NCAA Basketball: Kentucky, Villanova and Florida Atlantic among week’s headlines

Thoughts on Kentucky and John Calipari. And what about Villanova?

These are two of the premier basketball programs in the country and let’s focus on Kentucky for a bit and mainly their head coach John Calipari. Calipari has seen his name pop up a lot for other jobs and many people believe that he would take the job because he needs a change of scenery. His time at Kentucky is coming to an end and while it will be sad to see him go it is time.

The Wildcats consistently have a top 5 recruiting class and for recruits wearing that name across their chest still means something. Kentucky did have the player of the year last season. The Wildcat fans are getting restless because Kentucky and coach Calipari are not living up to their expectations. Over the last three years, Kentucky finished with a losing record, then the Wildcats made the NCAA tournament before losing in the first round to Saint Peter’s. Saint Peter’s did make a run to the Elite Eight but Kentucky never should have lost to them in the first place.

This season has not done much for the unrest given that Kentucky does not look like an NCAA tournament team and the most recent loss to South Carolina was the last straw. The Wildcats do not seem engaged at all and Calipari is no longer a very strong voice in the huddle or the locker room. Kentucky did just beat Tennessee on the road to get themselves a nice road win but they will need to continue that to have a reasonable shot at the tournament. It should surprise no one when Calipari moves on at the end of the season.

From one team of Wildcats to another team of Wildcats. The Villanova Wildcats have struggled mightily in the post-Jay Wright era. Head coach Kyle Neptune was the hand-picked successor by Jay Wright and after one season at Fordham, he left to take the job at Villanova. This season things have not gone nearly as anyone has planned. Villanova has endured a ton of injuries, the defense has been nowhere near acceptable and star freshman Cam Whitmore has been in desperate need of help all season.

Let us not forget that Villanova made the final four last season. Most of that team except for Justin Moore, who tore his Achilles in the Elite Eight win, have returned for Villanova. It has been very strange to watch the Wildcats struggle as much as they have this season. Questions are starting to arise about coach Neptune and his ability to coach, he has not been a coach for long enough to know but given he was hand-picked by Coach Wright that should say a lot about his perceived ability to coach.

Everyone is allowed a down year and this is the one for Villanova. Playing the Big East affords them a chance to earn quality wins every night but right now,  Villanova is not a good team and they are broken and are not a tournament team.