Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Who Can Beat Kentucky Edition

Now that Kentucky has been selected as the #1 overall seed in perhaps the least surprising NCAA selection in history and they are reckoned an even-money favorite to win it all, it's going to be "Who can beat Kentucky? ___ (Your favorite prayer here) can!" 24/7 for the next three weeks.

Tweet of the Morning

"We all forgot" - John Calipari on why Kentucky did not cut down nets after winning SEC Tournament. pic.twitter.com/oNfXNm5VV3

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 15, 2015

Heh.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky basketball

• Kentucky is the #1 overall seed to absolutely nobody's surprise. UK is the 19th team to enter the tournament undefeated.

• Watching the draw from Coach Cal's house. Willie's reaction was pretty much like mine.

  Gallery: Top seed Kentucky watches the NCAA draw at Calipari's house. http://t.co/LlQBORF0f8 pic.twitter.com/mTolj7FNI8

  — heraldleader (@heraldleader) March 16, 2015

  More from Ben Roberts here. I barely paid attention to the selection show.

• Assessing the biggest threats to Kentucky. In my view, there is only one; Kentucky. Complacency and/or lack of intensity is just about all that is going to derail the Wildcats.

• John Clay is right — it's 40-0 or bust for Kentucky.

• What Calipari said after the NCAA Tournament selection show.

• Calipari has no complaints with Kentucky's bracket this time. Yeah, that was one low-stress selection show.

• Expect a lot of trolling from guys like Jeff Goodman trying to draw eyeballs from Kentucky fans.

  I don't think we will care RT @GoodmanESPN: Kentucky fans, I don't think you guys are gonna like my Final Four and national champion picks

  — Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) March 16, 2015

  What a "maroon," as Bugs Bunny might say. Here's a tart response:

  @KySportsRadio @ASeaOfBlue @GoodmanESPN it will probably be as spot on as this assessment. pic.twitter.com/WypBuBkWs5

  — Jeff (@J_Larosa024) March 16, 2015

• John Calipari is building a basketball empire at Kentucky. Wrong tense. Should be, "Has built," but even that is wrong. Kentucky was a basketball empire long before Calipari came. Just ask Rick Pitino.

  If Kentucky finishes 40-0 and Calipari cuts down the nets for the second time in his career, there will no denying that he is one of the top coaches in the sport even if some still view him as more of a great recruiter.

  This is one of the stupidest statements I have ever read. Even if UK crashes and burns in the sweet sixteen, he's already one of the top coaches in the sport.

• Some risible talk that Maryland is a team that can beat Kentucky. No, they really can't, not unless Kentucky gives them a lot of help. That might happen, but all these supposed match-up problems for Kentucky are just a failure to understand Willie Cauley-Stein. There is no such thing as a match-up problem when you have him.

Other Kentucky sports

• Women's track and field finish fifth at NCAA's

• Softball takes the broom to the Ohio Bobcats this weekend.

• South Carolina takes the broom to the Bat Cats. Win some, lose some.

Links posts

• The Leach Report: Monday Wildcat Links

College football

• Really, Jim Harbaugh?

College basketball

• Heh. Awesome.

  Here is @Grantland33 Most Hate College Basketball Player Bracket that inspired the film. http://t.co/CoF0OLy8Ue pic.twitter.com/EUDLF8xhoD

  — ESPN Films 30 for 30 (@30for30) March 16, 2015

• Am I wrong to hate emojis? I don't care, I do.

• In case you missed it, here is the TV schedule for the first four days of the NCAA Tournament.

• Midwest region preview from SI.

• NCAA Selection Committee chair Scott Barnes answers questions about the selections. Let me sum it up for you in a few words:

  • "Policies and procedures"
  • "Eye test"
  • "Tough decision"
  • "Definitely discussed"
  • "Principles and procedures"

  Get the picture? There, saved you a click.

• Apparently, the "I hate Christian Laettner" thing was pretty good.

  Alonzo Mourning made me a better basketball player from the age of 15 on... #IHateChristianLaettner #5star #garf

  — Christian Laettner (@laettnerbball) March 16, 2015

  Well, I don't hate Christian Laettner and haven't for at least 15 years. If I was going to hate anyone 22 years after the fact, it would be the official who didn't give him the heave-ho for a flagrant contact technical foul. The game still stirs my emotions, but "hate" isn't among them. I do occasionally have daydreams of Aminu Timberlake popping up off the floor and giving him a punch in the nose, which Laettner richly deserved. In any case, Laettner has officially apologized at long last. Better tlate than never, I guess.

  Having said all that, college basketball would be robbed of one of it's most iconic moments (yes, I know it's treasonous to point that out) if he had been ejected. If Kentucky won that game by five in regulation, nobody would remember it today and Christian Laettner would be just another great former player. I think UK fans should take a measure of pride in being part of that, even if it stings a little.

• NIT bracket:

  NIT bracket 2015: Temple, Colorado State among 1 seeds: http://t.co/3Qi8Q6cD18 pic.twitter.com/vF1jmKZIPg

  — SB Nation CBB (@SBNationCBB) March 16, 2015

  Remember when? Don't lie.

• The Courier-Journal picks its most underseeded/overseeeded teams. It's pretty unanimous that UCLA should've been an NIT team. I certainly think they should've.

• Anthony Grant has been fired at Alabama. Didn't win enough.

• Midwest bracket analysis from NBC.

Other sports news

• This is one hell of a story, and a cautionary tale to those of you engaged in running office pools. No, it isn't likely to happen to you, but the theoretical possibility exists, particularly if there is significant money involved.

• Wow, Anthony Davis. You are really not bad at basketball. He came close to a quadruple-double.

Other news

• The scary health effects of flying. DVT is a legitimate concern, and you really do need to move around on longer flights.

• New theory on the origin of Stonehenge.

• The physics of jumping popcorn.