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John Calipari isn’t afraid to voice his thoughts.
That was clear Monday when he had one of the crazier statements made during his time in Lexington, stating that he felt better about this 26-5 UK team than he did of his 2014-15 team that entered the NCAA Tournament with a 34-0 record.
Cal on his show: "I'm in a better frame of mind than I was with the 34-0 team (heading into the tourney). I don't know what that means."
— Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) March 6, 2017
And the rest of the Big Blue Nation after hearing that:
Cal went full-blown Pitino saying he is in better frame of mind than with his undefeated team.
— Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) March 6, 2017
The only thing I can think of that would make Calipari actually feel better about this team than the one that ended up going 38-1 is that there are no elite teams this year, whereas there were 4-6 of those in 2014-15.
One of those was Wisconsin, who ultimately knocked off the Cats, but this year, there’s no team that measures up to that Badgers squad.
Heck, I’d put that 2014-15 season’s Wisconsin, Duke, Arizona, Virginia, Notre Dame and Gonzaga team ahead of anyone this season. This just isn’t a good year for elite teams, so maybe Calipari just isn’t afraid of anyone right now like he was that year when he saw teams like Notre Dame, Duke and Wisconsin standing between them and a national title.
There’s no question this Kentucky team isn’t as good as that 2014-15 squad was, but this team won’t face nearly as daunting of a path to the title as that 38-win team did. That’s about the only way I can explain what Calipari just said, or he’s been hanging out with Rick Pitino too much.