A year ago, North Carolina was gearing up for another national championship; today they lost to Maryland by 21. It was the Tar Heels 7th loss in their last nine games. It's odd how a team with so much talent has turned out to be so bad. Still, I caution the Kentucky faithful to be careful in how much joy they take in their slump.
The last four years produced some very humbling experiences for Big Blue Nation. The decay that started under Tubby Smith reached a breaking point last season under Billy Gillispie. The Cats missed the tournament and many labeled the Kentucky program "irrelevant". What a difference a year makes.
Now, Kentucky is 22-1 and ranked in the Top 5 in the nation. They have beaten rivals Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina and Big East foe Connecticut. Just last year, while UK was reeling, the Huskies were in the Final Four and the Tar Heels won it all. This year, well let's just say making the NCAA tournament for either of these teams will be quite the accomplishment at this point. UCLA, another blue blood, is sitting at 11-12. This is further testament to the cyclical nature of college sports.
Just two years ago, UCLA was coming off three straight appearances in the Final Four, but now they are fighting to get in the NIT, much like UK last year. That's why Big Blue Nation should take the high road when talking to rival fans. UCLA, North Carolina, Louisville and UConn all have recruits on the way that will return them to the tournament very soon.
We should enjoy being atop the college polls again and maybe even take a little enjoyment in the fact that some of our rivals will be watching the NCAA tournament while preparing for the NIT, but we should never use the word "irrelevant". If Kentucky has proven anything, it's that relevance is only a top recruiting class away.
No doubt. Although, as soon as we have our down kick under Calipari, the sick ones are going to be belly aching over the sky falling. Hopefully Cal is able to stay away from the overrated McDonald All Americans that Duke and UNC seem to get. Some of them are legit no doubt, but somebody is passing off average players as All Americans when they sign with UNC or Duke. I hope UK just lands the real All Americans and leaves the inflated ones to the ACC.
ReplyDeleteI think Cal has a much better track record of picking the kids that rise above the hype. North Carolina usually does too, I am not going to beat them up too bad this season. They have a scary class coming in next year and could bounce back similar to what UK did this year with Cal's class. I am eager to see how Cal polishes off the 2010 class.
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