After handling Florida in Gainesville on Sunday, the question for Kentucky isn't whether or not the Wildcats will secure the top overall seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament so much as what it would take for them to not sit atop the heap when March Madness gets going later this month.
After all, the Gators are no slouches—they came into the weekend as the 13th-ranked team in the country, with blue chippers like Patric Young, Bradley Beal and Kenny Boynton on the roster—but they were handled by Big Blue in their own building 74-59.
Because, well, UK is just that good. Anthony Davis put forth yet another Player-of-the-Year-caliber performance with 22 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks.
Or, as the 'Cats might call it, just another day at the office.
Not that Terrence Jones (19 points, four rebounds, three blocks) and Marquis Teague (12 points, four assists) didn't contribute much to the cause.
The point is, at 30-1 overall (the most wins in school history) and a perfect 16-0 in the SEC (the third time Kentucky has gone unblemished in conference play), John Calipari's Wildcats don't need to win the league tournament in New Orleans this week to ensure a place on the selection committee's top line.
That's not to say UK won't run the table in the Big Easy anyway. The SEC is hardly the nation's toughest conference, and seeing as how Kentucky has handled every one of those opponents so well along the way, what's there to suggest that they won't continue to do so for one more week?
Freshman jitters? Try telling that to Coach Cal's "Diaper Dandies" after the way they stomped the Gators in the Swamp.
A lack of experience? You'd have trouble getting consensus on that from Darius Miller, Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones, all of whom played crucial roles in getting Big Blue to last year's Final Four.
No motivation? Ask Coach Cal about that, who told reporters after Sunday's game:
I told them prior to the game, 'Look, bottom line is if we lose we're still a one seed. It doesn't change our seeding. It doesn't do anything. But it's about pride,' ...That was the message prior to the game: just go have pride and play.
If pride was enough to get Kentucky moving toward a 15-point win on the road over a ranked opponent, just imagine how well those kids will play with the conference championship—or, later on, the national championship—on the line.
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