By Myron Medcalf
ESPN.com
The trumpets, trombones and saxophones of Southern jazz artists will wail on French Quarter street corners as college basketball fans convene in New Orleans next month for the Final Four. Lobster, crab, scallops and an ocean of seafood delicacies will satisfy their appetites. An abundance of Big Easy nightspots will lubricate their inhibitions.
They will bring fattened wallets to a city that desperately needs the economic boost. They will cheer for their favorite teams and boo the rivals they abhor.
KentuckyDon McPeak/US PresswireKentucky's effort at Vanderbilt continued to elevate the Wildcats over other contenders.
And they will seek
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's autograph. They will measure their arms against
Anthony Davis' uncanny wingspan. They will wonder how John Calipari's hair does that.
College basketball history suggests that premature predictions about the Final Four -- especially four weeks prior to Selection Sunday -- often end with embarrassment.
We never saw UConn coming last year. We didn't think VCU belonged in the field. And who really believed in Butler entering last season's NCAA tournament?
But there's no denying Kentucky's current standing as the front-runner for this season's national championship. And until there's a reason to think otherwise, I will assume that Kentucky will wind up in New Orleans for the season's final chapter.
Perhaps the Wildcats will suffer an early, unexpected loss in March Madness. Maybe their youth will suddenly become a burden.
But their valiant effort at Vanderbilt on Saturday night -- and so many before that performance -- continued to elevate them above the nation's other contenders.
It could've easily fallen apart. They'd squandered a lead against a savvy assembly of veterans. The past four No. 1s that traveled to Nashville's Memorial Gymnasium had lost and you could just feel Memorial Magic taking over as Vandy overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to take a four-point lead.
But the Wildcats snapped that streak, not with brilliance but with relentlessness.
They'd finally encountered the "challenge" Calipari said he craved after his team made No. 7 Florida look like a prep squad Tuesday. And again, they came away with a victory.
On a night when Kidd-Gilchrist suffered from foul trouble and scored just four points. On a night when the entire team made just 3 of 14 3-pointers. On a night when Vanderbilt suddenly hit a string of second-half 3s. Kentucky still prevailed 69-63.
No, Vanderbilt isn't the national title contender many assumed it would be before the season began. And the Commodores' spotty defense (the Wildcats had a 13-point edge at halftime after shooting 53 percent from the field) has proved problematic all season.
But against UK, the Commodores put themselves in a position to prevail over one of the best teams we've seen in the one-and-done era.
Kentucky, however, just found a way. The Wildcats, now 11-0 in the SEC and winners of 17 straight, usually do.
Four players, led by
Doron Lamb's 16 points, recorded double figures. The Cats held Vanderbilt to a 28 percent shooting clip in the first half.
It helped to have the national/defensive player of the year on their roster.
Thomas Robinson is a great collegiate player. But Davis literally changes games
To read the rest of Medcalf's column, visit the Nation blog.