SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Cornell has made itself the early tournament darlings of March. The Big Red wins with seniors, goofs off at news conferences and has embraced every second of the sudden national spotlight.
Kentucky plays richly talented teams in the Southeastern Conference, is on national television as often as “30 Rock,” and counts the round of 16 as another step toward the national championship and not a reason to celebrate.
Kentucky coach John Calipari has a roster dotted with potential one-and-done players. Cornell (29-4) might be a one-year wonder.
There is no more fascinating round of 16 matchup than top-seeded Kentucky (34-2) trying to end 12th-seeded Cornell’s NCAA Tournament run tonight in the East Regional semifinal. Or is it the other way around?
“I’m enough of a fan to understand why this is so intriguing to everybody,” Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. “I get that. I don’t know if our guys really understand it. They believe that they’re a good enough basketball team, without all the other things that go along with it, to play with anybody in the country.”
The Big Red has proven it can play — and soundly beat — any team around. Just ask tournament victims Temple and Wisconsin. But the Wildcats are a different animal.
