March Madness 2012: Kentucky's Talent Makes Wildcats Big Favorite

A good friend of mine, who just so happens to be a college basketball fanatic, asked me which I'd take in the NCAA Tournament—Kentucky or the field.

Always one to go for the safe bet, I told him the field, to which he responded, "Really?"

So I thought about it again. John Calipari's club is the No. 1 team in the land and would be undefeated if not for a fluky loss to a geeked Indiana squad in a hostile, Hoosier-friendly environment at Assembly Hall.

Curious as to his reasoning, as to why he didn't have the likes of Syracuse, Kansas and North Carolina in mind, I bit. I asked him why, pray tell, Big Blue Nation would be dancing in the streets of Lexington in early April and why he was so sure that the other 67 wouldn't be a better choice.

And he responded with this thought experiment, which I encourage you and your friends to consider:

Who else in college basketball today would be good enough to not just sit on Coach Cal's bench, but actually play meaningful minutes?

The question might seem silly at first, but give it some thought, and you'll likely find it a bit more challenging. Remember, this is a Wildcats team that has two players who could be the first pick in the NBA draft (Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist), two more with lottery-level talent (Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague), a sophomore who shoots 48.3 percent from long distance (Doron Lamb) and a senior who'd start for any other team in the country (Darius Miller).

Oh, and Kyle Wiltjer and Eloy Vargas, for what they're worth.

Who would/could play with that group?

Here's the list that we came up with:

Kansas' Thomas Robinson. Missouri's Marcus Denmon. North Carolina's Harrison Barnes. Ohio State's Jared Sullinger. Syracuse's Kris Joseph. Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor (maybe). Duke's Austin Rivers (maybe). Baylor's Perry Jones III (maybe). OSU's Aaron Craft (maaaybe). Carolina's Tyler Zeller and John Henson (maaaaaybe).

And that was about it. Eleven players; only five surefire picks at best.

So then the question became, with UK owning a clear talent advantage over every other team in the country, how could the 'Cats lose?

Would they be rattled under pressure amidst a "lack of experience?"

Possibly, but not likely, not with three of their top six players (Jones, Lamb and Miller) having been through last year's run to the Final Four.

Would they be undone by a dearth of outside shooting?

Not with snipers like Lamb, Miller and Wiltjer on the perimeter.

There was no point debating play on the interior, what with Davis on the low block and Kidd-Gilchrist and Teague slashing off the wing.

The only weakness I could come up with was in the Wildcats' ability to share the ball, as they rank 52nd in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio and 131st in assists per game.

Then again, what does it matter when you only turn the ball over 11.7 times per game and you have as many guys capable of creating and getting off their own shots as does Kentucky?

My conclusion? That the only thing capable of derailing Kentucky's inevitable march to the title would be a perfect storm of poor shooting, frayed nerves among the freshmen, a point guard who can shut down Marquis Teague (Aaron Craft?) and a generous pinch of March Madness magic.

At which point, I printed out a bracket and wrote in Kentucky as the national champion with the most permanent ink I could find.

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