UCLA vs. Kentucky: Two of college basketball's 'Mount Rushmore' square off in Sweet 16
Friday's Sweet 16 showdown between UCLA and Kentucky will be just that ... sweet.
The Wildcats, the No. 2 seed in the South Regional, tip off against the third-seeded Bruins at 6:39p and, for obvious reasons, this matchup will have a lot of hype.
The Big Blue machine that is Kentucky against hot-shot, one-and-done star Lonzo Ball and UCLA.
Who's ready? We are!
But before our eyes explode from the awesomeness in front of our eyes on Friday night, some interesting tidbits about two of the faces on college basketball's 'Mount Rushmore.'
The Wizard of Westwood
This is where we would say, mic drop. No coach in the history of sport has been as dominate as the late, great John Wooden.
Wooden won 10 national championships in a 12-year period and produced some of the best talent in college basketball history.
He is one of four people to be honored in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and coach.
Mic drop.
But this guy wasn't too bad for Kentucky, either
Only Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight, and Dean Smith have more wins than Adolph Rupp, who earned 876 victories in 41 years as coach of the Wildcats, including four national titles (1948–1949, 1951, 1958).
NBA heavy with former UK talent
Anthony Davis, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are just a few of the recent talent explosion to head from Lexington to Kentucky.
But Lonzo Ball is on another level
Ball, a one-and-down freshman sensation who averages nearly 15 points per game for UCLA, and his soon-to-be Bruin younger brothers are in the hunt for a $1B shoe deal behind their father, LaVar, and relentless media attention.
Until that time, Ball is a special player who carries the fate of the Bruins on his back.
Prediction
While a John Calapari-coached Kentucky team will always be talented, I give the slight edge to UCLA ... 83-80.
And, no, I don't think Steve Alford will leave Westwood for his native Indiana University, but, as in sports, anything can happen.
