Close but no cigar at the North Texas Final Four

Shabazz Napier and the UCONN Huskies foil Kentucky’s plans for a North Texas Final Four coronation!

With Kentucky positioned to win its ninth national championship at the North Texas Final Four, it appeared that the state of Kentucky was poised to make college basketball history for a third consecutive spring.

If the Wildcats had delivered against the Huskies, it would’ve been the Commonwealth’s third Naismith Trophy in three years (In 2012 Kentucky was triumphant in New Orleans and in 2013 Louisville was crowned king in Atlanta.).

In fact, it seemed to many experts and fans that it was already a done deal. Kentucky was going to win number nine. After all, if “little brother” Louisville had handled UCONN easily in AAC play, “big brother” Kentucky should have no problem with the Huskies. Right?

As it turns out, UCONN never got that script, and they cruised to victory on the back of Shabazz Napier, who tallied 22 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in his final game for the Huskies.

The championship defeat was the source of much sadness for Kentucky fans but was also a cause for celebration for some Louisville supporters.

Of course, not all Louisville fans were cheering against Kentucky. I, for example, committed the Cardinal sin and cheered for Big Blue back in April. In fact, Wade and I flew to North Texas to document the scene and to attend the championship game in Jerry World.

But even though Kentucky came up just short this season, the state represented itself admirably. Louisville and Kentucky were ranked in the top five going into the 2013-2014 college basketball season, and they ended the NCAA tournament among the top five teams as well.

Next year let’s just hope that the NCAA finally gets it right and puts U of L and UK in opposite brackets. Because if U of L and UK ever meet in the finals you can bet that Wade and I will be there filming it!

HOW TO BUY THE DVD ONLINE?

The DVD and Blu-ray are available from amazon.com as well as our web store.

WHERE TO BUY THE DVD IN A STORE IN LOUISVILLE?

In Louisville most of the DVDs at Walmart and Krogers have sold out and will not be reordered until the start of the college basketball season. We have heard that Alumni Hall in the Mall of St. Matthews is still carrying copies. The DVD can also be rented or purchased at Wild and Wooly Video, the best little video store in Louisville if I may say so myself.