In an announcement that came as no surprise, five underclassmen for the National Champion Kentucky Wildcats declared themselves eligible for the NBA Draft at a press conference in Lexington on Saturday.

Anthony Davis, who many project to be the top pick in the summer’s draft, and classmates Michael-Kidd Gilchrist (projected 3rd overall by NBADraft.net) and Marquise Teague (27th) will join sophomores Terrence Jones (20th) and Doron Lamb (18th) as Wildcats to leave early. Senior Darius Miller (35th) is also expected to be amongst those college players selected.

"If you give up some of your game, you're still going to benefit," head coach John Calipair said. "Can you be about your teammates rather than yourself? That's the lesson (of the 2011-12 season). It can be done."

COMPLETE NBA MOCK DRAFT

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At Kentucky head coach John Calipari doesn't rebuild he reloads. With many key players from this year's National Championship likely heading to the NBA the Wildcats will have to turn the next crop of freshman studs to field a Final Four team for the third time in four years.

Leading that class will be Nerlens Noel, the top ranked player in the country by Rivals.com. The nation's top player committed to Kentucky on Wednesday. His decision puts Kentucky having the top ranked recruiting class for the fourth straight year.

The 6-foot-11 shot blocker will look to take over for Anthony Davis, who was named at the National Player of the Year and is projected to be the No. 1 pick in this summer's NBA Draft.

College Hoops kentucky wildcats, nerlens noel

It's way too early for college basketball rankings with so much undecided upon. That didn't stop CBSSports.com from trying...

1. KENTUCKY
Last season: 38-2 (won the national title)
Notable players definitely gone: Darius Miller, Eloy Vargas
Others expected to leave: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb
Notable players expected to return: Kyle Wiltjer
Notable newcomers: Ryan Harrow (N.C. State), Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley
Other likely newcomers: Nerlens Noel, Shabazz Muhammad, Anthony Bennett

OTHER LOCAL TEAMS
2. Indiana
3. Louisville
24. Ohio State
26. Murray State

COMPLETE RANKINGS

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Here's some great stuff from the Kentucky Wildcats arrival back to Rupp Arena as champs...

PHOTO GALLERY (Kentucky.com)

College Hoops kentucky wildcats, uk, 2012, rupp arena

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)

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With a day to let all the great hoops sink in, here are some of my final thoughts on the Final Four:

KENTUCKY
--The team hit buckets when they needed too, finishing the game with a 57 percent field-goal percentage.  The last team to shoot that good in a Final Four game was Syracuse in their 2003 win over Texas on their way to a National Championship.

--Anthony Davis scored 18 points to go along with 14 boards and five rebounds. The last player to get double-digit totals in points and rebounds with at least five blocks in a game was Kevin Durant for Texas in 2007.

--Despite having Michael Kidd-Gilchrist sit for 17 minutes of the game due to foul trouble the Wildcats prevailed. Much of the credit needs to go to senior Darius Miller, who finished with 13 points and several big plays in his 27 minutes.

--You have to like the way the Wildcats responded after the Cardinals tied the game at 49 as they answered with a 9-1 run to put the game away.

--Normally a strong free-throw shooting team, the Wildcats knocked down just 11-of-20 (55%) free-throw attempts. That could come back to bite them if not corrected on Monday.

LOUISVILLE
--Rick Pitino had the right game plan but not enough horses. Still, with most of the roster intact next season the future is bright.

--The Cardinals dominated the glass with 19 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance field goal attempts, but they were just 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) on second-chance opportunities.  Louisville missed too many easy shots all night long (16 layups/dunks).

KANSAS
--The Jayhawks won this game in the paint outscoring the Buckeyes 32-16 inside. Kansas blocked eight Ohio State shots inside the paint, including five taken by big man Jared Sullinger.

--Kansas is a comeback team, but keeps squeaking it out down the stretch. They outscored Ohio State 13-7 in the final five minutes of the game Saturday. The Buckeyes shot 2-of-10 during this stretch. For the tournament the Jayhaws have held opponents 19.5 percent shooting during the game’s final five minutes.

OHIO STATE
--The Buckeyes built a 13-point, first-half lead and took a 34-25 cushion into the locker room. However, Thad Matta got outcoached in the second half as Bill Self made the adjustments necessary and Matta failed to respond in time.

--Jared Sullinger scored just 13 points and hit just 5-of-19 shots on the game. It was a disappointing finish to the sophomore who returned this season to take care of unfinished business.

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Like Mike, if I could be like Mike (Kidd-Gilchrist)...

College Hoops kentucky wildcats, uk, michael kidd-gilchrist

Thinking about heading to New Orleans for the Final Four this weekend? Get ready to shell out some bucks...

• The average price for the Final Four semifinal games on Saturday currently is $714.57.
 
• The average semifinals price represents a 112.2 percent increase from last year’s Final Four semifinals.
 
• The average price for the Final Four double header has increased 42.54 percent since Saturday morning, when it was $501.32.
 
• The most expensive ticket for the Final Four semifinal games is more than $7,900 (in the Plaza premium section).
 
• The current average price for the national championship game is $390.70.
 
• The championship game average is a 55.35 percent increase from last year’s Final Four.
 
• The most expensive ticket for the championship game is more than $5,400 (Center Court, row 6).

*data from Chris Matcovich, director of data and communications for TiqIQ

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Check out some of these interesting Final Four stats from DonPom.com...

Best offensive team: Kentucky (123.1 AdjOff Rating)
 
Best defensive team: Louisville (84 AdjDef Rating)
 
Worst offense: Louisville (105.1 AdjOff Rating)
 
Worst defense: Kentucky (88.6 AdjDef Rating)

Biggest ballhog: Louisville's Russ Smith (33% usage rate, 35.8% PctShots)
 
Best long range bomber: Kentucky's Doron Lamb (47.1%)
 
Best offensive rebounder: Louisville's, Chane Behanan (12.8%)
 
Best defensive rebounder: Kansas's Thomas Robinson (30.9%)
 
Best shot blocker: Kansas's Jeff Withey (15.1%)
 
Best assist rate: Louisville's Peyton Siva (35.9%)
 
Most experienced team: Kansas (2.18 yrs)
 
Least experienced team: Kentucky (.77 years)
 
Tallest team: Kentucky (+3.8 effective height)
 
Shortest: Louisville (+.2)
 
706: driving distance, in miles, from Louisville to New Orleans, the shortest trip among the four schools.
 
913: driving distance from Columbus, Ohio to New Orleans, the longest trip.
 
49: total number of final four appearances for the four schools in this year's final four
 
53: The highest totals (using current totals), shared by 2008 (Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis) and 1993 (Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Kentucky)
 
1: Number of players who have the chance to win a second national title (Kansas's Conner Teahan)

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

Kentucky's John Calipari

Louisville's Rick Pitino

COMPLETE ARTILCE (VegasInsider.com)

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