In December 1974, George Raveling brought Washington State to Lexington for the University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament. The other participants were Villanova and Oklahoma State, both with deeper hoops histories than Raveling’s team, which had gone 8-21 the previous season. At a reception, someone mentioned that the Cougars were unlucky to have been drawn against the host Wildcats.
“Drawn?” Raveling said, laughing. “There were two slips of paper in that hat. One said, ‘Washington State.’ The other said, ‘6 5/8.’ ”
There is about this South Regional a UKIT feel, though that pseudo-event is long since defunct. The other participants are Nevada, a No. 7 seed playing in its second Sweet 16; No. 9 Kansas State, which hasn’t graced a Final Four since 1964, and No. 11 Loyola-Chicago, which hasn’t gotten this far since 1985. Those three have combined for one NCAA championship: Loyola upset Cincinnati in overtime in 1963. Kentucky has eight by itself.
The South will be staged in Philips Arena, which sits in the heart of what Kentucky fans used to call Catlanta. Big Blue backers, of which there are many, have by far the shortest commute, and they don’t need a GPS to find the A-T-L. And they’re frankly giddy over their outrageous fortune: They’ve reached the regional semis without having to play anything but a double-digit seed, and they could reach the Final Four without facing any team seeded in the bracket’s upper half.
The teams that were supposed to be here are gone: No. 1 Virginia unhorsed in historic fashion by No. 16 UMBC; No. 2 Cincinnati a victim of the biggest second-half rally in tournament annals, prompting Nevada coach Eric Musselman to shuck his shirt in celebration; No. 3 Tennessee shot down by Loyola and Sister Jean; No. 4 Arizona having pulled an abject no-show against No. 13 Buffalo. That leaves Kentucky to deal with the fourth-place finisher in the Big 12 and then, assuming the Wildcats from Lexington beat the Wildcats from Manhattan, a mid-major in the Elite Eight. It’s all set up for Kentucky, which with its resources shouldn’t need many favors. Right?
This time a week ago, Kentucky was furious over its seed (No. 5), its site (Boise) and its draw (Davidson in Round 1, with the possibility of Arizona next). But they had, we note, lost 10 games. If not for Arkansas losing at Missouri on the final day of the regular season, they wouldn’t have had a bye in the SEC tournament. They fell to Auburn on Valentine’s Day to slip to 6-7 in conference play and were routed at Florida only 16 days ago. For the longest time, this wasn’t the Kentucky anyone, John Calipari included, had expected.
But this Kentucky has come to bear some resemblance to the 2011 Wildcats, who were 19-8 on Feb. 23 and didn’t lose again until succumbing to UConn and Kemba Walker in the Final Four. Also to the 2014 Wildcats, who finished the regular season 22-9 – they tied for second in the SEC with Georgia, which didn’t make the NCAA tournament – but reached the national championship game, again against UConn, before losing to UConn and Shabazz Napier. Good news for Kentucky: The Huskies didn’t make this field of 68.
Calipari tends to do his best work about the time everyone decides he’s doing his worst work. These Wildcats often looked lost. They were, it seemed, too young even by their begin-anew-every-season standards. They start five freshmen, which none of Calipari’s teams have done. It took them forever to figure it out, but here they are, looking for all the world like they’ve figured it out.
The South has become Kentucky’s to lose, which isn’t to say they can’t lose it. If the past week has taught us anything, it’s that this tournament is unlike any that has come before. Nine of the top 16 seeds are gone. Two of the No. 1’s are gone. (Seventy-five percent of my Final Four is gone, and I didn’t pick Virginia or Xavier.) Cincinnati couldn’t hold a 22-point with 10½ minutes left. Xavier couldn’t hold a 12-point lead with 9½ minutes left. Michigan State couldn’t score a basket over the final 5:40 against Syracuse. North Carolina, the reigning titlist, lost by 21. Arizona lost by 21. Auburn lost by 31. Virginia lost by 20 to a No. 16 seed.
Said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton after his No. 9 Seminoles felled No. 1 Xavier: “What you see happening in college basketball, it's almost like a revolution. And what happens is you start categorizing people by the reputation that their players get going into college. In reality, kids are playing basketball all over the country and teams are getting better. Just because maybe they might not be in one particular conference or maybe they're not considered to be one of the more traditional rich schools, people are playing basketball. And I really don't think at this level that you can really call them as much upsets as it's just what they call March Madness.”
Then: “See, sometimes the team that's the most talented might not necessarily win the game. It's the team that's playing well at that particular time. I can't say that we are much better than Xavier, but we were much better than Xavier in the last 2½ minutes. Sometimes when the games are close, that's all that's important. I think that's what you see happening. There are teams that find a way in that moment to get that message and emotional challenge or advantage and they make plays, and that's why I think the NCAA tournament is the greatest sporting event in all of sports.”
So go ahead. Call the South Regional the 2018 UKIT, but be prepared for someone other than UK to win it. Philips Arena may be the epicenter, but everywhere is now Madness.
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