Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: What the National Media is Saying
By Brian True
After yesterday’s win at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team is the talk of the
town
nation. The hype surrounding this team in the preseason is nothing compared to what it is now, as the 40-0 talks are growing by the second. The buzz around this team is something out of a movie, which might happen sometime in the future if this team can pull off the unthinkable. However, there are still 27 games left to played, and the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team still has a lot of work to do. But after last night’s win, the national media are ready to crown them, and the noise can’t be completely tuned out. Check out what they had to say below.
"Another impressive Kentucky victory will only generate more discussion over whether the Wildcats can go undefeated this season, especially since their biggest tests are now behind them. Kentucky (13-0) has now beaten Kansas, Texas and Louisville in non-league play, all of which were ranked in the top 10 when the Wildcats faced them. No SEC team is even in the Top 25 in either poll at this point, though Florida, Arkansas and LSU are each among those receiving votes."
"After Kentucky walked away from its head-on collision with Louisville here Saturday with a few scratches, a few stitches and a lot of smiles, it’s fair to declare the Wildcats bulletproof from now until one-and-done time. Their 58-50 brawl with the arch-rival Cardinals was the last chance America had of beating the ‘Cats before they assuredly open NCAA tournament play March 19 in this same arena as the overall No. 1 seed.And honestly, Kentucky won’t be seriously challenged then, either. It won’t happen until the regional in Cleveland in late March, or early April at the Final Four in Indianapolis.If at all."
"It’s funny how history is made in sports. You need to know what the long-term goal is, but you can’t focus too much on it. You need to think of it as a bunch of discrete and incremental steps toward a bigger goal. The fact that Towns was uncertain exactly how many wins equals undefeated — it would be 40 wins from the first game in November, through conference play and the SEC tournament, until the Final Four in Indianapolis in April — is a good sign for Calipari and his team."
"Kentucky clearly is the best team in the country. The Wildcats are big and athletic. Their defense is historically constricting. They score on penetration, second-chance points (12 on Saturday), dunks and open 3s. They’re everything a team with nine McDonald’s All-Americans should be.And that’s why they’re a target. The target."
"The Wildcats are now 13-0 with 12 double-digit wins and four victories over schools — Kansas, Texas, North Carolina and Louisville — that were ranked in the top 10 of the AP preseason poll. That’s a strong resume. According to KenPom, Kentucky will have at least a 77-percent chance to win each regular-season game remaining and a better than 90-percent chance to win 14 of its final 18 regular-season contests.So the Wildcats might still lose someday, I guess.But their stiffest regular-season tests are all in the rearview mirror."
"The bottom line is this: Kentucky’s roster is so deep that even when its top scorers get shut down, the Wildcats can still beat a squad as good as Louisville. (It helps that the Wildcats defense is ridiculous — Kentucky held Louisville to 25.9% shooting from the floor.)Good luck, SEC."
"In doing so, the Cats (13-0) might’ve cleared the tallest hurdle remaining in the regular season. They’ve now beaten five teams that were ranked in at least one of the major polls, including three in the current Top 10. Talk of a perfect season will get louder after UK won its road opener for the first time in five seasons."