Storyline Pre-emption

Let’s pre-empt: No one should refer to this Kentucky team as  “The Miracle Cats.”  They are not “scrappy underdogs” in the sense that the term is normally used.  Kentucky and national press will, if the ‘Cats manage to win it all, undoubtedly refer to them as “the unlikeliest of champions.”  This is incorrect.   Calipari’s performance is not, in fact, “the greatest coaching job of an era.”  Rather, this Kentucky team was a pre-season #1 that managed to struggle its way into the tournament despite playing remarkable craptastic basketball for long stretches of the season. The ‘Cats are an eight seed only in the formal sense; I’m not sure how many would disagree with the proposition that they were one of the five most talented teams in the field of 68.

It is amusing, though, that three weeks ago Lexingtonians were assembling the tar, feathers, and rail for Calipari.  One popular theory held that the team was terrible because Cal was addicted to prescription painkillers.  A common joke ran “What’s the best thing about the Harrison twins?  They aren’t triplets.”

And yes, more than 2 out of 193 LGM brackets should have taken Kentucky to win.  And apparently more than 0 of 193 should have taken UConn.