University of Kentucky Men's Basketball -- 7th Edition

[jmac]

Well I have said all season, Vandy was one team I thought could win at Rupp. They didnt there but did today. I think they are a difficult matchup for KY with an NBA like center in Ezili and the 3 point guys on the outside. Ezili really neutralized Davis it seemed all day.Watching Vandy play their 3 games against KY really make you wonder how they have lost as many as they have this season.
Ky with a top seed shouldnt have to play a team as good as this till regional finals if we hopefully "dont" stumble before that.
Nice bounce back game by Miller today !

[VottoFan54]

Duke is the 2 seed in Kentucky's bracket. Kentucky will play the winner of Ms. Valley State and WKU. The 8/9 matchup is Iowa St. vs UCONN.

[jmac]

So UK will either get WKU or a Sean Woods coached team first game.
While this region has some big names, I dont think it is a very bad draw. We lost by 1 "at" IU and this isnt the same UConn as last year. As far as #2 seeds, I would rather play Duke than Kansas or Mizzou. (barring they or UK for that matter) makes it that far.
Sort of surprised Alabama made it in and certainly surprised Murray was a #6 seed.

[WVRed]

I absolutely LOVE this draw. I don't think the NCAA did Kentucky any favors, but this is the type of draw that has major implications. A few thoughts:

1. Kentucky losing to Vanderbilt is the best thing that could have happened today. I don't think the Cats have been playing motivated and getting knocked off in the SEC Tournament is better than getting knocked off in the NCAA Tournament. Cal even said he was glad they lost because they were getting full of themselves and it showed this weekend in New Orleans. He should have the teams full attention now.

2. Might as well sleep through the first game, although I am pulling for Western Ky. Vinny Zollo, a former Billy the Clyde recruit, is playing for the Hilltoppers, as well as former Tubby recruit Teeng Akol. Not to mention a former teammate of MKG's whos name escapes me at the moment. Mississippi Valley State is coached by The Unforgettables Sean Woods, so another storyline for the first round match.

3. I love that we are playing possibly UConn, Indiana, and Duke for one simple reason: Motivation. UK isn't going to be looking ahead to Indiana knowing they owe UConn for two losses from last season. They aren't going to be looking ahead to Duke knowing that Indiana handed them their only regular season loss this season. Duke, well, that kind of speaks for itself. I felt the WVU game a couple of years ago was lost because UK looked ahead to Duke, not this time.

4. Kentucky didn't even get the worst draw. If anything, I see them being the only no 1 seed to make the Final Four. Jim Nantz being the ACC homer that he is brought up how Kentucky should have been seeded in St Louis and UNC in Atlanta due to proximity because UNC has to play Kansas now in St Louis.

5. This somewhat goes with point 3, but a good drinking game would be to take a drink everytime the Watford or Laettner shot is shown by CBS the entire tournament.

As for the "dream scenario":

UConn: They have the talent, but not the cohesiveness. They remind me of the Wake Forest team we played two years ago that UK fans panicked over. Kemba Walker ain't walkin through that door. Drummond takes plays off, UConn has nothing on the wings, although I think their guard play is equal with ours. Add in a pro-UK crowd and I expect Kentucky to win by 10 or more.

Indiana: I'm not going to blame officiating for the loss in Bloomington, but if Terrence Jones shows up, UK will win. If anything, this game will be a primer for the Elite Eight matchup, as both teams will live and die by the three.

Duke: This is where the youth and maturity of this team will be tested. Kentucky should win as long as they don't get starstruck by playing the Dookies. I look for Cal to play the ultimate game of chess by sticking MKG on Austin Rivers to disrupt Duke from running their offense. If UK can keep Davis and Jones on the floor without them getting into foul trouble, it will be a major help. Kentucky has the athleticism, but Duke isn't going to want to play up-tempo. If its an up-tempo game, advantage Kentucky.

[dabvu2498]

a former teammate of MKG's whos name escapes me at the moment.

Derrick Gordon. He's WKU's best player.

[WVRed]

Derrick Gordon. He's WKU's best player.

I figured Scrap would have given me grief for that one.

I've got Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Kansas for my Final Four, with Kentucky beating Kansas for the National Championship.

[IslandRed]

Duke: This is where the youth and maturity of this team will be tested. Kentucky should win as long as they don't get starstruck by playing the Dookies. I look for Cal to play the ultimate game of chess by sticking MKG on Austin Rivers to disrupt Duke from running their offense. If UK can keep Davis and Jones on the floor without them getting into foul trouble, it will be a major help. Kentucky has the athleticism, but Duke isn't going to want to play up-tempo. If its an up-tempo game, advantage Kentucky.

Duke likes up-tempo because it's easier to get open threes before the defense is set, and they live and die on the threes. Mostly live, because they have great shooters. Having said that, I like that matchup a lot for Kentucky also and it's because of Anthony Davis. Duke's post players aren't quick enough to handle him down low in my opinion, and on the other end, the strategy FSU used on Duke the other day -- clamp down on the 3-pointers and make them drive and beat you inside the arc -- works even better with a guy like Davis waiting in the paint.

[jmac]

I have KY-Missouri-UNC-Syracuse. Havent been sold on Syracuse all year but I really dont see anyone except OSU giving them a serious challenge. I certainly think Vandy could but I am waiting to see if they can advance past the first round or two in the big dance. So basically I chose Syracuse over OSU.
UK over UNC for the title (I hope )

In another note, I noticed tonight how Bilas picked UK to win it and Digger picked MSU while Hubert picked UNC. No shockers there.

[Sea Ray]

I figured Scrap would have given me grief for that one.

I've got Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Kansas for my Final Four, with Kentucky beating Kansas for the National Championship.

You think the SEC will put two teams in the Final Four?

[bucksfan2]

UConn: They have the talent, but not the cohesiveness. They remind me of the Wake Forest team we played two years ago that UK fans panicked over. Kemba Walker ain't walkin through that door. Drummond takes plays off, UConn has nothing on the wings, although I think their guard play is equal with ours. Add in a pro-UK crowd and I expect Kentucky to win by 10 or more.

Indiana: I'm not going to blame officiating for the loss in Bloomington, but if Terrence Jones shows up, UK will win. If anything, this game will be a primer for the Elite Eight matchup, as both teams will live and die by the three.

Duke: This is where the youth and maturity of this team will be tested. Kentucky should win as long as they don't get starstruck by playing the Dookies. I look for Cal to play the ultimate game of chess by sticking MKG on Austin Rivers to disrupt Duke from running their offense. If UK can keep Davis and Jones on the floor without them getting into foul trouble, it will be a major help. Kentucky has the athleticism, but Duke isn't going to want to play up-tempo. If its an up-tempo game, advantage Kentucky.

I have serious doubts that the bracket plays out like this. It hardly ever does. But when you bring up these three teams here is what I see.

UConn in the 2nd round is a tough draw. In the tournament I think it comes down to choaching, guard play, and big man play. Calhoun and Lamb could create a tough day for UK. If UConn could turn the game into a slugfest I would really want to see how UK responded to that style of play.

IU isn't surprising anybody anymore. Blowout if these two meet.

I have serious doubts that Duke can advance this far. I would actually put my money on Baylor advancing. But that said Coach K, guard play, and the bigs could give UK trouble. I just don't see this Duke team advancing to the elite 8, heck they will have their hands full with ND.

I think the committee did UK a huge favor. They put the teams that could cause them trouble on the opposite side of the bracket. I think matchups against Syracuse, FSU, OSU, UNC, Kansas and even Georgetown all would be fun games to watch, but they won't see any of those two until the title game.

[WVRed]

You think the SEC will put two teams in the Final Four?

Well, three if you want to be technical about it.

I think Vanderbilt is the type of team that could use the Kentucky win as momentum heading into the tournament, similar to what Mississippi State did in 96. I think they can knock off Syracuse if they shoot well from three as Vandy is exceptionally perimeter oriented.

OTOH, I have them facing Florida State in the Elite Eight and the more I think about it, the more I am leaning toward the Seminoles. FSU shut down Duke from three and Vandy is a similar team. Ohio State as I posted in the OSU thread got a raw deal likely playing WVU in Pittsburgh, and FSU will capitalize on that if the Buckeyes get knocked off early (and I think they will).

[WVRed]

I have serious doubts that the bracket plays out like this. It hardly ever does. But when you bring up these three teams here is what I see.

UConn in the 2nd round is a tough draw. In the tournament I think it comes down to choaching, guard play, and big man play. Calhoun and Lamb could create a tough day for UK. If UConn could turn the game into a slugfest I would really want to see how UK responded to that style of play.

IU isn't surprising anybody anymore. Blowout if these two meet.

I have serious doubts that Duke can advance this far. I would actually put my money on Baylor advancing. But that said Coach K, guard play, and the bigs could give UK trouble. I just don't see this Duke team advancing to the elite 8, heck they will have their hands full with ND.

I think the committee did UK a huge favor. They put the teams that could cause them trouble on the opposite side of the bracket. I think matchups against Syracuse, FSU, OSU, UNC, Kansas and even Georgetown all would be fun games to watch, but they won't see any of those two until the title game.

That's why I called it the "dream scenario". If it plays out that way, Kentucky has motivation in every single game. They can't look ahead and for a young team that makes a difference.

As for the rest, I think the team that will likely make it to the Elite Eight is UNLV. They play an up-tempo style of play that I think will give Duke fits (Duke has struggled with athletic teams). I can also see Wichita State knocking off Indiana especially with the injury to VJIII.

[Sea Ray]

I'll be the first to say, I'm no college BB expert. College BB just kind of gets me from football to baseball season but I don't think the SEC is good enough to get two teams in the Final Four. I saw some folks penciling in Florida as a potential Final Four team too. I think the SEC might get UK in there but that's it. Heck my very mediocre Volunteers just beat Vandy. They didn't look like Final Four material to me.

[dabvu2498]

There may only be a couple teams this year with a trio better than Jenkins-Taylor-Ezeli for Vanderbilt. And Stallings is finally being rewarded for using his bench when a lot of folks were screaming that he should have been using a 6 1/2 man rotation. They are a versatile bunch. They can come out big, small, play fast, slow it down, shoot threes or pound it inside, play man or zone effectively. They would be a tough team to prepare for in a tournament.

On the minus side, they're wildly inconsistent. Listen to Stallings' presser after yesterday. Even he doesn't know how to deal with them on that level. Jeff Taylor is probably as talented a kid as I've ever seen in a Vanderbilt uniform and yet he's liable to come out and lay an egg like he did against Ole Miss.

They could very well lose to Harvard. They could very well go to the Final 4. I wouldn't be surprised, after yesterday, if they did come out and drop Thursday's game.

And that's no disrespect to those kids. They're really, really good kids and I'm proud of how they've spent their time at Vanderbilt.

[Scrap Irony]

Knee-jerk, my Final Four has Kentucky, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Kansas in it. North Carolina got hosed by the selection committee, as they'll likely play Kansas as an almost true road game.

At that point, you pick the team that plays defense the best, as only Vandy seems capable of shooting well in New Orleans. (And don't think I didn't pause long and hard on Taylor, Jenkins, and Ezeli-- my sleeper pick-- to make it all the way.)

I'm thinking it's Michigan State's to lose at this point, though three of the four could very well win.