As Kentucky continues to dominate throughout March, the college basketball faithfuls on campus don’t seem to think they will be slowing down anytime soon, with many of the fans expecting Kentucky to win it all.
The Wildcats stand undefeated so far this season and after crushing West Virginia on Thursday, March 26, and narrowly beating Notre Dame on March 28, they are headed to the Final Four to take on Wisconsin.
As to why they were picked, first-year student David Follet (Billings, Mont.) offered his thoughts.
“They are by far the most athletic team, and every player they put on the court is better than what the other team had,” Follet said.
Kentucky is truly a tremendous team and has consistently competed for the past six years, not only because of their extraordinary players, but also because of their coach John Calipari.
Calipari has put together a 188-37 record at Kentucky and has only seen one season below 29 wins.
Although Kentucky has a reputation for having first years come and go, they continue to get it done.
Sophomore Rob Korbel explained his reasoning for why they are on a different level.
“Coach Cal knows how to win a championship and coach in the tournament. They’re undefeated for a reason and they will win a national championship this year if they keep playing at their best,” Korbel said.
Who could ever challenge the team though? The answer around campus was Wisconsin. Was it just because they were the hometown team for some? Was it the fact that they won 34 games in season? Maybe it was that they (supposedly) drink more milk in Wisconsin.
“I like the old-school style of [Coach] Bo Ryan and the Badgers. Classic grinding defense coupled with strong post play and ball movement will be decisive in the Badgers’ winning it all. Also, they drink more milk in Wisconsin than in Kentucky so that will play a major part as well,” Lucas Henken said, commenting on why Wisconsin might win.
It’s not all about the expected contenders though; it’s about the underdogs, the upsets. That’s why March Madness is so fun. Anyone can win. There were some bold picks around campus and one came from first-year student Oliver Young.
“I picked Ohio State to win it all because it’s Ohio, and it’s the greatest [gosh darn] state in this country,” Young said.
Someone who hasn’t watched basketball all year could win just by guessing. That’s how random it can be. You can pick based off mascots, you can pick based off your heart.
It doesn’t matter if you watched every single game from every single conference, you could still end up in last place for your pool.
It doesn’t matter if you researched beforehand and know every single player and every single statistic. Anyone can win and it will always be that way. That’s why it’s so darn fun.
Henken added his reasoning as to why it’s so fun.
“Because everyone loves an underdog and there are many of them in this tournament. Also, college basketball is made for upsets. Any team can get hot and really knock anyone else out of the tournament,” Henken said.
Are there changes that can be made for the tournament? There are conflicting opinions on this matter. Korbel thinks so.
“Move back the three point line to open up more space inside (they can still shoot from back there). Shorten the shot clock to speed the game up. Loosen up all the foul calls a little bit (let the players play!),” Korbel said.
Henken thinks differently.
“I think it is pretty good right now. Not sure exactly how it could be made any better,” Henken said.
Now who will win this year? Kentucky? Wisconsin? Ohio State, even though they already lost…? We will see.
