Could This Happen? KU vs. UK

Could This Happen? KU vs. UK
By Chris Resor • on March 14, 2010

After the brackets were released tonight, a couple of questions entered my mind. Number one, what kind of dirt does Tyler Perry have on TBS? He must have something big for them to run as much of his “work” as they do. And two, is it possible that two of the most storied programs in college basketball history could play in one of the most anticipated championship games in history?

Both teams have certainly earned their number one seeds. Both come into tournament play, on opposite sides of the bracket, with identical records of 32-2 and both were outright winners of their conferences and walked away as tournament champions as well. The number one and number two all time winners in college basketball have never faced each other when the NCAA Championship was on the line. That is hard to believe given the fact that Kansas has played in eight championship games and Kentucky has played in ten, winning seven of those. Both have appeared in 13 Final Fours and Kentucky’s 46 conference championships are only second to Kansas’ 53 titles. There are many other things that tie these two teams together besides their winning past. The “Baron of the Bluegrass”, Adolph Rupp was mentored by KU’s most honored head coach, Dr. Forrest “Phog” Allen. Rupp was a bit player on Allen’s two Helms’ Championship teams before taking his knowledge of the roundball to the blue grass of Kentucky.

Current KU and UK coaches have a connected past as well. Bill Self is in his seventh season at Kansas and John Calipari is in his first for Kentucky. Not only did these two meet in the finals in ‘08, in which Kansas won the only Final Four to include all four number one seeds, but the two were briefly on the same staff at Kansas before Calipari accepted an assitant coaching position at Pittsburg and was replaced by Self officially on the KU staff.

The two fan bases are legendary as well, each watch each others every game whenever possible, commenting on their respective message boards trying to validate their team’s greatness and degrade the other team at every instance. Each fan base has their share of crazies too, some UK players had to shut down social networking sites due to derogatory comments about the players following their first loss of the season, and KU’s fans had plenty to say about a certain player of their own when off-court issues arised.

If this game happens, (and based on each team’s regions, it might not) it will be welcomed especially by this fan. Born in Ottawa, KS and raised in the state of Kentucky, I know all too well the fiery fan bases of both. From elementary school, til this day, it has been hard to root against the Wildcats in a state that is as passionate about basketball as TBS is about Tyler Perry. You can imagine how rough a sixth grader can be when twenty other sixth graders have their back. Well, here we are twenty years later, and some of the UK fans I engage, living in the center of the commonwealth, still act like sixth graders (I’m looking at you Jim). Regardless, the two teams come into the tournament as the favorites to meet in Indy and settle it once and for all, and put to rest the argument sure to be made over the next three weeks in message board warfare. The best time of the year is upon us now, and with any luck, we could have the best matchup in the history of the NCAA Tournament just around the corner. Enjoy the madness!

http://isportsweb.com/2010/03/14/could-this-happen-ku-vs-uk