Undefeated Kentucky was installed as the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, but the Wildcats could face some challenging matchups on the road to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
The Wildcats, who earlier Sunday improved to 34-0 by beating Arkansas in the SEC championship game, could face No. 4 Maryland in the Sweet 16 in the Midwest Region and then No. 2 Kansas or No. 3 Notre Dame in the Elite 8 in Cleveland. Kentucky smashed Kansas by 32 points in November.
Kentucky is seeking to become the first team to finish the season unbeaten since Bob Knight’s Indiana club went 32-0 in 1976.
“It is a one-game shot and everyone’s record is the same,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said on ESPN, adding that he planned to give his team Monday off. “I’m going to focus on my team. I think I have the best team and I have the best players. Does that mean we’ll win? No, it doesn’t.”
The Wildcats also could get an interesting opening-round game against Manhattan, coached by former Kentucky walk-on Steve Masiello, if the Jaspers can get by Hampton in the play-in round. Kentucky opens against the Manhattan-Hampton winner on Thursday in Louisville.
The game will air on CBS with Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel and Allie LaForce on the call
“All I know is we play the winner out of Manhattan and Hampton, our first game,” Andrew Harrison said. “I really couldn’t tell you who’s on the other side, which region or anything like that.”
Kentucky will hold a student lottery on Monday at 5 pm at Memorial Coliseum for the second and third round games in Louisville.
“Our fans would still travel even if we played in California,” SEC Tournament most valuable player Willie Cauley-Stein said of playing UK’s opening game in Louisville. “They would still be there. It just makes it a lot easier on them, I guess. It’s good.
“We’re still in the state of Kentucky and everything like that. Being an hour away is good too. Like I said, it really doesn’t matter where we play. You’ve still got to throw the ball up.”
In the national semifinals, Kentucky could get a rematch from last year with Wisconsin, the No. 1 seed in the West, or possibly with No. 2 Arizona.
Those dreaming of a potential Kentucky-Duke NCAA championship game can hold out hope of that happening on April 6 in Indianapolis. Duke is the No. 1 seed in the South, while Big East regular-season and tournament champion Villanova is No. 1 in the East.
“It’s Kentucky’s [tournament] to lose, they’ve got all the components to win this,” TNT analyst Reggie Miller recently told SNY.tv. “They’re big, which you want, they’re deep and they’re well-coached. They play unbelievable defense and fullcourt pressure. They really turn you over and they get out and they rebound the ball well.”
Though Miller, like virtually everyone else, is picking the Cats to finish 40-0, anything can happen in a one-game setting.
“In the NBA we’re used to dealing with a best-of-seven series where the cream usually rises to the top,” Miller said. “You know what the best team is going to be at the end of the day. In a one-game setting anything is possible. Kentucky can have a bad shooting night. They could. They don’t shoot the ball particularly well but they could have a bad shooting night. Someone could roll an ankle.
“It’s highly unlikely, it’s Kentucky’s to lose.”
