Wildcats vs. Wildmen

Kentucky basketball has taken it's already storied history to new hight this season, running the table and finishing the regular season 31-0, sweeping the SEC Tournament Title, and have now bullied their way past just about anyone and anything in route to the Sweet Sixteen. That's where they meet a West Virginia team however who might just have the best shot at stopping what seems to be a tidal wave.

West Virginia just by the eye test doesn't stand a chance. They take to many ill-advised threes, they commit to manny fouls, and they cannot score nearly enough to keep up with a Wildcats squad that has most likely at least 8-9 future NBA players on their roster. But what they do do well is win ugly, and that is exactly what they will have to do to beat Kentucky.

Bob Huggins and his team have made a living all season eking out close wins by playing hard-nosed defense and whenever their defender does get beat, they foul them, HARD. West Virginia is number one in fouls committed in the NCAA, but there is a method to the madness. When they foul, it's on purpose and so that the offensive player does not get an easy look at the basket. It's a bold strategy, but it's taken the Mountaineers this far, so I doubt they will stop any time soon.

Another, maybe more important stat West Virginia has in their favor is offensive rebounding. Now Kentucky is no slouch in this department either, being in the top 25 in the NCAA this season, but they come nowhere near West Virginia who ranked number one in the nation in this department. Some of that has to do with the Mountaineer's offensive scheme and their love to take three point shots (threes= long rebounds = offensive rebounds) but they do have bigs who are not afraid to get in the paint and box out opponents.

 At left, in a Dec. 30, 2014, file photo, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins calls out instructions to his team during an NCAA college basketball game against Virginia Tech in Morgantown, W.Va. At right, in a March 15, 2015, file photo, Kentucky head coach John Calipari reacts to play against Arkansas during the first half of the NCAA college basketball Southeastern Conference tournament championship game in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/File)

And since we are going so deep into the numbers, here's one that the media keeps on throwing around too, 8-2, as in Bob Huggin's record against John Calipari over his career. Whatever teams are on the court, be it Kentucky vs. West Virginia or Cincinnati vs. Memphis, Huggins seems to always have Calipari's number. Now I don't know if that is enough to overcome the talent gap between these two teams, but I'm sure as heck going to watch to see what happens.

Whichever team you are rooting for, once they get this far in the tournament, you know a team has accomplished something. Tomorrow however, we'll find out whether this Kentucky team has the gumption to really live up to their billing as a team of destiny.
 

Let the Madness Begin

It's that time of year everyone. The time of year where no matter if you have been buried in stats trying to find this year's cinderella since November, or are just now trying to catch some games before you turn in your bracket, everyone starts watching college basketball.

Now anyone who talks knows me knows that I am huge basketball fan, lately though (last four or five years) I have gravitated towards the pro ranks, especially since the advent of the Thunder. Growing up however, I went to more college basketball games than any other sporting event. It became a tradition for me and my dad at a very young age to make
the drive 45 minutes north to Stillwater hours before tip-off just to go to Eskimo Joe's, demolish a plate of cheese-fries and go wait in line for the doors to open to Gallagher-Iba Arena.

My dad, being the tried and true Cowboys fan that he was would make a point of trying to make it to as many games as possible and one of my most vivid memories from early in my childhood came at a Oklahoma State basketball game. I couldn't have been more than maybe ten years old but I still remember my father somehow getting ahold of student general admission tickets for a game against Texas. I was way to young for what my ears heard from the rowdy group of undergrads that night, but that would not be my last taste of what true smack-talk was.

My favorite part of that game came before even the first tip-off. Me and my father had only just gotten to our seats when all the sudden I see students pull out today's edition of the Daily Oklahoman. I had no idea what was happening as they passed them around to everyone in the student section. My dad just told me to take one and play along, saying that it's a game the students do before every game. Then all of the sudden I hear over the loudspeakers "Ladies and gentlemen! now the starting lineups for the visiting Texas Longhorns!" followed by the loudest boo I had ever heard at a young age.

I looked around and all I saw were fans with their faces buried in a newspaper as if they were intently looking all at the same story so I started looking on my page for what was so interesting. Then as soon as I had found something that I thought was the source of all this intention, the announcer says the first Texas player's name and I see all the students raise their heads out of their paper and scream at the top of their lungs, "WHO CARES!".

Needless to say this blatant show of bravado stuck with me at that early age. As soon as it happened I started busting out laughing so hard my dad had to tell me to be quiet. It was probably the hardest I still to this day have ever laughed.

Now I tell this story to explain what is so great about March Madness. During the NCAA tournament everyone in the country gets to relive those days. Everyone from a five-year-old child to a 99 year old war vet gets to feel that feeling of passion and pride that you feel as a fresh-faced college freshman at his first big rivalry game. Every person in the country gets to at the same time be a ten-year old laughing at the absurdity that someone who isn't even competing in the game giving so much effort for their team and the crazed-fanatic painted from head to toe in your teams colors.

It's called March Madness for a reason, and most of the time it isn't even for what's happening on the court. Well I say, let the Madness begin!