basketball: The NCAA basketball tournament has now come and gone. The Kentucky Wildcats are the national champions, and have won in a pretty dominant and convincing fashion throughout the tournament. I would first and foremost like to congratulate the players on their achievements and on their future in the NBA being that most of the starters on this team (most of whom are freshmen) will enter the draft.
The first thing I feel I must do is take a look back at some of the things I said in my brief and somewhat inadequate welcome to the tournament article to see how that all worked out. One thing i definitely got right is that my bracket blew up. It was pretty embarrassing actually. I had Duke at least getting out of the round of 64. I had UNLV making it to the elite eight. I had FSU getting to the final four. I had Missouri winning the whole thing. I had New Mexico upsetting Michigan State; an opportunity they didn't even get because they got knocked out early. Needless to say it was a disaster in most respects. I did, however, get Kansas beating North Carolina and getting to the title game. So not a total loss. I also had them losing in the title game if that counts for anything (to Missouri, who got knocked out in the round of 64, not Kentucky).
Another claim I made came untrue. There really wasn't much of a breakout star of this tournament. Jae Crowder made an impact for Marquette who got knocked out a little too early for it to matter and Royce White from Iowa State, who had the best chance to breakout, got bounced from the tournament in the round of 32 by the eventual champs. The stars of the tournament were the stars of the season: Anthony Davis, Jared Sullinger, Thomas Robinson, Draymond Green, Peyton Siva. On this account I was wrong yet again. Sorry, no Stephen Curry this year.
On the other hand I was right about one thing. I planned to front run in my bracket. I just picked the wrong top teams. But how can anyone say that Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Kansas isn't a front running final four. And how can anyone say that those top players of the tournament I just listed aren't front runners as well. The cream really did rise to the top this time.
And that cream was truly John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. They were the preseason number 1. They were number 1 at the end as well. Cal has learned how to use the one and done system to his advantage and to that of his kids, getting them not only a college title but national exposure that can only help their futures. Many of the players on this team, much like his other players of recent years, will surely be top picks in the NBA draft. There has been a growing debate over whether Kentucky winning the National Championship would be good for college basketball. Calipari has mastered (and I do mean MASTERED) the one and done system that the NBA has created, in which top high school players go to college for one year merely out obligation. The debate will surely continue for years to come, depending on the impact of this championship upon other programs. I am not here to talk about that because time will tell if there are flaws in the system.
All I want to say is that Kentucky deserves congratulations. They were the best team on the court tonight and all year long. Those young men are amazing basketball players, not just because of their skill sets, but their clear understanding of how to play within a team construct (the National Player Of The Year, Anthony Davis, made only one field goals in the title game and was the tournaments MVP). It was fun to watch the best group of young talent in the country play great. It was fun to watch Kansas spend the tournament fighting back at every turn. It was tough for me to watch some of the upsets. At least I got my storybook match-ups (Cal vs Self for the second time in 5 years, Pitino vs Kentucky, Roy Williams vs Kansas). What a mad march it was.
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