Tyler Spanyer
More by Tyler Spanyer
 The Cats Are Going For Number Nine!4/15/2012 |
Fresh off our eighth national title Kentucky fans didn’t take long to wonder, “Repeat?” In a time when programs have to replace players on a yearly basis because of the one-and-done rule this feat becomes seemingly impossible, but we here at Kentucky have one thing no other school in the country has, John Calipari. Calipari has always been known as one of the elite recruiters in the country bringing in the best talent out of every class, and them sending them off to the NBA. This upcoming year is no different as Calipari is bringing in his 4th straight #1 ranked recruiting class thanks to the latest signees. |
 UK vs. IU Game Preview3/23/2012 |
It was a cold December night and one word rang out over everything else, “UNBELIVEABLE…!!!!” That was ESPN announcer Dick Vitale reacting to Christian Watford’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer that lifted the Indiana Hoosiers to an upset over the then #1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Since that moment the Big Blue Nation, along with the rest of the country, has not been given a chance to forget that shot. Between commercials and the never-ending highlight reel that seems to occur after every UK game, the images, sounds and emotions from that night have been running hot in our blood for almost four months. On March 11, when the NCAA Selection Committee released the Men’s Championship Bracket, UK fans were salivating at the road ahead. A possible meeting with UCONN, IU and Duke dubbed our Road to The Final Four, “Redemption Road.” Like many UK fans, my eyes were not immediately drawn to the Hoosiers, but toward Duke and a chance to avenge another guy named Christian and his last second shot. Now the road seems to have cleared for the Wildcats with Indiana standing in the way of Kentucky’s 33rd trip to the Elite 8 and a chance to advance to the programs 15th Final Four. Indiana and Kentucky are two of the “blue-bloods” of the college basketball world. With legendary coaches such as Bob Knight and Adolph Rupp, the two programs have very proud traditions. Kentucky ranks #1 on the overall wins list with Indiana at #4, and Kentucky is just above Indiana in National Titles with seven to Indiana’s five. Indiana is best known for the 1976 team, which was their last team to go undefeated and win the national title. Kentucky is widely regarded as the winningest program in college basketball history, and has a very storied tradition. |
 Bracketology 1013/10/2012 |
It was 1939 when the term “March Madness” was coined by H. V. Porter of the Illinois High School Association. He was referring to the Illinois State Basketball Tournament, but the term soon resonated throughout the country as a great adjective for the NCAA Tournament. In that same year (1939) the National Association of Basketball Coaches created the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship in which, at the time, eight teams would compete in a single elimination tournament to determine the National Champion. Since then the tournament has grown into one of the more popular sports events in the United States. Last year the tournament expanded for only the eight time in history to include 68 teams in the tournament. Of the 68 teams that qualify for the “big dance,” 31 teams earn automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The remaining 37 are given out by the Selection Committee to the “best of the rest”. The Selection Committee also determines the seeding and placement of all the teams in the bracket. The bracket is broken down into four regions, usually named West, East, North and South. In each region there are 16 teams seeded 1 - 16. The matchups are assigned as most tournaments are, with the highest seed playing the lowest and so on. Since this format was created in 1985, no 16 seed has ever beaten a one seed, however #16 Murray State took #1 Michigan State to overtime in 1990, losing by four points. Some more history about the seeding is as follows: |
 History of the SEC2/14/2012 |
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has always been known for its prestige in athletics, but a lot of us don’t know when or how the SEC started. The SEC was established in December of 1932 and included 13 original members: University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, Louisiana-State University (LSU), University of Mississippi (“Ole Miss”), Mississippi State University, University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University, University of the South (Sewanee), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and Tulane University. Of these 13 the first 10 are still current members of the SEC. Throughout the years the SEC has gone through expansions and teams leaving the conference. Sewanee was the first to leave when in 1940 when they decided to lessen their emphasis on varsity sports and concentrate on academics. In 1964 Georgia Tech left, and ended up settling in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1978. Tulane left the SEC in 1966, and contributed to the founding of Conference-USA. In the year 1991 the SEC expanded for the first time adding the University of Arkansas and University of South Carolina to their ranks. Another major thing that came out of the 1991 expansion was the creation of an East and West conference. The only other time members have been added to the conference was in the fall of 2011 when the SEC announced that, effective July 1, 2012, Texas A&M University and Missouri will become full members of the conference. The SEC’s strong history and tradition of excellence is displayed by how only four teams have been added to the conference in 80 years. |
