Kansas

North Carolina

Kentucky

 

That is not a road to the Final Four - it's a first ever Blue Blood Gauntlet.

 

I head on on the radio that no team had ever beaten both Kansas and North Carolina in the tournament. And no team had ever played against Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky in the tournament.

 

Arizona. 1997

Arizona. 1997

 

Yes. Some bad news there.

 

And when Arizona did it the three blue bloods were all #1 seeds that year.

Yes. Some bad news there.

 

And when Arizona did it the three blue bloods were all #1 seeds that year.

 

Yep.

What a run by Auburn. Kansas, North Carolina, and UK en route to the school's first ever Final Four. Brown and Harper were stellar and had their way with the Cats' backcourt.

 

Tough ending for UK, losing to a team they were better than, but such is life in College Basketball. Guards were horrific today, and in particular Ashton Hagans. Herro struggled all around as well, and free throw shooting continues to be an NCAA Tournament bugaboo.

 

Of course, this loss has brought out the Cal haters, which is preposterous. No question he makes mistakes, but I am not sure what people want. Bruce Pearl is a great basketball coach and this is his first ever Final Four.

 

You can't gauge success solely on a one-and-out Tournament. I am frustrated with the loss, but people can just be stupid in moments like these.

Imagine being a team at the beginning of this tournament, and you're told that you will beat Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky. And you haven't played a Final Four game yet.

I have met Bruce Pearl a few times when Chris Lofton was at Tennessee. He is a real treat, very fun to talk to and very knowledgeable. He has all the tools to be very successful as long as he does not have BBQ's.

Well if you consider what Cal has done at UK always choking. That must mean you think coach K has always choked every year besides for 5 years.

 

I don't know of too many people who wouldn't agree Cal has had a good tenure overall at UK but those people would acknowledge that the first half of the tenure has certainly outshined the second half. I sometimes wonder if Cal is going through the same thing as Bobby Knight and Denny Crum. In their prime they were among the best in college basketball. The last 5 or so years of their careers were good but nothing like the period before.

Coming clean here. Yesterday I booked an AirBnB in Minneapolis, feeling confident enough about UK’s chances to make it to the Final Four. For this, I will forever regret.

 

This loss is on me, guys.

I don't know of too many people who wouldn't agree Cal has had a good tenure overall at UK but those people would acknowledge that the first half of the tenure has certainly outshined the second half. I sometimes wonder if Cal is going through the same thing as Bobby Knight and Denny Crum. In their prime they were among the best in college basketball. The last 5 or so years of their careers were good but nothing like the period before.

 

There's no doubt the first six years are much better than the last four. Of course, four Final Fours, five Elite Eights, a title and a runner-up finish is a rather ridiculous standard. Kentucky has been to two Elite Eights in the last four years. The number of teams that have been to more? One - Kansas. Seven other teams have been to two in that span as well. Those are still very, very good numbers. The two losses knocking them away from getting to the Final Four in those two Elite Eights was a buzzer beater by the eventual national champion and an overtime loss. So they've been extremely close to more closely resembling the first half.

Coming clean here. Yesterday I booked an AirBnB in Minneapolis, feeling confident enough about UK’s chances to make it to the Final Four. For this, I will forever regret.

 

This loss is on me, guys.

 

Suspend him.

I hate that the Cats lost but I’m pulling for Auburn to win it all. I like Bruce Pearl and I respect how they battled through adversity and pulled this game out. Also Auburn’s head trainer is a Franklin-Simpson alum. I hope they can keep the magic going for two more games.

Super bummed for my 3 kids at UK. It sure was a great ride. However, Auburn played a better game today. And I see no reason to hate Coach Cal. Just as all season it was collaborative team wins, today was a UK collaborative team loss.

Auburn won this game bc they flat out played us. The Tigers looked more ready to play than the Cats today. The last 4 min. of the first half, Auburn closed the UK. lead to just a couple of points… the first 4/5 min. of the second half Auburn went on a 10-0 run. Those two stretches were imo very telling, important. Another telling numbers were 15 turnovers and 9 missed free throws, including some important ones down the stretch.

As others have said and I agree on the Cats poor guard play. Hagans, Quickly and Herro ….. they just didn't get the job done. Herro was a huge factor in previous games, looked good and frankly put the team on his back at times in getting to this point. I guess what disappoints me the most is that I honestly believed that this U.K. team would be in the final game (vs. Duke) with a very legit shot at a Championship. Turns out that neither made it, both beaten by a more mentally prepared / more focused team today. I thought that the refs swallowed their whistle more than once on some no calls on what imo were Auburn fouls coming down the final 7-10 min. of the second half on U.K.'s end of the floor. Those certainly didn't beat the Cats, the play of Auburn along with the poor play described by myself and others beat U.K..

I saved this praise for last …. P.J. Washington played his tail off today. Obviously exhausted towards the end of the game, I thought that was a big factor in his late ft misses. Fighting through an injury, working his way back with little time, PJ showed the "heart of a Wildcat" all season and certainly in this tournament.

Another thanks to Reid Travis, his inside play and leadership was a big reason for the Cats success this season. Reid was a pleasure to watch play, he took care of a lot of what I call the "Grunt work" …. inside defense, rebounding, etc..

On to next season, I hope that I'm still around by then …. GO CATS.

Bruce Pearl's son, Steve (an assistant coach) is quoted that they kept telling their players to keep it within 10 the first half. The 2nd half pressure of the game will cause them to tighten up. How prophetic a prediction. My question "with another year will Ashton Hagans become a high pressure performer or will we see more of this sad performance repeating itself"?

Before reading the thread.

 

I'm happy for Bruce Pearl and Auburn, just wish it didn't come against Kentucky.

 

Ashton Hagans certainly proved he should have been a senior in high school today. Man he was really frustrating.

 

Going to miss Herro & PJ. They very much became two of my favorite players in the Cal era. Going to miss what they brought to the table.

 

I was not ready to be done with college bball yet.