Let The Fun Begin

Twenty-nine years ago, Kentucky and Louisville met in the Elite Eight, ending a twenty-four year stretch of not playing each other and launching what could be college basketball's best rivalry.  And while the 1983 matchup was dubbed "The Dream Game", this rematch in New Orleans in many ways is The Fantasy Game.  Especially if you look at where these two clubs were just three weeks ago.  While Kentucky was getting set for a trip to New Orleans as the only undefeated team in the SEC, Louisville was packing their bags for New York as a battered and beaten team that had lost four of six games and seemed to check out emotionally and mentally.  Peyton Siva was in the middle of an emotional roller coaster only a teenage girl could appreciate, Kyle Kuric looked lost, Gorgui Dieng was a mess and Chane Behanan was just Chane Behanan.  In fact, the biggest story surrounding the team as they entered the Big East Tournament was that Jared Swopshire would be forced to transfer at the end of the year. But then a weird thing happened.  The Cards started winning.  It could have been the crossing guard uniforms or it could have been that Ace Weekly's "Passion Of The Pitino" cartoon wasn't satire, but a work of non-fiction.  Whatever it was, the Cards finally started clicking in the Big East Tournament and charged to the conference title before earning a four-seed and then making a run to the Final Four.  Sound familiar?  It was a run eerily similar to last year's version of the Cats, who also struggled, though not as bad, in conference play before hitting their stride in Atlanta in the SEC Tournament and then advancing to the Final Four as a four-seed.  But, unlike last year's Kentucky team, the Cards have a seemingly insurmountable force awaiting them in New Orleans. But that hasn't stopped the Cards from talking.  They're talking a lot.  Just minutes after they clinched their trip to the Final Four and a full 24 hours before UK would get the chance to do the same, the Cards were already popping off about wanting to see the Cats again in New Orleans.  Chris Smith said they owe Kentucky something and Chane Behanan, after thanking his mom and dad for giving birth to him, said he expects the biggest game in college basketball history.  It's a complete one-eighty from where they were emotionally as a team just eight games ago.  They look loose, confident, almost giddy in calling out the top seed in the tournament.  And why wouldn't they?  They've got nothing to lose at this point and they've already done everything we thought they couldn't.  Their mere presence in New Orleans is accomplishment enough and while people probably won't go running for the bridges if the Cards prevail Saturday like Rick Pitino predicted, there's no question that the pressure exists squarely on the shoulders of the team in the blue and white. But that's just the way the Cats like it.  Kentucky has played with a target on their back if not from the outset of the season, then certainly after they beat North Carolina at Rupp on December 3.  They're the nation's most talented team with the most outspoken and passionate fanbase and the hottest coach on planet Earth.  Though no one has really said it since Anthony Davis told everyone who would listen in the offseason, the goal is not the Final Four.  It's a national championship.  There's tons of pressure on these Cats to bring home number 8 and a matchup with Louisville doesn't make that spotlight burn any hotter.  At least not to the guys in that locker room. That's because this team seems to be completely impervious to pressure.  It simply doesn't exist in their mind - or at least that's how they play.  At no point this season has anything changed for them in terms of how they go about their business.  When they traveled to play Kansas at Madison Square Garden, they just played basketball.  When the preseason number one Tar Heels came to Rupp, they just played basketball.  After they lost to Indiana, when they played Louisville for the first time in history while they were both in the top-five, when they were down by double digits at the half in Starkville, when they got another shot at the Hoosiers in the Sweet 16, nothing changed.  They just played basketball.  And that's one of the many things that make them such a special group.  They know they're the better team and they don't have to do anything besides play their game to survive and advance.  Louisville can talk all they want and we can talk all we want and it's not going to make the slightest difference to Kentucky.  They came to win a title and if you put the Miami Heat on the floor, they're not going to change a thing.  That's just part of being The Machine. And that's why this week is going to be so much fun.  Because no matter what is said between now and then on message boards or on national websites,nothing about the game will change.  Saturday's contest is about Kentucky and Louisville, but the days leading up to it are all about us.  This is our ride too.  So as your emotions go from excitement to panic to anticipation to all-out pandemonium, celebrate the ride and appreciate the way the brackets filled out.  If you're the fan that's going to spend the week sick to your stomach that the UK's magical season could end to the Cards, be mindful that the passion that makes this rivalry so great is why you feel that way and hold your head high.  If you're the fan that prayed for a shot at Rick Pitino in the Final Four because you know the Cats are going to roll, party like it's 1996 again and wear your blue with pride.  This is our week.  Blue and white and red and black.  We're approaching a Final Four that's as anticipated nationally as any final weekend as I can remember and a lot of that has to do with the two teams that make their home here in the Commonwealth.  And for a state that's often overlooked in every aspect of national discussion, the opportunity to show the world why we love this place so much should be cherished and celebrated.  Whether you live in the state or moved away or only lived here during college, you still feel the beat of the Bluegrass in your heart.  It's a feeling that we've all tried to explain - the passion of the people, the beauty of the lifestyle, the common bond we all share - but often struggle to put into words.  And most of the time, the rest of the world just doesn't seem to care.  Thanks to the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals, that changes for the next six days.  Make no mistake about it, the eyes of the world are on Kentucky this week.  Let's give them one hell of a show. And then let's beat the Cards.