Ryan Parker has a new song about Kentucky that is out...

WATCH VIDEO (YouTube)

College Hoops, Just For Fun kentucky wildcats, uk, john calipari, ryan parker

The Lexington Herald-Leader's Joel Pett takes shots at UK coach John Calipari...

College Hoops, Just For Fun kentucky wildcats, uk, john calipari, joe pett

Where do John Calipari’s 2012 Cats stack up against Pitino’s national championship winning 1996 Untouchables?

RECORD
 
2012: 36–2 overall, 16–0 SEC; suffered losses at Indiana and to Vanderbilt in the SEC title game. Advanced to the Final Four, where Louisville awaits.
 
1996: 34–2 overall, 16–0 SEC; suffered losses to No. 1 UMass, a team coached by Calipari and led by Marcus Camby, and Mississippi State in the SEC title game. Defeated Syracuse in the national championship game.
 
Edge: 1996. Both losses came against teams that ultimately made the Final Four, with Pitino’s Wildcats getting revenge against Calipari’s Minutemen in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. The 1996 squad cut down the nets; only time will tell whether the 2012 team will win it all.

COMPLETE BREAKDOWN (AthlonSports.com)

College Hoops kentucky wildcats, uk, 2012, 1998, john calipari, rick pitino

Here are some interesting betting trends surrounding the coaches...

Kentucky's John Calipari

Louisville's Rick Pitino

COMPLETE ARTILCE (VegasInsider.com)

College Hoops 2012 march madness, final four, kentucky wildcats, uk, louisville cardinals, john calipari, rick pitino

There have been so many great images surfacing the web this week, but this is one my favorites...

College Hoops 2012 march madness, final four, kentucky wildcats, uk, louisville cardinals, john calipari, rick pitino

from official press release...

University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari, who led the Wildcats to the school’s 14th NCAA Final Four appearance last season, has been rewarded with an eight-year contract worth a total of $36.5 million plus the opportunity for performance-based incentives, UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart announced Monday. See attachments for the actual contract which includes an amendment to the previous agreement along with details of the eight-year deal.

“What John Calipari has done on and off the court in the past two years to reunite and rejuvenate this fan base has been magical,” Barnhart said. “He understands the responsibility that goes along with this position and there is no other coach out there that is a better fit for the best basketball program in the country.”

In two seasons, Calipari has led the Wildcats to a 64-12 (.889) overall mark, including UK’s first Final Four appearance in 13 years last season. Calipari became only the second coach in NCAA history to lead three different schools to the Final Four. Boasting a perfect 33-0 home record in two years at Rupp Arena, he also led Kentucky to its second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title.

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For the third the Kentucky Wildcats and head coach John Calipari have been pegged as the nation's top recruiting class by Rivals.com:

PF Anthony Davis (No. 2 overall 2011 prospect)
SF Mike Gilchrist (3)
PG Marquis Teague (5)
PF Kyle Wiltjer (22)

Rivals says: John Calipari is at it again with his third consecutive No. 1 recruiting class at Kentucky. Teague, a dynamic point guard, and Gilchrist, a versatile small forward, are the top prospects at their position. Power forwards Davis and Wiltjer are both multi-talented post players and inside/outside threats.

COMPLETE RANKINGS

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The Kentucky Wildcats came up one point short of advancing to Monday’s National Championship game as they lost 56-55 to Connecticut in Saturday’s Final Four matchup.

The Wildcats played great defense, but shot 21 of 62 from the field including 9 for 27 from behind the arc. The team’s free throw shooting was equally disappointing as they knocked down just four of 12 attempts from the line.

Down by 10 at the break, John Calipari’s team showed some heart and came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. They battled back to regain the lead with 10:30 minutes to go in the game and from there it was back and forth.

In the end, they couldn’t hit the big shot. However, this team has nothing to hang their heads about as they greatly exceeded most of our expectations.

Josh Harrelson was the epitome of this year’s squad as he battled from being an afterthought to potential tournament MVP. He will be missed.

It remains to be seen if any of the team’s underclassmen will jump ship and turn pro. Either way with yet another No. 1 recruiting class on its way Kentucky will be back and ready again next year.

It’s hard to imagine that just two years ago the Wildcats were in the N.I.T.  Calipari has now taken his UK teams to an Elite Eight and a Final Four. The next stop is cutting down the nets and bringing the school an eighth national championship.

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A game after being held to two points, Kentucky freshman point guard Brandon Knight exploded for a career-high 30 points on Saturday as the Wildcats knocked off West Virginia 71-63 to advance to the Sweet 16.

In Thursday’s tournament opener Knight had one of his worst games, but did manage to score his only field goal at the right time as he knocked down the leaner to break a 57-57 tie against Princeton as time was expiring. The big bucket propelled him into the second round matchup.

“Definitely for me I feel a lot more anxiety, especially coming into today's game, not playing so well [Thursday]. But just playing these type of games where you know if you lose your season is done, I think guys really come out and they fight a lot harder, they go after rebounds a lot tougher," Knight told reporters after the game.

"It kind of changes the game," the 6-foot-3 guard added. "Guys play tough throughout the season, but I think they step it up a notch in the tournament."

Several other players had a key role in the game, including Josh Harrelson who controlled the boards on both ends. However, the Wildcats are only going to go as far will take them and if Saturday was any indication the sky was the limit.

The victory was a big one for head coach John Calipari, who has struggled against West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins during his career. Saturday’s win was only the second in nine tries for Calipari versus his friendly foe.

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For the second straight year John Calipari got the best of Rick Pitino as the Kentucky Wildcats rolled past the Louisville Cardinals, 78-63.

Brandon Knight scored 25 points, the most by a UK freshman against Rex Chapman, and Josh Harrellson had a career day with 23 points and 14 boards in a spirited effort.

The Cardinals got out to a 12-6 lead to start the game before the Wildcats put together a 15-2 run and never looked back.

DeAndre Liggins scored two points on 1-for-7 shooting, but Calipari called him “the difference in the game” for his harassing defense on Preston Knowles and point guard Peyton Siva, who was 2 for 9 from the floor.

Conversely, the Cards’ defense was not able to slow UK. In fact Kentucky was the first team this season to have more assists (14) than turnovers (13) against Louisville.

Here’s the stat Kentucky fans can enjoy the most – Aside from his two wins versus the Billy Gillispie-led Wildcats, Pitino has dropped six of the last eight against his former team (0-2 vs. Calipari and 2-6 vs. Tubby Smith).

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