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In order to justify their disappointing regular season relative to their preseason ranking and top tier recruiting class, Kentucky needed to make a deep tournament run. Of course, they did. Anything else they accomplish is gravy.
College basketball is funny in that regular season success is maybe as equally as important as postseason success. But a program doesn't always need both; one can make up for some of the other. For teams entering the tournament in the top 10 or so, an Elite Eight finish is usually acceptable -- at least to their fan bases. Such is reality when your postseason is single-loss elimination and extremely difficult to win.
Kentucky earned their way to the Final Four by finally playing up to their billing and hitting a trove of big shots at the end of games. Wisconsin made it by maintaining their regular season pace, the first time they've been able to that for this long in the tournament in the Bo Ryan era.
It'll be interesting to watch how Wisconsin big man, Frank Kaminsky, performs against Kentucky's stout front line. Will Julius Randle be able to defend him around the three-point line? Against Arizona, the smooth but slow seven-footer was basically un-guardable. Plus, I didn't even think he was featured enough until the end, when several of his driving layups put Arizona away for good. Randle won't be as easily pushed around as Arizona's less physical (Aaron Gordon) and less mobile (Kaleb Tarczewski) big men.
Kentucky is too hot right now, and they have too many offensive weapons. I'll take them for the win.
