Kentucky Loses in First Round of NIT, Obama Picks Indiana for the Win

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

For the Kentucky Wildcats (21-12) with their disappointing season, the nail in the coffin came on Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT with their 59-57 loss to Robert Morris College. With only 8.7 seconds left, Mike McFadden nailed two free throws and defeated 2012’s national champions.

Maybe the team’s fate was already set as they had to play on Robert Morris’ home court since its Rupp Arena was already taken for the upcoming NCAA tournament. Not helping matters was the fact that Kentucky coach John Calipari grew up near the campus.

Kentucky coach John Calipari

He said of the loss via CBS Sports,”This is humbling. They think we’re supposed to win 30 a year, 35 a year, go to the Final Four, win a national title.”

The Wildcats imploded this season after star center Nerlens Noel injured his knee in mid-February. The team wasn’t the same and in its last 10 games, they lost six of them. Seen as a bubble team, they lost last Friday in the SEC Conference tournament to Vanderbilt, 64-48.

This popped the bubble and after grabbing the No. 1 NIT seed, expectations rose for the team but it didn’t turn out as planned.

This season represented the worst one in Calipari’s four years at Kentucky’s helm.

Looking ahead to next season, the coach will rebuild his team as well as keep some holdovers. Noels will enter the draft–possibly as a Top 5 pick–along with Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin also headed to the league.

Calipari already has a top 2013 recruiting class and two of the nation’s top players including Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle have Kentucky as one of their final contenders.

For college basketball fans in the state of Kentucky, there’s still No. 1 seed Louisville in the Big Dance. A top seed against the No. 16 doesn’t go down in the first round but the Cardinals have 4 to 1 odds to be the first top seed to be eliminated.

Kansas sits at  2/3, Gonzaga at 2/1 and Indiana at 5/1.

Obama Makes His Picks

Hoosiers Center Cody Zeller

Putting politics aside, top sports fan President Barack Obama for the fifth straight time filled out his tournament brackets. According to ESPN, he has Louisville, Indiana, Ohio State and Florida in the Final Four.

I don’t agree with his picks but #1 Louisville is 19 to 4, #1 Indiana is 5 to 1, #3 Florida is 7 to 1 and #2 Ohio State is 16 to 1 to win it all.

Obama’s final two? Louisville vs. Indiana. He said on ESPN Wednesday morning, “I’m going with Louisville. I know it’s not a surprise pick. And I’m going with Indiana . These are the two best teams right now, and for the championship I’m going back to the Big Ten. I think this is Indiana’s year.”

History is on his side as he picked Ohio State and Kentucky for last year’s Final Four but as for his top 2012 pick, North Carolina, its tournament run ended at the Elite Eight.

For this year, the #8 Tar Heels are 60 to 1 for the Championship win.

And on a final note with one day to go before picks are due, here’s one story line that may having you saying, “Hmm..who knew?”

Over in the Mountain West, it has had zero Elite Eight appearance since its 1999 inauguration. This year it has five tourney bids or one more than the ACC.

Pretty good for a conference that has nine teams vs. the ACC’s 12.  For most of this year’s season, the MWC had either a No. 1 or No. 2  for RPI.

The teams (with their respective seeds) include #3 New Mexico (25 to 1), #5 UNLV (60 to 1),  #7 San Diego State (100 to 1), #8 Colorado State (200 to 1) and Boise State (500 to 1), who plays on Wednesday against LaSalle. This winner goes to the 64-team bracket.

For New Mexico as a third seed, it has a +400 yes vs. -700 no to win the Big Dance.