It's difficult to say which is bigger for the University of Kentucky basketball team in its regular-season finale against 11th-ranked Florida on Saturday, the stakes or the challenge.
Coach John Calipari, whose team is 3-3 without injured star Nerlens Noel, put it bluntly before Friday's practice: “This is a one-game season.”
The Wildcats (20-10, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) are coming off consecutive clunkers on the road and must beat the Gators — or win next week's league tournament — to have any security about making the NCAA Tournament. Florida (24-5, 14-3) has already clinched the SEC regular-season title and clobbered Kentucky by 17 points on Feb. 12 in Noel's final game.
These are desperate times in Big Blue Nation. Time for desperate measures.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.