2015 NCAA Tournament: Revenge Scenarios Abound In the Sweet Sixteen
By Vinny Hardy
Mar 21, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Trey Lyles (41) reacts on the bench during the second half against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. Kentucky wins 64-51. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
The 2015 NCAA Tournament hasn’t disappointed us in the least when it comes to the madness. There has been plenty to go around in the first two full rounds of tournament play.
There are also several potential scenarios where teams can extract a measure of revenge and pay back a team who has beaten them in the recent past. Kentucky faces just such a scenario and they are not alone in this regard. We all know what the narrative will be between now and Thursday March 26 when Kentucky and West Virginia face off in their Sweet Sixteen tilt in Cleveland.
As much as Kentucky fans don’t want to revisit 2010 it will be brought up many times. The 74-66 loss was a classic case of a bad night, a bad night from the perimeter to be specific. Kentucky seeks to dull the sting of the loss from five years ago that halted that extremely talented team from reaching a Final Four.
The respective coaches already had a pretty good idea of what was coming well before the Wildcats and Mountaineers were placed in the same region once again. After dispatching the Maryland Terrapins 69-59 to set up another match up with Kentucky WVU head coach Bob Huggins stated that John Calipari had called him about three weeks ago and said that the two teams were going to be facing each other.
Wisconsin has to have the bitter taste of last season’s Final Four defeat to Kentucky right square on their tongues. Bo Ryan, Frank Kaminsky and the rest of the Badgers would love to even the score and ease the pain of Aaron Harrison’s clutch dagger that sent them packing a season ago.
While Wisconsin is trying to take things one game at a time and not look ahead or become consumed with Kentucky, the Arizona Wildcats are trying to do the exact same thing when it comes to Wisconsin. Before the Badgers lost 74-73 to Kentucky they defeated Arizona 64-63 in the Elite Eight. If both teams win Thursday they will do battle again in the Elite Eight.
The Louisville Cardinals don’t have to flip the calendar back to last season to avenge a defeat. This season in their lone ACC meeting with N.C. State the Wolfpack went to Louisville and won 74-65 on Feb. 14, 2015. The stakes will be just a tad bit higher Friday in the Sweet Sixteen.
Last year Kentucky dealt the Wichita State Shockers their lone loss in the third round of the tournament. If both handle business in Sweet Sixteen they will be trying to return the favor to unbeaten Kentucky.
Lastly Kentucky has the bitter taste of coming up short in the championship game lingering in their minds as well. Granted, the defending champion Connecticut Huskies aren’t around to defend their title having failed to make this year’s tournament. That still doesn’t lessen the drive that the Cats have to get back to the title game and finish the job.
These are just a few of the well documented scenarios that could play out along the way. Some of them will materialize, some of them won’t. We’ll all find out in just a few days.