Sep 03, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
It’s the most wonderful time of the year: football season. The 2015 NCAA football season kicks off September 3, just in time for the long Labor Day weekend, giving us time to recover from the madness, and the season’s first Game of the Week is Texas A&M University vs. Arizona State University in Houston, Texas.
While these two teams will be meeting for the first time on Saturday, head coaches Kevin Sumlin of A&M and Todd Graham of ASU have coached against each other before. From 2008 to 2010, Sumlin and Graham met as head coaches for the University of Houston and the University of Tulsa, respectively, in the USA Conference. More is at stake than just bragging rights, though, as both coaches hold similar winning records: Graham with 28-12... Read More
Apr 03, 2015 by Robb Todd
“40-0.”
Everyone is talking about it. But the Wildcats say that belongs only to them, 38 games into the season.
Check out the legal battle that’s brewing over “40-0”: last week, the University of Kentucky “sent a cease-and-desist letter to Louisville lawyer David Son, whose company is selling blue-and-white ‘40-0’ T-shirts on his website, 40and0.com.”
None of that will matter if Wildcats don’t win two more games. But how could they possibly lose? Here’s one answer.
It’s a good question, indeed, but maybe people should be a little more concerned about Duke, which faces a 7 seed in its game. (No disrespect, Michigan State.) Duke seems to be peaking and that peak extends all the way to the NIT. Stanford beat Miami in OT, 66-64, to win... Read More
Mar 27, 2015 by Robb Todd
Kentucky’s record-setting destruction of West Virginia makes it easy to forget there are other teams in the Sweet 16.
Oh, but there are other teams. Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Arizona made that clear last night, and tonight Duke—hey, remember them?—will have a chance against Utah to put its stamp on things. As will a few other talents squads.
But does even mentioning teams other than Kentucky feel like whistling past a graveyard? Here’s a warning from the Wildcats’ latest victim:
“They were what I thought they were,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said after the 78-39 blowout. “That’s the best defensive team I think that I’ve ever coached against. And when they’re making shots, there’s nobody going to beat them.”
Here’s what else you need to... Read More
Mar 26, 2015 by Robb Todd
Kentucky’s quest to go undefeated continues tonight against West Virginia, which also knocked out the Wildcats five years ago, almost to the day. Bob Huggins remembers it well.
Still, with so many people certain that Kentucky will steamroll everyone in their way, there is a lot of focus on Coach John Calipari’s future in the NBA. One report even calls him “desperate” to try again at the professional level.
There’s always a lot of talk about a lot of things and here’s a little more smack from West Virginia freshman guard Daxter Miles, Jr.: “I give them their props, salute them for getting to 36-0. But tomorrow, they’re going to be 36-1.”
To do that, the Mountaineers will rely, as usual, on the press. That’s... Read More
Mar 25, 2015 by Robb Todd
If only we could predict the future. That’s what creates the madness in March: we can’t. Not even a little bit, and it reminds us that we don’t really know anything for certain. (That goes for you, too, Kentucky fans – and you, too, IRS!)
Because of this, it emboldens people to make even wilder predictions. Since there’s no prediciting this stuff, anything we say could be correct.
But here are some pretty solid preditions. At least more solid than Jell-o:
• This year’s tournament isn’t over but this story makes predicitions about which eliminated teams will make the tournament again next year.
• Kentucky Coach John Calipari failed in his first gig in the NBA. Here’s a prediction about how he’d do if he tried... Read More
Mar 24, 2015 by Robb Todd
The Sweet 16 is set and everyone’s bracket is looking pretty darn good. Well, 14 brackets out of 11.57 million are looking good. That’s how many people correctly predicted the Sweet 16 correctly.
If you didn’t get them all right (and you didn’t!) there’s no reason to cry about it. Roxanne Chalifoux has cried enough for all of us, and she cried while playing the piccolo for the Villanova band as she watched her team fall to N.C. State. Those tears earned her a gig with The Roots.
Nova fans know deeply that nobody is invincible but you’ll still have a difficult time persuading anyone that Kentucky can be beaten. The Wildcats are even odds in Vegas to win it all while UCLA is... Read More
Mar 20, 2015 by Robb Todd
Everyone knew there would be upsets, but not as many knew which teams would be upset. Who picked UAB over Iowa St., raise your hands?
Well, maybe you picked Georgia St. too. Maybe you’re a genius! Maybe you thought about picking Wofford over Arkansas because of The No. 5 Jinx but changed your mind at the last second.
Excellent.
You also never doubted that the NCAA made the right choice with UCLA and you are all in favor of NOT reviewing goal tending calls. Sorry, SMU.
There were a record five 1-point games yesterday—madness!—but that’s all history. We have to live in the now and now you need to know this:
A breakdown of every game today.
Even better: a breakdown... Read More
Mar 19, 2015 by Robb Todd
There has been so much talk about Kentucky it might get a little tiresome but there is just so much to talk about. But … let’s remember that today’s games tip off with another team worth paying attention to: Notre Dame.
The ACC newcomer is having a moment.
“It is different to say Notre Dame won the ACC championship,” North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said after his Tar Heels fell to the Irish, 90-82, in Saturday night’s title game.
And it’s different to think of Notre Dame as a school that is better at basketball than football.
While not many people think Kentucky can be beaten, the few who do target the Fightin’ Irish as one that could—but first they have to beat Northeastern in today’s first... Read More
Mar 18, 2015 by Robb Todd
BYU blew a 17-point halftime lead against Ole Miss. Surprised? Hey, that’s the type of thing that put the “madness” after March.
Hampton dispatched Manhattan and had fun doing it, even though they now have to face Kentucky. Check out Hampton’s bench celebrate this free throw. That’s a team that seems unconcerned with the carnage that awaits them against the Wildcats. But wait a minute … let’s not forget what happened to BYU and, for that matter, what happened to Duke last year against Mercer.
Maybe the Pirates—that’s Hampton, btw—will pull off the greatest upset in tournament history. That sounds crazy, but it’s not impossible. It’s just nearly impossible. Plus, Hampton coach Edward Joyner has Jesus’s phone number on speed-dial.
“Hey, Jesus, first of... Read More
Mar 16, 2015 by Robb Todd
The basketball gods giveth, the basketball gods taketh away—and dunk one right in your face.
Right, UCLA? Right, Temple? Right.
Temple wasn’t the only snub Sunday but the Bruins were the most shocking inclusion. Here’s a rundown of some other teams that might be more than a little upset that UCLA is in and they are out.
But, hey, let’s look at one of the positives of UCLA’s gift from the committee: it sets up a great storyline with second-round opponent SMU. Former Bruins coach Larry Brown, who led them to a national title in 1980, now helms the Mustangs. This contest is Brown’s first NCAA tournament game since 1988 when he led Kansas to a title, the same year that SMU last won a tournament game.... Read More
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