Pope Update

Tyran Stokes, the number one player in the Class of 2026, just announced that he was going to attend Kansas University in the fall.

For reasons that I cannot fathom, there were people in the Lexington media who thought Stokes was heading to the University of Kentucky.  In other words, they thought he would pick a coach who's never been to the Sweet 16 over one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history.

They were disappointed.

Like the man says in Citizen Kane:  "You're going to need more than one lesson.  And you're going to get more than one lesson."

2024 College Football Preview: Classic Big 8

Nebraska hasn't won the Classic Big 8 since 2009, but the Conference remains formidable.  This year, they begin the year with four teams ranked in the CBS top 20:

11.  Missouri

17.  Kansas St.

18.  Oklahoma

19.  Oklahoma St.

25.  Kansas

27.  Iowa St.

34.  Nebraska

55.  Colorado

On November 9, Mizzou will host Oklahoma for the first time since 2010.  Oklahoma leads the all-time series 67-24-5, but Mizzou won the last matchup in Colombia.

Kansas St. will play Oklahoma St., Colorado, Kansas, and Iowa St.  The Wildcats' game with Colorado will be their first since 2010.  The Buffaloes lead the all-time series 45-20-1.

Oklahoma St. will end its season on November 29 in Boulder, Colorado.  This will be the first meeting between the Pokes and the Buffaloes since they met in the 2016 Alamo Bowl, and their first regular season meeting since 2009.  Colorado leads the all-time series 26-20-1.

Colorado will also visit Nebraska on September 7.  Colorado hosted Nebraska last year, and the Buffaloes have won the last three matchups in the series.  But Nebraska still has the all-time lead:  49-21-2.

Only one classic conference left.

Final College Basketball Post for Awhile

I've been watching college basketball since 1975, which means that this year's tournament was the 49th one I have seen.  If you analyze all 49 tournaments, and you do the following for each school:

Give it 1 point for making the Regional Semi-Finals

Give it 2 points for making the Regional Finals

Give it 4 points for making the National Semi-Finals

Give it 8 points for making the National Final

Give it 16 points for winning the Title.

Then Kentucky, for example has:

28 points for reaching the Regional Semi-Finals 28 times in 49 tournaments.

44 points for reaching the Regional Finals 22 times.

44 points for reaching the National Semi-Finals 11 times.

56 points for reaching the National Finals 7 times.

64 points for winning the Title 4 times.

That's a total of 236 points over 49 tournaments.  If you do this for every team in the NCAA, here is your top 10 from 1975 through 2024:

1.  N. Carolina:  287

2.  Duke:  285

3.  Kentucky:  236

4.  Connecticut:  213

5.  Kansas:  192

6.  Louisville:  149

7.  U.C.L.A.:  141

8.  Michigan St:  135

9.  Indiana:  133

10.  Villanova:  125

By the way, since 1975 there are only six schools that have played for the National Championship at least six times.  Here are their records in the final game:

Connecticut:  6-0

N. Carolina:  5-4

Duke:  5-5

Kentucky:  4-3

Kansas:  3-3

Michigan:  1-5

Since 1999, UConn has played four games against either Duke or Kentucky in the National Semi-Final or the National Final.  The Huskies are 4-0 in those games.

And that's all for now.  It will be a long time before my favorite sport returns.  But Winter Is Coming.

Jayhawks Next

With a record of 2-0, the young and undermanned Cats head to Chicago for their annual trip to the Champions' Classic.  UK is 5-7 in the Classic, and has lost five of its last six matches in that event.  This year, we get Kansas.  It seems like we play Kansas a lot these days, and that's because we do.  This is John Calipari's 15th season at UK, and this game will be his 11th against the Jayhawks.  He's 5-5 in those games, but only 2-5 since blowing out KU with the 2014-15 juggernaut:

Home teams listed first unless otherwise noted:

11/15/11:  Kentucky 75 - 65 Kansas (New York City) (Champions Classic)

04/02/12:  Kentucky 67 - 59 Kansas (New Orleans) (NCAA Final)

11/18/14:  Kentucky 72 - 40 Kansas (Indianapolis, Ind.) (Champions Classic)

01/30/16:  Kansas 90 - 84 Kentucky (OT) (SEC/Big XII Challenge)

01/28/17:  Kentucky 73 - 79 Kansas (SEC/Big XII Challenge)

11/14/17:  Kansas 65 - 61 Kentucky (Chicago) (Champions Classic)

01/26/19:  Kentucky 71 - 63 Kansas (SEC/Big XII Challenge)

12/01/20:  Kansas 65 - 62 Kentucky (Indianapolis, Ind.) (Champions Classic)

01/29/22:  Kansas 62 - 80 Kentucky (SEC/Big XII Challenge)

01/28/23:  Kentucky 68 - 77 Kansas (SEC/Big XII Challenge)

UK's two wins during the 2011-12 season, UK's 32-point win to kick off its 2014-15 run, and UK's 18-point win in Lawrence, Kansas are four of the best games I've ever seen the Cats play.  The loss last year at home was one of the most discouraging.  K-Pom has the Jaykawks winning on Tuesday by a score of 77-72, which would imply that the Cats are going to be a lot more competitive than they were last year.

I think one of the most important games in the UK/KU series is one that was never played.  In March 2020, Kansas was the runaway number-one team in the nation, and UK was probably headed for a victory in the SEC Tournament and a number-two seed.  At the time, I was absolutely certain we were going to be placed in Kansas's region -- and to be honest, I wasn't even mad.  I had so much faith in that team that I was willing to take my chances, and I'm still disappointed that matchup didn't come off.

Luck or Skill?

For years, we've been interested in Ken Pomeroy's "luck" ranking -- which is how he measures the difference between a team's actual record and what its record should have been given its offensive and defensive efficiency.  Pomeroy calls it "luck" because he believes that a team's record in close games is largely a matter of luck.  But for many fans, when you watch your team lose one close game after another, it doesn't feel like luck at all.

Take Kansas and Kentucky.  Here are the luck ratings for each team since 2015.  There are around 355 teams in the rankings, and the higher you rank, the better you did in close games:

2016:  Kansas 75, Kentucky 288

2017:  Kansas 32, Kentucky 175

2018:  Kansas 23, Kentucky 199

2019:  Kansas 26, Kentucky 98

2020:  Kansas 79, Kentucky 138

2021:  Kansas 44, Kentucky 354

2022:  Kansas 88, Kentucky 279

2023 (so far):  Kansas 25, Kentucky 323

Now I have to say that this does not look like "luck" at all.  Every year, Kansas is one of the best teams in the country at winning close games -- between 2016 and 2022, they never finished worse than 88th, and four of those years they finished in the top 50.  By contrast, UK is terrible at winning those games -- they only cracked the top 150 twice, and their best performance (98th in 2019) is worse than Kansas's worst performance (88th in 2022).

Remarkably, UK appears to be getting worse in this category.  In 2019 and 2020, the Cats' record was slightly better than its efficiency would predict.  But since then, UK has fallen off a cliff.  This will likely be the third season in a row where UK is one of the worst teams in the country in terms of "luck."

Of course, if Pomeroy's right, and it's all luck, then there's not much anyone can do about it.  But those figures don't look like luck to me.

Kansas v. N. Carolina

These two teams met for the National Championship in 1957, when Kansas had Wilt Chamberlain, and UNC won in triple overtime.  No team from the ACC or the Big East has lost a title game to a school not from the ACC or the Big East since Syracuse lost to Kentucky in 1996.

We can also wrap up our coverage of how things would have played out if the NCAA played in regions.  Here are the highlights from regional play:

1.  In Nashville, UK was eliminated by Memphis in the regional semi-finals, but then Memphis lost to Tennessee in the Eighth Region final.

2.  In Philadelphia, St. Peter's pulled a series of upsets, and took Villanova to overtime in the Third Region final, but the Wildcats won the game.

3.  In Greensboro, N. Carolina upset Duke 81-77 to win the Fifth Region, and end Coach K's career.

4.  In Austin, Houston knocked off Baylor to win the Thirteenth Region.  Texas and Texas Tech were eliminated in the regional semi-finals.

5.  In Tampa, Miami of Florida stunned Auburn 79-61 to win the Sixth Region.

6.  In Milwaukee, Iowa State shocked Wisconsin 54-49 to win the Eleventh Region.  Iowa and Illinois were eliminated in the regional semi-finals.

7.  In Los Angeles, UCLA beat Saint Mary's 72-56 to win the Sixteenth Region.

8.  In New Orleans, Arkansas beat LSU 79-67 to win the Seventh Region.

9.  In Kansas City, Kansas beat Creighton 79-72 to win the Twelfth Region.

10.  In Boston, Providence beat UConn 57-53 to win the First Region.

11.  The other regions went to St. John's, Virginia Tech, Ohio St., Purdue, Arizona, and Gonzaga.

The sixteen regional winners met up in Indianapolis for the National Championship.  Here's what happened:

First Round:

Kansas 76, Miami (Fla.) 50

Villanova 71, Tennessee 53

Arizona over Purdue

Houston over Gonzaga

N. Carolina over St. John's

UCLA over Ohio St.

Providence over Iowa St.

Arkansas over Virginia Tech

Quarter-Finals:

Kansas 81, Villanova 65

Houston 72, Arizona 60

N. Carolina 73, UCLA 66

Arkansas over Providence

Semi-Finals:

Kansas over Houston

N. Carolina over Arkansas

Old School SI Rankings -- Let's Go Dancing!

The NCAA announced its brackets yesterday -- we'll have more to say about them later -- so this is our last old-school SI rankings for the year.  Since we're focused on the tournament, these rankings will not include teams that are not eligible for post-season play.  Also, since there is so much interest in the top 4 seeds, we will include four teams for each region.  Our rankings are based on Ken Pomeroy's system.  Next to each team, we will have where the team was actually seeded by the NCAA:

EAST:
1.  Virginia:  26-7 (No. 1 in the Midwest)
2.  N. Carolina:  28-6 (No. 1 in the East)
3.  Villanova:  29-5 (No. 2 in the South)
4.  W. Virginia:  26-8 (No. 3 in the East)

MIDEAST:
1.  Michigan St:  29-5 (No. 2 in the Midwest)
2.  Kentucky:  26-8 (No. 4 in the East)
3.  Purdue:  26-8 (No. 5 in the Midwest)
4.  Miami (Fla.):  25-7 (No. 3 in the South)

MIDWEST:
1.  Kansas:  30-4 (No. 1 in the South)
2.  Oklahoma:  25-7 (No. 2 in the West)
3.  Wichita St.:  24-8 (No. 11 in the South)
4.  Texas A & M:  26-8 (No. 3 in the West)

WEST:
1.  Oregon:  28-6 (No. 1 in the West)
2.  Arizona:  25-8 (No. 6 in the South)
3.  California:  23-10 (No. 4 in the South)
4.  Gonzaga:  26-7 (No. 11 in the Midwest)

Obviously, by breaking things down into regions, you don't necessarily get the top 16 teams in the country.  If you did use the top 16 teams on Ken Pom, it would look like this:

1.  Kansas (No. 1 in the South)
2.  Virginia (No. 1 in the Midwest)
3.  Michigan St. (No. 2 in the Midwest)
4.  N. Carolina (No. 1 in the East)
5.  Villanova (No. 2 in the South)
6.  W. Virginia (No. 3 in the East)
7.  Oklahoma (No. 2 in the West)
8.  Kentucky (No. 4 in the East)
9.  Oregon (No. 1 in the West)
10.  Purdue (No. 5 in the Midwest)
11.  Wichita St.  (No. 11 in the South)
12.  Miami (Fla.)  (No. 3 in the South)
13.  Indiana  (No. 5 in the East)
14.  Xavier  (No. 2 in the East)
15.  Arizona  (No. 6 in the South)
16.  Texas A & M  (No. 3 in the West)

So, of the top 16 eligible teams listed on Ken Pom,

5 are in the East (seeded 1, 3, 4, 5, 2)
5 are in the South (seeded 1, 2, 11, 3, 6)
3 are in the Midwest (seeded 1, 2, 5)
3 are in the West (seeded 2, 1, 3)

For the record, Duke is ranked number 22 on Ken Pom, but the Blue Devils have the number 4 seed in the West.

Life on the Road

On Saturday, UK went to Lawrence, Kan. to play the Kansas Jayhawks.  With 13:54 left in the game, the Cats led 57 to 49.  They ended up losing 90 to 84 in overtime.  For the game, UK shot 22 free throws.  Kansas shot 47.

On Tuesday, UK went to Knoxville, Tenn. to play the Tennessee Volunteers.  With 5:46 left in the first half, the Cats led 34 to 13.  They ended up losing 84 to 77.  For the game, UK shot 23 free throws.  Tennessee shot 34.

Here's another way to think about it.  In the last two games, the Cats got 31 points at the line.  Their opponents got 60 points at the line.

The Cats are now down to 25 on Ken Pomeroy.  He expects them to finish 11-7 in the SEC, and 21-10 overall.

By the way, no Kentucky team has ever won the National Championship without winning in Knoxville.  Just ask John Wall.

Kansas City v. Toronto

Kansas City is not in the NHL or the NBA.  Toronto is not in the NFL.  So it's only on the baseball field that these two cities can clash.  Even there it took a long time before they were both in the majors.  Kansas City had a team as early as 1955, in the form of the Athletics, but the Royals didn't come into being until 1969.  Eight years later, Toronto got the Blue Jays.  And ever since 1977, the Royals and Blue Jays have been part of the American League together.

For a while, they were two extremely well-run franchises.  The Royals went to the ALCS in 1976, 1977, and 1978, they won the pennant in 1980, and they won the World Series in 1985.  The Blue Jays went to the ALCS in 1985, 1989, and 1991, and won the World Series in 1992 and 1993.  But then there was a strike, and the Internet, and Derek Jeter, and somewhere in there both the Royals and Blue Jays faded to near-insignificance.  The Blue Jays didn't make the playoffs at all from 1993 until this season.  The Royals had a losing record in every season but one from 1995 through 2012.  Lots of ink was spilled whining about how teams like Kansas City and Toronto could no longer compete with the Yankees and Red Sox.

But that's all changed now.  The Royals are the defending American League Champions, and the Blue Jays beat the Yankees to win the AL East.  So it's like 1985 all over again.  The 1980's were a pretty weak decade for teams on the East Coast (except for 1986), so it doesn't get a lot of attention from the people who love baseball, but there were some great moments.  This 1985 series between the Royals and Blue Jays, for example, was a cracker.  Here's what happened:

1.  October 8, 1985 in Toronto:  Dave Stieb (who went 14-13 with a league-leading ERA of 2.48 in 1985) dominated the Royals, hurling Toronto to a 6-1 victory.

2.  October 9, 1985 in Toronto:  Trailing 4-3 in the top of the 9th, the Royals sent up Pat Sheridan to pinch hit.  He homered to tie the game.  In the top of the 10th, the Royals took a 5-4 lead when Willie Wilson singled, stole second, and came home on a single by Frank White.  But the Blue Jays won it with two runs in the bottom of the 10th off of Royals reliever Dan Quisenberry.  Al Oliver's two-out single was the game-winner.

3.  October 11, 1985 in Kansas City:  Down 2-0 in games and 5-2 on the scoreboard after four and one-half innings, the Royals rallied to tie the game at 5 after six.  In the bottom of the 8th, George Brett led off with a single.  He went to second on a bunt, went to third on a grounder, and scored the winning run on a single by Steve Balboni.

4.  October 12, 1985 in Kansas City:  Dave Stieb and Charlie Liebrandt hooked up in a pitchers' duel.  The Royals led 1-0 going into the 9th inning, only to have Liebrandt give up the tying run on a walk and a double.  The Royals pulled Liebrandt and brought in Quisenberry, who gave up a two-run pinch hit double to Al Oliver.  The Blue Jays won the game 3-1 and were one victory away from the pennant.

5.  October 13, 1985 in Kansas City:  Facing elimination at home, the Royals sent out 23-year-old Danny Jackson, who went 14-12 in the regular season.  Jackson saved the Royals' season, giving up eight hits -- but no runs -- in a complete game 2-0 shutout.  But Kansas City still trailed 3-2 as the series returned to Canada.

6.  October 15, 1985 in Toronto:  Leading 3-2 in the top of the sixth, the Royals picked up two huge insurance runs with back-to-back doubles from Buddy Biancalana and Lonnie Smith, and hung on for a 5-3 win.

7.  October 16, 1985 in Toronto:  With the pennant on the line, Toronto sent out Dave Stieb one more time.  He pitched well, but stayed in the game an inning longer than he should have.  Trailing 2-1 in the top of the 6th, Stieb walked George Brett, hit Hal McRae with a pitch, walked Balboni to load the bases, and then gave up a bases-clearing triple to Jim Sundberg.  The Royals won Game Seven 6-2, and Quisenberry got to retire the last Blue Jay batter in the ninth.

If we get anything that exciting this time, I will be very pleased.

Here are the top five Blue Jays of all time, as measured by Wins Above Replacement:

1.  Dave Stieb:  57
2.  Roy Halladay:  48
3.  Tony Fernandez:  37
4.  Carlos Delgado:  36
5.  Jose Bautista:  36

Here are the top five Royals of all time by the same measure:

1.  George Brett:  88
2.  Kevin Appier:  47
3.  Amos Otis:  44
4.  Willie Wilson:  42
5.  Bret Saberhagen:  41

Appearances in the ALCS (wins in bold):

Kansas City (3-4):  1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1985, 2014
Toronto (2-3):  1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993

Oh, Kentucky

It's 200 years of Daviess County, and here are some of the highlights.

Have some deer, Wisconsin.

Fort Thomas is said to be Kentucky's safest place. (Madisonville is No. 2!)

Good jobs news from Elizabethtown and Erlanger. Bad from Hodgenville.

The Heritage Foundation's county-by-county, right-to-work raid across Kentucky reaches Hardin County.

Spot treating of roads by KYTC Maintenance crews is widespread this morning. http://t.co/rV6Q7o5hPX pic.twitter.com/l82a47j42u
— KYTC (@KYTC) January 14, 2015

I Love Tony Orlando

The Twitter desk is pleased to announce that it began following Tony Orlando today.

Tony Orlando appeared on the Channel 6 telethon at some point pretty soon after the release of Ghostbusters, the greatest movie made during our lifetimes (5 stars, highly recommended), and some kid asked him to do the theme song, and it was evident that it wasn't in his repertoire. Regardless, Tony Orlando told the WPSD orchestra to let it rip, and he completely sold out to a Vegasy sendup:  

Bustin' makes me feel good!

Feel GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

FEEEEEEEL GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!

The kid was ecstatic, and I've been a huge, huge Tony Orlando advocate ever since.

Prayers for Leon Spinks; the 58th-annual Telethon of Stars is scheduled for Nov. 8 and 9, and rest in peace, President Eisenhower. 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was a champion of peace. @IkeLibrary
— Tony Orlando (@TonyOrlando) October 13, 2014

Watching TV With Mom

Here's Helen Crump on Emergency!

Wichita St. 76 - 78 Kentucky (NCAA Tournament) (St. Louis) (No. 2,137)

Now, isn't everyone happy to see UK back in the NCAA's?  Remember how dull the tournament was last year?  Wasn't it fun to see the Cats again playing one of their legendary barn-burners, like they have so many times in the past?  Wasn't it great to see their fans cheering in huge numbers, just like the old days?  Didn't you miss us?

No?

You wanted the scrappy burghers from Wichita to show us the "right way" to play basketball?

Oh, well. That's not exactly what happened.  Here were my thoughts on the game, presented in roughly chronological order.

First Quarter:  Kentucky 19, Wichita St. 18

Ken Pomeroy gave UK a 34 percent chance to win this game, which I thought was a pretty decent chance for a 1 v. 8 game.  I haven't seen much of Wichita State this year, so I really had no idea what to expect.  By the first TV timeout, I was feeling pretty good.  Wichita State led 7-6, but they really didn't look as though they were going to blow us off the court.   The Cats looked sharp on offense, and they were playing sound defense.  With 10:48 to go, Aaron Harrison hit a three-pointer to put us up 19-15, and I thought we were in great shape.

But Wichita State hit a three of their own to make the score 19-18, and Aaron Harrison missed a layup at the other end, and suddenly we were looking at a very different game.

Second Quarter:  Wichita St. 19, Kentucky 12 (Wichita St. led 37-31 at halftime)

All season, Kentucky has struggled with prosperity, and now the Shockers jumped all over them.  I had the feeling that Wichita State had been feeling out the Cats, and now they were ready to show us what they could do.  Their defense had suddenly become much more difficult to penetrate, and they were now looking for chances to spring their devastating fast break.  They were also getting turnovers.  A whole series of dunks and layups put them up 32-23 with 4:37 left before halftime, and UK was on the ropes.  At this point, a few things were obvious to me:

1.  UK couldn't hope to beat Wichita in a fast-paced game.  The Shockers were too quick and too good at passing the ball.

2.  UK had to control the boards, in order to prevent the Shockers from getting any runouts.

3.  Wichita was very well-coached and focused.  They reminded me very much of the Indiana team that gave us so much trouble back in 2012.

But to their credit, the Cats did not give up.  They hung around until the end of the half, and James Young hit a three-pointer at the end of the half to cut the Shockers' lead to six.

At halftime, I was pretty certain that UK was going to lose.  But I hadn't given up.  The Cats were obviously playing hard, and I didn't have that sort of helpless feeling that I sometimes had when UK played Florida.  Meanwhile, CBS showed the Wichita State coach warning his guys that they had to watch out for UK in the second half.

Third Quarter:  Kentucky 24, Wichita St. 17 (UK led 55-54 with 10 minutes to go)

The second half opened with Cleanthony Early hitting a three pointer to put Wichita State up 40-31, and I think at that point the Shockers eased up just a bit.  They had pretty much controlled the game for the last 10 minutes of the first half, they were up by nine points, and I think they had seen the best UK had to offer.  But suddenly the Cats jumped all over them.  Julius Randle put back a missed shot with a thunderous dunk, Aaron Harrison hit a three-pointer, and then Randle had had old-fashioned three-point lead.  Suddenly the Shockers led by only 40-39.  But that was only the beginning.

I read afterward that Wichita State's coach doesn't like to call timeouts, and that must be true because he didn't call one even as Kentucky continued to attack.  After Wichita State had built a 46-43 lead, the Cats ran off seven points in a row (jumper by Dakari Johnson, three-pointer by Aaron Harrison, and a big dunk by Willie Cauley-Stein) to take a 50-46 lead with 13:31 left.  Two minutes later, the Cats still led 53-49.

Now I was feeling confident.  The Cats had taken what I thought was Wichita State's best shot, they had gone to a new level, and they now had a two-possession lead.  Also, they were playing really hard and smart.  The only way we can lose now, I thought, is if Wichita State shows us something we haven't already seen.

And, of course, that's exactly what they did.

Fourth Quarter:  Kentucky 23, Wichita St. 22 (UK wins 78-76)

With 10 minutes to go, and the Cats still ahead by one,  I was aware that Cleanthony Early was Wichita State's best player.  Soon afterward, I was aware that he was having one of the best games anyone has ever had against UK in the tournament.  Look at these examples:

9:55 left:  A missed layup by Randle quickly turns into a layup for Early.  Wichita leads 56-55
8:57 left:  A missed layup by James Young quickly turns into a layup for Early.  58-55

With 7:56 left, Early missed a layup that could have put Wichita up five, and the Cats got two free throws from Andrew Harrison to make the score 58-57.  But then this happened:

7:27 left:  Early makes another layup.  Wichita leads 60-57
6:54 left:  Aaron Harrison banks in a three-pointer to tie the score at 60
6:27 left:  Ron Baker hits a three-pointer to put Wichita up 63-60
6:06 left:  Andrew Harrison gets to the rim and scores to make it 63-62
5:50 left:  Early hits a three pointer to make the score 66-62
4:52 left:  Aaron Harrison makes two free throws to make it 66-64
4:36 left:  Early hits ANOTHER three-pointer to give Wichita a 69-64 lead.

In just over five minutes, Early scored 12 points and led the Shockers on a 15-9 run that gave them a five-point lead with just over four minutes left.  I thought it was ironic that the one-and-done Wildcats had played so hard and so smart -- only to be thwarted by a player who was dominating the game through sheer talent.

Now it's really hard to come from five points down in less than five minutes against one of the best teams in the country.  In fact, at this point in the proceedings, Ken Pomeroy gave Wichita State an 85 percent chance of victory.  But the Wildcats, like Han Solo, are not interested in the odds.  And besides, the Shockers' defense had been stretched to the point where UK was now beating Wichita to the rim time after time, getting either layups or free throws.  The Cats were also dominating the boards -- something that almost no one had been able to do to Wichita State all year.  (For the game, UK out-rebounded Wichita State 32-23.)

Down 69-64, these factors came into play.  Aaron Harrison drove and was fouled.  He made one free throw and missed the second, but UK got the rebound.  Andrew Harrison then drew a foul, and his free throws made the score 69-67 with only 3:54 left.

And now, finally, Wichita State made a mistake on offense.  The Shockers tried to feed the ball to Baker down low, and it was stolen by Cauley-Stein.  Andrew Harrison missed a three-pointer, but Randle got the rebound and was fouled.  He made one of two free throws, and the score was 69-68.

At the other end, Early had the ball down low, but he finally missed.  Young grabbed the rebound and scooted in for a layup to give UK a 70-69 lead.

By now, the huge crowd realized that it was seeing one of the great games in tournament history, and it sounded like the two teams were playing in a cauldron of noise.  Early (of course) nailed a jumper to put Wichita State up 71-70, but Young responded with a three-pointer to put UK up 73-71.

Wichita State came back, and for once they couldn't get the ball to Early or Baker.  A three pointer by Tekele Cotton missed, and UK had the ball and the lead.  The Cats held it for a long time, and then Andrew Harrison was fouled with only 42 seconds left.  His free throws put UK up 75-71.

At this point, one more miss by Wichita State probably would have given us the game, and as soon as Baker shot his three-pointer at the other end, I could tell it was off-line.  But it BANKED IN, and UK led only 75-74.  So it would come down to free throws.

22 seconds left:  Randle makes two free throws to put UK up 77-74.
9 seconds left:  Baker misses a three-pointer, but Early got the rebound and was fouled.  He (of course) made both free throws.  UK led 77-76.
7 seconds left:  Andrew Harrison makes one of two free throws, and the Cats lead 78-76.

With 3.2 seconds to go, Wichita State -- the team that doesn't like to call time -- called time.  I was pretty much resigned to overtime, because I knew it would be very difficult to stop a driving Early without fouling him, and of UK couldn't foul.  But I was afraid Wichita State would hit a three-pointer for the win.  I hate the three-pointer when you only need a two to tie, but I've seen it work before.

Sure enough, the Shockers went for the three-pointer and the win.  UK had guarded Early and Baker, so the shot was taken by Fred Van Vleet, who made 41.1 percent of his three-pointers this year.  Fortunately, I didn't know this, and I was just happy someone other than Early and Baker had taken the shot.  And then I was much, much happier, because the shot missed, and UK had won an amazing, amazing game.  (For the game, Van Vleet went 0-4 from 3-point range.  Early and Baker combined to make 8 of 12).

All year, we've bemoaned UK's hard luck in close games.  But this time, when it really mattered, the Cats had pulled out the all-important close win.  Throughout the game, each team kept pushing the other to higher and higher levels.  When it was all over, both teams' fans seem to feel that their team had played its best -- and it turned out that our best was a little bit better than theirs.  Wichita State had an offensive efficiency score of 1.23 points per possession -- well above their season average -- but the Cats beat them anyway.

And this shows why UK was such an unfair draw for Wichita State.  In the tournament, what's important is not how well you normally play, but how well you CAN play.  UK has not always played its best, but when the Cats are on, they can beat anybody.  Wichita State, with its record of 35-0, shouldn't have had to play its second-round game against a team good enough to beat them when the Shockers played so well.  They deserved better.

As for the Cats, I have rarely been more proud of any UK team.  I admit that I gave up on these guys a few weeks ago -- not because I doubted their effort, but because I just hadn't seen the extraordinary talent we had been promised.  But at least for this game, everything came together, and they played a game for the ages.

In fact, the game was played at such a level that I kept thinking in terms of high drama.  I remembered Shakespare's masterpiece Henry IV Part One, which tells the story of Prince Hal, the heir to the English throne, who is in trouble with his father for his alleged lack of discipline.  Finally the old king warns Hal that he is wasting his life, and that he should be more like the noble and hard-working Hotspur.  But Hal promises that he will win the day when the showdown with Hotspur comes:

For every honor sitting on his helm
Would they were multitudes, and on my head
My shames redoubled!  for the time will come,
That I shall make this northern youth exchange
His glorious deeds for my indignities.


That's pretty much what happened here.  All year, everyone (including me) has taken their shots at UK's freshmen.  All year, Wichita State has been praised for its hard work, its intelligence, its experience.  By the end of the season, Wichita State had the acclaim (and the number-one seed) that UK had expected.  But like Prince Hal, the young Wildcats forced Wichita State to change places.  Now UK is going on to the next round, and Wichita State's season is over.

Amazingly, UK's next game could be even more dramatic than this one, as the Cats next play the University of Louisville.  It will be their fifth meeting in the last three seasons, and the second of those meetings to take place in the NCAA Tournament.  I don't know whether the young Cats can pull off another upset, but I do know that I will be proud to support them.

Don't Forget the UCFC!

Baylor, with a record of 4-0, currently holds the Unofficial College Football Championship ("UCFC").  Tomorrow the Bears will be trying win their ninth consecutive UCFC battle in a row, as they take the Big Gold Trophy to Manhattan, Kan. for a game against Kansas State.

Do you realize

that Kentucky won the NCAA basketball tournament this year, and never trailed in the second half of any tournament game?

They had a fourteen-point lead at halftime -- of the National Championship game -- against Kansas?

They beat Louisville twice.

They beat Kansas twice.

They beat Florida three times.

They also beat North Carolina and Indiana -- all in the same season!

38-2.

It's hard to believe. But I remember it well.

2012 All-Star Game: American League 0 - 8 National League

It was a fun all-star game for Nats fans. The National League cruised to an easy 8-0 victory, meaning that the Senior Circuit will have the home field advantage in the World Series for the third year in a row. And the Nats had three players -- Gio Gonzales, Stephen Strasburg, and Bryce Harper -- participate in the game. Harper lost a fly ball in the outfield, but other than that the Nats players looked like they belonged.

There was a lot of hang-wringing over the fact that the Kansas City fans spent the whole weekend booing Robinson Cano, who allegedly dissed the Royals by leaving their guy out of the Home Run Derby. But Kansas City fans suffer a lot, and I think they should be able to complain as much as they want.