Tourney Thoughts

A lot has happened since my last post, some good, some bad. The good? Kentucky won their second straight SEC title, meaning that in his two years at UK, Coach Cal is not only undefeated at Rupp Arena, but also undefeated in conference tournament play.

The Cats played their best basketball of the year in (C)Atlanta over the weekend, absolutely demolishing the West's no. 1 seed Alabama, while also cruising to a title game victory over rival Florida. It was great to see Liggins and Lamb shake off injuries to play in the tournament final and, as always, wonderful to see how many blue-blooded UK fans showed up to cheer on their team.

Then the latter half of Sunday came. Selection Sunday. I'll sum up my thoughts briefly, because I don't want to complain (too much) about the Cats' seeding.

Here are the numbers for UK, read them and tell me they should be a 4 seed in the overall no. 1 seed's bracket:

RPI: 9

Strength of Schedule: 9

Current Ranking: 11

Quality Wins: Notre Dame (neutral floor) / @ Louisville / Florida (twice) / Vandy / Tennessee (twice)

Bad Losses: @ Ole Miss / @ Arkansas (really stretching it by calling those bad losses)

Now if UK had lost that game to Florida on Sunday, I have no issue with us being a 4 seed. But after such a convincing win, I have no clue how the Cats don't get boosted up to a 3 or maybe even a 2. The only real explanation is that conference tournaments mean nothing. But wait. UConn won the Big East tourney and went from probably a 6 or 7 up to a 3. Double standard? Absolutely.

But enough about that. The fact is that Kentucky is going to have to go through hell and back to make it to the Final Four. Can they do it? Absolutely, especially with how well this team has shot the ball in the last few games.

The game against Princeton should not be difficult, given that the Ivy League squad will simply be outclassed in every facet of the game. The Tigers will not be able to handle the Cats' speed, athleticism, or size, and I think UK will cruise into the second round.

More thoughts on Thursday after the game.

Also, just want to take a moment to savor the fact that UK is back where it belongs: as the SEC's perennial dominant team, the one expected to roll through conference play and win the SEC tourney without much trouble.

Thanks to Coach Cal and his staff, and thanks to the players for giving everything they have so far this season!