Remember a little over a week ago (or was it two?) when the tournament first started? Wichita St. was the only undefeated team in the country, overall #1 Florida had won 30 in a row, Arizona was cruising out west, and somehow Virginia, Villanova, and Iowa St. were all seeded above Michigan St.? One way or the other, they've all been sent home.
Throw in Louisville, Michigan, Duke, Syracuse, and even that pesky Creighton. What did all these teams have in common? Two things. All were at least a #4 seed or above, and all be gone. Outta here.
As improbable as it may have seemed when the tournament started, the championship game will be played between a #8 seed (Kentucky), and a #7 seed (UConn). Who would have thunk it?
Sure, Kentucky has long been known as a (men's) basketball powerhouse, dating all the way back to the Adolph Rupp era. And like it or not, somehow current coach John Calipari continues to keep his teams competitive year after year, even with the "one and done" assembly line to the NBA they've become famous for as well. Never count out the Wildcats, even if it's been a while since any of their players needed any sort of shaving products.
But UConn? Who saw these guys coming? Besides, isn't that school known for ladies' hoops -- Geno Auriemma and all that? Their men weren't supposed to get this far. No way.
Nevertheless, while Kentucky was impressively knocking off the likes of Wichita St., Louisville, Michigan, and just a while ago #2 seed Wisconsin in the semis, UConn didn't exactly have a walk in the park either. Nobody thought they would get by Michigan St. in the regional finals -- but they did -- and it was no fluke. The Huskies beat the Spartans fair and square. They were a heavy underdog in the semis against mighty Florida, but guess what? Just a few hours ago, they systematically made Gatorburgers out of them. Again, start to finish, UConn was the superior team on the court.
So now a couple interesting possibilities loom. For sure, either a #7 or a #8 is going to win the men's title. Kentucky will likely be favored, and maybe they should be. But who knows about UConn? Obviously, fairly new coach Kevin Ollie has his boys peaking at the perfect time.
More interesting yet is -- what if UConn indeed defeats Kentucky on Monday night to win the men's championship? It's entirely possible. The very next night, it's highly likely the UConn ladies will play for the national title as well.
To my knowledge, only one school has ever won both the men's and ladies' NCAA hoop championships in the same year.
It was 10 years ago, back in 2004. And it was UConn.
Could it happen again? Right now, it looks to be about a coin flip. Certainly their girls will be favored, but the boys........
We'll see, but I think it would be pretty cool if, after all the hype the other hot-shot programs have received over the year, and particularly in the past week or so -- the lowly #7 UConn boys came out of nowhere to join Geno's girls in a parade in Storrs.
Or maybe it will be the Kentucky boys and the Notre Dame girls riding floats down Main Streets in Lexington and South Bend. Who knows?
But given the two enormous programs mentioned in the line above, versus little old UConn, I know who I'm rooting for......
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