Kentucky's message ahead of March Madness: "Enjoy the ride."

TAM-278595 — Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

It’s like Christmas Eve for basketball fans across the nation, but particularly in the Commonwealth. March Madness is the best, most chaotic postseason in sports, and Kentucky gets to tip it all off on Thursday with the prime time CBS matchup to anchor the evening — a must-see product gets the best TV draw, right?

But this is bigger than the day, week and month overall. This is about this journey coming to an unfortunate close, no matter when it happens. It’s had its ups and downs, certainly, but no one can deny it’s been an absolute blast from start to finish. And now, the next one is no longer promised. Only the now and today.

So before March officially tips off for the Wildcats, the players have a message for Big Blue Nation: enjoy it.

Enjoy the ride with them and what it took to get here, every individual personality and talent. They’ve had fun every step along the way, just as they will in this tournament. And so should you, hopefully with all of it ending in Phoenix.

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“It all started with a dream. A dream of playing on the biggest stage, playing for the Big Blue Nation and playing for Kentucky,” the players said in a joint message to BBN. “It’s been a long road to get here with all we’ve endured and all we’ve learned. It’s only brought us closer. It only made us stronger. This is the beginning of the end, the end of our journey.

“There won’t ever be another team like us. So we’re going to enjoy the ride, and so should you. One last ride with this team. And one last ride for you, Kentucky.”