Run the Table???

Well, for those of you who didn't like The Maniac's stray away from hoops and (percieved) slight of the Colts' and their "intestinal fortitude" pulling their starters two weeks ago...here's another jab.

Should the opportunity arise for any collegiate team to run the table, you better believe they'll embrace it. Especially if the man in the position to do is Coach Cal and the Big Blue. And they actually could be.

Admittedly, this article is very premature and given our proclivity for cursing unsuspecting teams, possibly unwarranted; but it is time to address the possibility of Kentucky legitimately running the table heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Do I think they are the best team in the country? No. After watching every top team play the past few weeks they will likely be no higher than 3rd in Friday's Bracketeering (possibly fourth). For giggles though, take a look at the schedule IF they win at Gainesville this weekend...

@ Auburn, Arkansas, @South Carolina, Vandy at home, Mississippi at home, @LSU, Bama at home, Tennessee (they wear orange for a reason!! Zing! First of any well-deserved "inmate" cracks). And we'll pause there for now.

At South Carolina could be tricky, though I think the Gamecocks were over rated coming into 2009 and will miss the tourney again this year. Mississippi is the second best team in the SEC, but UK plays them only once and the game is at Rupp. 'Bama has some athletes, but do you really see that team winning in Rupp? And that brings us to Tennessee, the former leading challenger to Kentucky's dominance this season. What a bizarre and frankly scary situation (if you don't know, click here). It also makes the end of the year's trip to Knoxville a little less daunting.

Does it seem reasonable they are still unbeaten at this point? They will certainly be favored in every one of those games. Let's continue:

@ Mississippi St, @ Vandy.

Easily the toughest stretch of the season. Mississippi State has a good ballclub, good size and interior defense anchored by Varnado and his 4+ blocks per game. Vanderbilt is always a tough place to play, if for no other reason than the wacky sightlines playing on the elevated court with what feels like ten times more empty, unoccupied space around the edge of the floor than in a normal setting.

Should they survive that stretch, they close with: South Carolina (home), @ Tennessee, @ Georgia and home for F-L-O-R-IDA! I liked Billy Donovan's team a lot more before I watched them play NC State, Richmond and South Alabama. They beat Michigan State early and Florida State. The last month? They just really aren't that good.

Now - I wouldn't wager on any team running the table in 2010. No one has done it in 35 years, and for good reason. Not UNLV in 1990. Not UNC last year. And no one this year is even close to as good as either of those two teams. In conference play, anything can happen and parity reigns supreme.

However, I wanted to be the first, on record, to feed the Big Blue hype machine and lay out the potential. It is there.

Should it ever get to that point, let's hope Cal doesn't pull John Wall with 11 minutes to go in a tie game....

Nobody's done it since the Hoosiers...

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