Grab Your Seat Alongside the Elites, Coach Calipari. You Earned It.

Love him or hate him John Calipari is a National Champion. Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats did what the Derrick Rose led 2007-08 Memphis Tigers couldn’t and that’s dispose of Bill Self and a defensive oriented Kansas team in the NCAA title game. Led by superstar Freshman C Anthony Davis Coach Calipari was able to produce his best season yet in what has been a pretty damn good career. The Wildcats went 38-2 overall, won the SEC regular season championship, were ranked in the top 5 all year long, were named the #1 overall seed for the big dance, and ran through the tournament securing the schools 8^th ever national title.

Due to his penchant for having NCAA sanctions brought down upon the programs he leaves behind John Calipari has become quite the polarizing figure in the sports world. Another reason many college basketball lovers consider him the devil is his willingness to recruit ‘one-and-done’ players without trying to deter them from entering the NBA after a single productive, sometimes unproductive, season in the collegiate game. College basketball purists like to make Coach Calipari the poster boy for the games two biggest problems: players getting ‘illegal’ benefits and players using college basketball as a one year stop gap between high school and the NBA. Personally, I have no problems with the guy and think that he’s been one of the best 3 or 4 coaches in the country the past 5 or 6 years. Over that time span he’s been rubbing elbows with some elite company in Coach K, Roy Williams, Bill Self, and Jim Boeheim.

Calipari has solidified himself in my mind as the ultimate players coach who gets the best out of his team day in and day out. He’s also one of the top attractors of elite talent in the country year in and year out. A look at Calipari’s coaching resume proves how good he is at turning programs around and taking them directly to the top. Coach Cal has 8 30-win (8!) seasons and 3 National Coach of the Year awards. Before leading prodigal son Kentucky to back-to-back Final Four appearances Calipari had taken relative lightweights UMass, alma mater shout out, and Memphis, formerly Memphis State, to Final Four appearances. Calipari is one of only two coaches to take 3 different universities to the Final Four and he stands alone as the only coach to ever lead three different schools to #1 seeds in the NCAA tournament. Yes the NCAA has officially vacated UMass’ 1996 Final Four appearance, the banner still hangs proudly in the Mullins Center though, and Memphis’ 2008 title game run there’s no denying the talent Calipari assembled on those teams and how effective he was at getting that talent to perform night in and night out. Personally Calipari has never been linked to a NCAA violation though that doesn’t stop the court of public opinion from deeming him a cheater. As the figurehead of a division 1 program however I do think he shares some of the blame for all that has happened and the sanctions that have been levied against the institutions he's left behind, Memphis and UMass. If you're going to be the face of a program it is imperative that you be aware of EVERY LITTLE DETAIL going on around you. On the court however the man is a winner and master recruiter.

At UMass Calipari pulled the basketball team from the drudges of the A-10 and placed them back in the national eye. He was able to lead the Minutemen to 5 consecutive A-10 titles and NCAA tournament appearances while also watching them garner number one overall rankings for extended periods of time. Calipari made UMass respectable again over an 8-year period amassing a 193-71 record and being named A-10 coach of the year 3 times and National Coach of the Year in 1996 when the Minutemen were the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Final Four. The man showed up on the scene in a big way.

Another knock against Calipari is his brief stint in the NBA running the New Jersey Nets. In his 2 ½ years as head coach of the Nets, Calipari actually wasn’t that horrible having one poor season and then leading the team to 43 wins and the playoffs the next. He was fired 18 games into his 3^rd season after starting 3-15 and really it was the best thing that could have ever happened to him because it allowed him to adhere to his true calling and head back to the collegiate ranks at the University of Memphis. There all Calipari did was take a floundering Conference USA team and turn them into a national powerhouse by recruiting the top classes in the country and popularizing the dribble drive attack. Calipari is a master at making basketball fun for the 18-22 year old kids he’s coaching and because of that he’s become an amazing attraction for whatever school he happens to be leading. At UMass he was able to land #1 recruit Marcus Camby, at Memphis he snagged Derrick Rose among numerous others, and at Kentucky there’s Anthony Davis. I’ll say it again the man can flat out coach collegiate basketball.

I know that a lot of people are turned off by Coach Cal’s willingness to recruit guys he knows are only using college as a stepping stone to bigger and better things but I envy him for embracing the system the way it’s set up. He isn’t cheating he isn’t exploiting the system he’s simply playing the game the right away and selling things that the recruits he goes after want to buy. Even better is that he backs up all the promises he makes to these 17 and 18 year old kids by allowing them to freelance within a dribble attack and kick offense while also harping the importance of the defensive side of the game. The man may seem arrogant and cocky but he can back it up in a big way. He recruits the top talent in the country gets them to play together as a team even if it’s for a single season, look at the way he convinced one-and-done players like Rose and Davis to play a team-oriented defensive game and be leaders on the floor, and produces big-time wins.

If John Calipari continues to win at the clip he’s currently racking em up at no one will care about his reputation while he’s being enshrined in Springfield at the Basketball Hall of Fame. Once you’re in the Hall of Fame all people care about are the numbers you put up and right now Coach Cal is putting up some of the best. 

Until we cross paths again…

Geoff Jablonski

No Matter How You Slice It Oklahoma State Got Screwed

On Sunday night the final BCS standings were released and as everyone assumed would happen LSU was 1 and Alabama was 2. My question to you is why was this the outcome that everyone assumed would come to fruition? Is it because Alabama is one of college footballs 4 or 5 “golden” programs from yesteryear and today? Is it because Oklahoma State doesn’t play much more than ole defense and runs its high-octane offense in the notoriously offensive heavy big 12? Or is it the reason that I think it is that Alabama and LSU both come from the perceived best conference in college football the SEC?

Regardless of the answers to these questions one thing is obvious: Oklahoma State got screwed out of a chance to play for the national championship of January 9^th in New Orleans. Instead of turning this into a rant and rave about the inadequacies of the BCS I’m going to state the case for why Oklahoma State deserves a shot at knocking off undefeated LSU.

First things first lets debunk the myth that most voters tend to hold onto when filling out their ballots, which is that the SEC is worlds better than the Big 12. According to the final BCS standings, I’m going to use the final BCS standings when talking about Oklahoma State and Alabama’s opponent’s ranks, the SEC parked 6 teams in the top 25 while the Big 12 placed 5 teams in the top 25 (7 if you count next year’s arrivals TCU and West Virginia).  Out of the 6 SEC teams in the BCS top 25 Alabama went 2-1, If you include their showdown with Penn State in week 2 the Tide went 3-1 overall, against their opponents (somehow Auburn managed to wrap up the 25^th spot in the final BCS standings even after a 42-14 drubbing in the Iron Bowl). Oklahoma State went 4-0 against their 4 BCS final 25 opponents and 5-0 if you include their week 4 matchup with Texas A&M who at the time was a top 10 team. Edge: Oklahoma State.

Second reason I think O.K. State got jobbed: Alabama had the weekend off due to not qualifying for their championship game while Oklahoma State had to play another game against a top ranked opponent. This past Saturday, Championship Saturday across the country, Alabama was sitting home watching LSU tussle with Georgia and the Battle of Bedlam between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. In those two games, LSU shook off a slow start and beat down #13 Georgia 42-10 to claim the SEC crown while Oklahoma State did them one better and shellacked #10 and preseason title favorite Oklahoma 44-10. Funny that by sitting home and watching the #1 and #3 ranked teams in the Nation play for and win their conference titles Alabama managed to hold onto their #2 ranking ahead of Big 12 champion Oklahoma State Cowboys. Oklahoma State played a top 10 opponent and made an example of them whooping up on their hated rival the Sooner Schooner’s like it was going out of style. They earned that number 2 spot in the polls behind LSU. Edge: Oklahoma State.

The final reason I think that the O.K. Corral got a raw deal is the most obvious one: Alabama had it’s chance to knock off #1 LSU and secure it’s right to play for the national championship down the road and failed, AT HOME NO LESS! Nice try Alabama you took your best shot and fell just short in OT, 9-6. It’s time for someone else to take a shot at the undisputed #1 LSU. I’m not arguing the idea that Alabama might be the second best team in the nation I’m arguing the point that Oklahoma State did enough during the regular season to earn a chance to challenge LSU for it’s crown. Alabama got their shot during the regular season at home in Tuscaloosa and they tripped up now I want to see if the Big 12 has presented a champion worthy of being crowned national champion. If Alabama beats LSU on January 9^th why does that make them national champion? It actually would put the season series at 1-1 with LSU winning one on the road in a hostile environment and Alabama winning one on at a neutral site (though it’s going to be more like a road game since they are playing in the heart of the Bayou Bengals home turf). Sounds like we would need a tiebreaking 3^rd game to decide our national champion. I’ve already seen Alabama try to take out LSU I want to see the high flying offense of Oklahoma State led by gunslinger QB Brandon Weeden and all world WR Justin Blackmon, who according to many draft analysis is better than current Cowboys #1 WR Dez Bryant, which says a lot about his talents. I know that Oklahoma State has 1 loss themselves and it came at the hands of a subpar Iowa State team but that game was on the road in a hostile conference environment. Do I think they should’ve lost? No but they beat more quality opponents than Alabama and deserve their first shot at LSU before Alabama deserves a second turn at the buffet line.

There you have it folks that’s why I’m firmly in the camp of seeing Oklahoma State vs. LSU in the Superdome on January 9^th as opposed to a rematch of two SEC West powerhouses. I think Oklahoma State got screwed and if you have a compelling argument as to why I should be subjected to seeing a game that I watched play out in LSU’s favor just a month earlier I’d love to engage in a debate with you. For the last time I’ll say for good measure that I’m not saying Oklahoma State is a better team than Alabama I just believe that a rematch of a regular season conference game we’ve already seen isn’t the best national championship matchup in the 2012 BCS National Championship. If you’re a fan of dominant defense than Alabama/LSU is the matchup for you but if you want to see the best defense in the nation try to slow down the most explosive offense in the nation than you’re in the same time zone as me wishing that Oklahoma State had been given the chance to try and pass against the staunch LSU defense. Finally I’d like to commend Mike Gundy on a great job of leading the Oklahoma State Cowboys into a position to be in the national championship debate and not letting himself go down in history as the, “I’m a man!” guy. If you don’t know what I’m talking about take a look at the video linked above and enjoy.

I’ll say it one more time but don’t forget to tune to see LSU take on Alabama January 9^th, 2012 in the Mercedes Superdome in New Orleans if you’re a college football fan. It’s going to be a defensive battle. Until we cross paths again…

Geoff Jablonski