, there’s clearly a lot at stake for Florida. UK is a lock for a # 1 seed and they have already wrapped up the SEC crown, so presumably, you could say this game doesn’t matter as much. But don’t tell that to those who are playing their last game in Rupp tomorrow. I expect it to be an emotional day. And I think the Big Blue win convincingly tomorrow, making that statement to the rest of the country that KENTUCKY BASKETBALL IS BACK, and they better be ready for them over the next 4 weeks. I expect the 3 lottery picks to all have big games. I think Cousins and Patterson both have double doubles and Wall will go for 20+.
If you remember back to the first game with Florida which UK won 89-77, Eric Bledsoe was the big hero with a career high 25 points. Bledsoe carried the team that night and really put notice out to the NBA scouts that their were two top tier point guards on this team. In that game, UK led by 15 in the second half, but allowed Florida to come all the way back and tie it before running away with it at the end. I don’t think we’ll see that tomorrow, because the team is going to play with a lot of emotion and intensity on senior day. Florida’s biggest threat is it’s backcourt of Boynton and Walker. However, UK wins that battle at both positions so I’m not too worried. The only chance that Florida has to win this game is if the Cats get so distracted by Alex Tyus’ hair (or lack thereof) that Florida gets some easy layups while the UK players stare in amazement. Won’t happen. They’ll be too focused. UK wins 88-71.
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