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By - Ira D. Combs
Director / Syndicated Columnist
Tri State Sports Media Services Inc.
www.combsbrothersonkysports.com
While it is a given that the SEC is the elite conference of college football there is also an ongoing debate on who is the "King of college football" annually because the pig skin dominated conference has the past six years BCS champion divided among four of its member schools Florida, Auburn, LSU, and Alabama.
Today, there is no question that the "King" and "Queen" of college basketball is across the south. It's John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats in men's basketball and Matthew Mitchell's Kentucky Hoops team in women's basketball. Both of Mitch Barnhart's prized coaching hires have “brought home the bacon" in the same year for the first time ever in the history of UK athletics. While both programs have more goals in mind before this season is over it is important that we all pause for a day or so and enjoy these accomplishments.
Why?
Because it is special when you accomplish something over the long haul of a season, it is a true championship not a quick fix like so many things are in today's sports world. Also, because this is the last year we will know the SEC as we have for the last two decades. A fourteen member SEC conference will bring on new and more different challenges which will make earning the SEC conference regular season championship more difficult and more than likely less frequent.
For now it will be a couple days of celebrating at the Joe Craft Center for both Calipari and Mitchell with their respective teams then it will be back to business around sun rise Tuesday morning for the stretch drive toward an 8th NCAA title for the men and a first ever NCAA title for Mitchell's ladies .
Coach Cal's Cats have senior night Thursday with Georgia (9:00 o'clock on ESPN) and one more tough road game at Florida Sunday (Noon 12:00 o'clock on CBS) to give them their final tune up for the SEC and NCAA tournament run in March Madness. The post season for Coach Cal's Cats will begin in New Orleans with the SEC men's tournament at the New Orleans Arena (where the NBA Hornets play) and hopefully proceed thru a first round of games in Louisville then a 2nd weekend of games at either St. Louis or Atlanta before they arrive back at New Orleans in the Super Dome for the Final Four and the crowning of the schools 8th NCAA championship.
Coach Mitchell and his talented ladies post season run begins this week in the Women's SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. where UK will play the winner of Thursday’s Auburn - Florida game on Friday at 1:00 p.m. (Live on Fox Sports South) and will hopefully conclude with the team’s first ever appearance in the Women's Final Four in Denver, Colorado.
Cats NCAA Seeding Can Be Solidified In Next Two Weeks
We discussed at length last week in this column the probable first round site for UK's men's team and who we thought the #1 and #2 seeds would be in each NCAA regional. What we reserved for this week’s column is who you would rather see placed with UK in whatever region they are placed in.
That could well be of more importance than where the first round site will be because with an all but locked up #1 seed the type of talent UK's opponent will have in its first matchup will be of well can we say Gardner Webb type talent or does that bring back ugly memories. As for the second round game, yes, there will be a great leap in talent when UK will in all probability play the winner of an 8 and 9 seeded game but I just can't see this UK team being upset on the first weekend no matter who the opponent is or where the site is.
That takes us to the topic of this particular section of this week’s column.
It basically comes down to this decision for the NCAA selection committee and I can hear the discussions in my head now. Do we put Kentucky in the Midwest Regional in St. Louis with Missouri and/or Kansas or do we place them in the South Regional in Atlanta with Duke and/or North Carolina. Either scenario at either site will produce a sellout in ticket sales which I'm convinced is the true barometer that the NCAA selection committee uses once the top four to six seeds are set for each regional .
So pick your poison Big Blue Nation which is your preference for the Cats trail ride thru March Madness.
For my money I think the selection committee will take the high road when assigning 1st and 2nd round sites and place UK at Louisville and in the Atlanta regional. Then I think they will bust Kentucky with a boat load of tough teams to fight thru that will also bring large fan bases to gobble up all those tickets that will be floating around after the first set of games at each site. I'm thinking Coach Cal will have to fight thru another regional just like he did last year with North Carolina and Ohio State except this year I'm thinking it will be Duke or Michigan State with a #2 and Marquette with the #3 seed in UK's regional.
Wherever UK is placed and whoever they are matched up against it's obvious there is a track record their with the NCAA selection committee since Coach Cal has been in town that UK will have the toughest road to the throne room.
Then again there are those who travel in the inner circles of college hoops that have told me in recent years that our dear old friends at CBS has a say in the selection and seeding process of the Big Dance which if true may not be a bad deal for Cal and UK. I'm quite sure Cal and UK both have more friends in TV than they do on the selection committee and college basketball in general.
Spring Football Coming Up
Director / Syndicated Columnist
Tri State Sports Media Services Inc.
www.combsbrothersonkysports.com
While it is a given that the SEC is the elite conference of college football there is also an ongoing debate on who is the "King of college football" annually because the pig skin dominated conference has the past six years BCS champion divided among four of its member schools Florida, Auburn, LSU, and Alabama.
Today, there is no question that the "King" and "Queen" of college basketball is across the south. It's John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats in men's basketball and Matthew Mitchell's Kentucky Hoops team in women's basketball. Both of Mitch Barnhart's prized coaching hires have “brought home the bacon" in the same year for the first time ever in the history of UK athletics. While both programs have more goals in mind before this season is over it is important that we all pause for a day or so and enjoy these accomplishments.
Why?
Because it is special when you accomplish something over the long haul of a season, it is a true championship not a quick fix like so many things are in today's sports world. Also, because this is the last year we will know the SEC as we have for the last two decades. A fourteen member SEC conference will bring on new and more different challenges which will make earning the SEC conference regular season championship more difficult and more than likely less frequent.
For now it will be a couple days of celebrating at the Joe Craft Center for both Calipari and Mitchell with their respective teams then it will be back to business around sun rise Tuesday morning for the stretch drive toward an 8th NCAA title for the men and a first ever NCAA title for Mitchell's ladies .
Coach Cal's Cats have senior night Thursday with Georgia (9:00 o'clock on ESPN) and one more tough road game at Florida Sunday (Noon 12:00 o'clock on CBS) to give them their final tune up for the SEC and NCAA tournament run in March Madness. The post season for Coach Cal's Cats will begin in New Orleans with the SEC men's tournament at the New Orleans Arena (where the NBA Hornets play) and hopefully proceed thru a first round of games in Louisville then a 2nd weekend of games at either St. Louis or Atlanta before they arrive back at New Orleans in the Super Dome for the Final Four and the crowning of the schools 8th NCAA championship.
Coach Mitchell and his talented ladies post season run begins this week in the Women's SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. where UK will play the winner of Thursday’s Auburn - Florida game on Friday at 1:00 p.m. (Live on Fox Sports South) and will hopefully conclude with the team’s first ever appearance in the Women's Final Four in Denver, Colorado.
Cats NCAA Seeding Can Be Solidified In Next Two Weeks
We discussed at length last week in this column the probable first round site for UK's men's team and who we thought the #1 and #2 seeds would be in each NCAA regional. What we reserved for this week’s column is who you would rather see placed with UK in whatever region they are placed in.
That could well be of more importance than where the first round site will be because with an all but locked up #1 seed the type of talent UK's opponent will have in its first matchup will be of well can we say Gardner Webb type talent or does that bring back ugly memories. As for the second round game, yes, there will be a great leap in talent when UK will in all probability play the winner of an 8 and 9 seeded game but I just can't see this UK team being upset on the first weekend no matter who the opponent is or where the site is.
That takes us to the topic of this particular section of this week’s column.
It basically comes down to this decision for the NCAA selection committee and I can hear the discussions in my head now. Do we put Kentucky in the Midwest Regional in St. Louis with Missouri and/or Kansas or do we place them in the South Regional in Atlanta with Duke and/or North Carolina. Either scenario at either site will produce a sellout in ticket sales which I'm convinced is the true barometer that the NCAA selection committee uses once the top four to six seeds are set for each regional .
So pick your poison Big Blue Nation which is your preference for the Cats trail ride thru March Madness.
For my money I think the selection committee will take the high road when assigning 1st and 2nd round sites and place UK at Louisville and in the Atlanta regional. Then I think they will bust Kentucky with a boat load of tough teams to fight thru that will also bring large fan bases to gobble up all those tickets that will be floating around after the first set of games at each site. I'm thinking Coach Cal will have to fight thru another regional just like he did last year with North Carolina and Ohio State except this year I'm thinking it will be Duke or Michigan State with a #2 and Marquette with the #3 seed in UK's regional.
Wherever UK is placed and whoever they are matched up against it's obvious there is a track record their with the NCAA selection committee since Coach Cal has been in town that UK will have the toughest road to the throne room.
Then again there are those who travel in the inner circles of college hoops that have told me in recent years that our dear old friends at CBS has a say in the selection and seeding process of the Big Dance which if true may not be a bad deal for Cal and UK. I'm quite sure Cal and UK both have more friends in TV than they do on the selection committee and college basketball in general.
Spring Football Coming Up
Kentucky Basketball Now ”King and Queen of the South" In Hoops
