A FEW MO' THINGS, 4/2/12
Your move, Time Warner.

Really excited for tonight's national title game.  So many questions about the sport's best two players going head to head, about the Calipari/Self title game rematch, and how about how much of an upset a Kansas win would be from a historical perspective. (They're debating whether a Jayhawk win would be comparable to Villanova upsetting Georgetown in 1985.  Let me help them with this: it'd be a massive upset, but it wouldn't be close.)

If Kentucky wins (and tonight done have the feeling of a Wildcat coronation), we'll have more questions: Where does this UK team fit in historically?  Will more coaches embrace and adopt John Calipari's philosophies given the concrete proof that you can win a title with them?  Would a title thrust Cal into elite coach pantheon if he's not already there?  And can this year's Wildcat team the most enjoyable college basketball team to watch over the last 15-20 years?

(Photo courtesy of the AP)

More than anything though, the main question this morning is how tonight's result affects plans for more "fan" rioting in Lexington.  This after a solid effort on Saturday night.

It's more than unfair to paint a fan base with a broad brush when you see images like this, I doubt some of these people are really that interested in the Wildcats in the first place.  I know more than a few Kentucky fans, most of my family is populated by them, and I haven't heard of any of them flipping over cars and burning stuff on Saturday night.  But the unfortunate thing about the idiots rioting when a team wins is that their behavior often overshadows the actual accomplishments of the team.  Instead of talking about UK's hard-fought semifinal win over Louisville yesterday morning, most of the country was discussing the actions of morons, all while otherwise level-headed folk attempted to rationalize the behavior.

(Photo courtesy of The Lexington Herald-Leader)

So what will incite and inspire the bigger riot?  Will title number eight set off a "celebration" for the ages or will a Jayhawk upset turn Lexington into the Vancouver of the south?  Sadly, these questions loom larger than any other we have for tonight.

-I have a friend who's kid attends UK.  He was arrested Saturday night for what we'll call "excessive celebrating."  Said kid is now a former UK student.  Hope it was worth it.

-Now to the actual action on the floor....

Give Louisville credit for never backing down against a more talented Wildcat team, but give UK credit for never really making you feel like the game was in doubt.  If we're still learning things about teams this late in the season, what we learned about Kentucky is that they can play poorly against a quality opponent and still win relatively convincingly. 

And give Kansas credit for the second half defensive excellence against Ohio State.  Give both teams credit for a final seven minutes that lived up to what the Final Four is supposed to be.  And blame Ohio State for melting down in the final moments, with bad shots, awful decisions, and inexplicably not fouling as the clock ran out. 

So now we have UK v. KU.  The Wildcats have an inevitable feel about them.  I get the sense that Saturday worked out well for John Calipari, that his team won but didn't play especially well, giving him plenty of teachable moments when he's prepped his squad for tonight.  We have a clash of titanic programs, the kind of blue-blood final that the sport has needed.  I'm rooting for the kind of game that a matchup pitting two programs of this stature suggests we'll get. 

Thomas Robinson is a great college basketball players.  The Jayhawks are playing great team defense.  And Bill Self has coached his nuts off in the NCAAs.

But is there any real reason to not pick Kentucky?

I say Michael Kidd-Gilchrist goes off tonight, rebounding from his Saturday sleepwalk to have a big game.  I say Kansas has a hard time breaking down UK's defense enough to rip off the kind of scoring runs required to beat the Wildcats.  I say Terrence Jones holds his own against Thomas Robinson (Jones has looked like the most NBA-ready player on the Wildcats in this tournament) and I say the Wildcats make enough shots from the outside to hold off any KU spurts.

Kentucky has been the best college basketball team in the country all season long.  They've been the best team in this tournament and they have the best player in the sport.  Lexington will burn tonight either way, but the flames you see tonight will be fueled by 77-66 Wildcat victory.

And that means that this kid is gonna have a miserable evening.

-Baseball is almost here. That means that Opening Day is almost here.  I'm excited about both.  Show up at this...

One of the things we can talk about is how good Juan Francisco was supposed to be. 

Scott Rolen might look the part in spring training, but are we really comfortable with Todd Frazier making 30-40 starts? Wilson Valdez?  Willie Harris? And won't one of them have to?

-Great American Ballpark > New Marlins park.

-Joey Votto is going to be the National League MVP.

-I wish someone would do this with images of Lesley Visser.

-Radio show today on ESPN1530.  A blog about it forthcoming.  Follow me on Twitter.  Here's why college baseball is awesome.