It’s Kentucky Wildcats vs Vanderbilt Commodores III in SEC Basketball Tournament
By Paul Jordan
Mar 9, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts in the game against the Florida Gators in the first half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Florida 61-57. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
The big question as of now is “Has Kentucky done enough to earn a NCAA bid?”. And that is a loaded question. On one hand, there are a ton of teams scrambling for those last few at large bids:
"Yes, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Kentucky in his field of 68, but among his “last four teams in.” CBS’ Jerry Palm concurs with including UK, but as a No. 12 seed destined for one of those play-in Dayton games early next week. Jason MacIntyre of the Big Lead website figures there are 25 bubble teams vying for at most six open spots on the bracket sheet. What about Middle Tennessee? The Blue Raiders dominated the Sun Belt with a 19-1 record before losing to Richard Pitino and Florida International in the semifinals of the conference tournament. They own a regular-season win over Ole Miss. They are No. 29 in the latest RPI. What about Baylor, which snapped Calipari’s Rupp Arena spotless streak and ripped Kansas by 23 points last Saturday? Discard those two triumphs and the Bears’ résumé is positively underwhelming. What about Southern Miss, which has a better RPI than UK (35 to 50) and owns a win at the very same Georgia where Kentucky lost by 10 in a must-have game?"
On the other hand of the argument, there is a smaller contingent that feels Kentucky has earned that NCAA bid already, without needing a win tonight. TV analyst Joe Dean says there is “no doubt” that Kentucky is a tournament team. Right now:
"“I think they are definitely an NCAA tournament team. I don’t think there is any question,” Dean, a former Kentucky assistant coach who is now athletics director at Birmingham-Southern, said Wednesday. “Florida, to me, is a top-10 team. Solid top-10 team, and they beat Florida the last game of the year. They won at Mississippi, and I think Ole Miss is a really good team. They beat Missouri late. “They played a really tough schedule, and you can say they didn’t win the game, but you go to Louisville and lose by three, and I think Louisville is going to be a top seed. Kentucky lost by them to three on their court. They lost to Duke in a close game. Come on now. Kentucky is an NCAA team. No question about it.”"
February 12, 2013; Gainesville, FL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts against the Florida Gators during the first half at the Stephen C. O
Meanwhile during all of this tournament preparation, basketball recruiting takes place. Even though there is no official offer yet, it seems hard to imagine a 2013-14 team without Madison Central’s Dominique Hawkins on the roster. As Axel Rose says, it takes a little patience. For it all to sort out.
"On Tuesday, Hawkins and Feldhaus met with John Calipari and Antigua for 20-30 minutes. Calipari isn’t in a position to guarantee Hawkins a scholarship for next season. The UK coach is still waiting on uncommitted high school stars Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle and Aaron Gordon, and the future plans of several of his underclassmen remain up in the air. UK’s message to Hawkins: “Be patient.” The Madison Central star has made it clear that he’s willing to wait. “About all I can say is they’re interested, and we’re going to be patient,” Feldhaus said. “We’re not going to do anything until we know for sure what they’re going to do. Put it that way.”"