2012 Kentucky Wildcat Nerlens Noel: Can the Flat Top Outshine the Unibrow?

Nerlens Noel, the successor to Anthony Davis at the University of Kentucky, has a unique opportunity to surpass Anthony Davis in one respect: hair. The most important off-the-court question for the Wildcats and Big Blue Nation this season may be whether the Flat Top can duplicate the iconic status of the Unibrow.

Davis may have the most famous unibrow of all-time. Ignoring the fact that there is little to no competition in that regard, never in the history of sports has one unibrow been so celebrated. The Unibrow, or the brow for short, inspired (and alternately terrified) an entire nation.

There were shirts, cakes, cookies, masks, giant blown-up Davis faces. The Kentucky Wildcat donned the brow. Jimmy Kimmel referenced it repeatedly, no doubt as an homage to its glory. Shamefully, a man even took off his shirt and incorporated The Unibrow into a living and quite fleshy tribute.  

At one point during the season, Davis suffered what appeared to be a serious injury. What followed is open to interpretation, but one urban legend is circulating that a student saw The Unibrow begin to glow as miraculous healing pored from The Brow to Davis' leg. No video evidence exists to support that claim. 

How, then, does Noel's Flat Top stand a chance? What chance does Nerlens have at iconic hair status? Is there any way he can possible inspire the masses to worship his hair as much as Davis?

Well, it turns out, the kid can play. When he announced that he would be attending the University of Kentucky, he did it in a dramatic fashion. Sitting in a chair, Nerlens allowed his hair to do the talking.  Engraved into the back of his massive Flat Top were two letters: UK. How's that for an entrance?

The Flat Top has a long way to go to catch up to The Brow/The Unibrow, but the Flat Top has a few advantages. One such advantage is that it is likely more people would be willing to wear the hairstyle than to grow a unibrow. Another advantage is the relative ease through which fans can attach their own Flat Tops, whether through art or in real life.

One University of Kentucky fan has already started his own tribute to Noel. In fact, he has crafted this writer with something I will treasure the rest of my life; refer to the @TeamBBN Twitter account.

One thing is certain, the Flat Top has huge marketing potential in the future, but more importantly for fans, is a great way to continue the legacy that began with The Unibrow.