Shannon Sharpe dismisses Kentucky as NCAA Tournament contender, quotes Liam Neeson

On Monday, during an appearance on “First Take,” Jay Williams and Seth Greenberg both listed Kentucky in their Final Four predictions. Show host Shannon Sharpe didn’t hesitate to criticize the pair for their faith in the Wildcats.

“You remember that movie ‘Taken’ with Liam Neeson?” Sharpe said. “You remember when that guy took his daughter and [Neeson] said he was coming to find [him], the guy said ‘Good luck.’ Good luck with that Calipari pick.”

Despite rave success in the postseason during his early years at Kentucky, head coach John Calipari has recently failed to find wins in March. Kentucky has not made it past the Sweet 16 since 2018-19 season.

Last year, Kentucky fell in the Round of 32 to Kansas State. The year before, the ‘Cats suffered a jaw-dropping upset to No. 15 seed St. Peter’s. Now, UK again has a talented team with the potential to make a run in the tournament. However, not everybody is buying into the hype this time around.

Kentucky certainly didn’t silence any doubters in the SEC Tournament. The team fell in stunning 97-87 to Texas A&M in the quarterfinals. Nonetheless, the ‘Cats looked formidable in the days leading up to the event.

Kentucky entered the SEC Tournament on a five-game win streak. The streak included wins over No. 13 Alabama and No. 4 Tennessee in Thompson-Boling Arena. With a clear path to the top ahead of them, Calipari isn’t allowing outside noise to affect his team.

John Calipari is tuning out the noise

“I don’t feel that, come on now. Come on,” Calipari said. “I’ve done this how long? And what’s the worst that could happen? It’s already happened to me. What’s the worst? (Getting fired), that’s the worst. I’ve already been through that. This ain’t about me, this is about these kids. That’s the reason I try to take all the pressure off them. 

“If it were your child when we’re going into this or any other tournament, ‘We’ve got to win this, you’ve got to play your best.’ That’s how you want me to coach? Now there are people that can do that, ‘If they don’t do this or they don’t do that,’ they’re not fans of this program or these kids. What they’re trying to do is put more pressure on them so they don’t play well so they can double down on what they’ve said. I don’t buy into it.”

Kentucky will kick off its NCAA Tournament run on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. ET against No. 14 seed Oakland. The game will be broadcast on CBS.