NCAA Finals 2014: Kentucky NOT A Surprise Finalist! Wildcats Were Pre-Season No.1 With The Best Recruiting Class In College Basketball History!
The NCAA Tournament boiled down to a 'surprise' Finals match-up between 8th seeded Kentucky and 7th seeded Connecticut. The idea of Kentucky in the Finals was not so farfetched when the season opened.
Kentucky, coached by master recruiter John Calipari had the best recruiting class of all time. USA Today recounts Dick Vitale, Hall of Fame basketball analyst, and his assessment of the Kentucky recruiting class before the season started:
"No doubt in my mind, this will be the best class ever assembled. Now, whether they blend and bond together like Kentucky's 2012 team, only time will tell. I personally think they will. Last year was a blip. This is going to be a special Kentucky team. Anything less (than a national championship) for this team would be a huge disappointment,"
Well, now they are in the national championship game. Where's the surprise?
Sports Illustrated points out that the 'surprise' was the Wildcats dismal season: "It's not crazy that those teams arrived here. But it is crazy how their respective seasons and this 2014 tournament unfolded. That's the thing: We got an expected matchup when we least expected it."
The Wildcats' inconsistency resulted in their low seed (8th) in the Midwest region which was considered the 'group of death' with three teams out of last year's Final Four: Wichita State, Michigan and defending champion Louisville. Kentucky disposed all three of those teams!
That group also had Duke, bannered by Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood, but they had another unceremonious early exit in the first round. The tournament itself has been criticized for not having the best team as the champion. The 'Cinderella' stories of upsets against powerhouse programs like Duke highlight the good and the bad of March Madness-a weak team can go all the way.
But Kentucky is not a weak team. They have five MCDonald's All American players from their freshmen, who joined a team with Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress, holdovers from last year's top recruiting class.
What it does show is the flaws of the Selection Committee. Coach John Calipari, who was not all surprised with his team's achievement, simply said: "I don't think we were an eight seed" when asked about the 'surprise' finals appearance.
