Not Jerry Tipton's Friday Basketball Notebook

The 2012-13 season is mercifully over, and despite having the #1 ranked recruiting class in the country, Kentucky failed to make the NCAA Tournament, and were unceremoniously dispatched in the First Round of the NIT by Robert Morris. Hard to see things being any different in 2013-14. To stay apprised and educated, follow me on Twitter @NotJerryTipton. Here’s the weekly notebook: *Losing Touch: Earlier this week, Andrew Wiggins committed to Kansas over Kentucky. This is the continuation of a very disturbing trend for John Calipari and Kentucky. Ever since Louisville won the national championship last month, UK has failed to receive a commitment from a single McDonald’s All-American. While Kentucky supporters will probably argue that Wiggins has been the only elite player to commit to a school since the season ended, it is telling that Wiggins was reportedly a UK lean before then, only to back off and pick KU once the Cards got their ring. And if things are this bad now, what happens when Louisville wins yet another national title? Check back in another 27 years to find out. *Somebody Told Me: Last week, radio hosts in the city of Louisville and Card fans made the salient point that the 2013 Louisville team was superior to the 2012 Kentucky team. Though UK fans took umbrage to this, it is hard to find a flaw in the logic of these UofL backers. Consider: 2012 UK lost to Indiana. 2013 Louisville didn’t. 2012 UK lost to Vanderbilt. 2013 Louisville didn’t. And so forth. Kentucky fans have argued that college basketball was down in 2013, that Louisville’s path to the title was the easiest of any winner in the last 23 years, that 2013 Louisville lost 3 in a row, that 2012 Kentucky had a higher KenPom ranking, a higher RPI ranking, and infinitely more NBA talent than 2013 UofL did, but the fact remains: 2013 won the title this year. 2012 Kentucky did not. #GameSetMatch *When You Were Young: It was recently announced that the 2014 NCAA Final Four will be aired on TBS. This does not bode well for Kentucky. TBS is a cable network, while CBS is a major network. TBS requires a subscription to a cable service or satellite provider, whereas CBS is available to anyone with rabbit ears and a working TV. The NCAA apparently made a business decision that — given the likelihood that Kentucky will play in the 2014 Final Four — not many people will want to tune in to watch the Cats, so hey, might as well put the thing on a channel that many folks probably haven’t tuned into since they were watching “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Munsters” every day after school 30 years ago. The idea that people will want to see a bunch of one-and-done freshmen lay waste to a hopelessly outmatched foe on the biggest stage in the game? Very funny. * On this date: On this date in 2033, Rick Pitino will be an 80 year old man with a ridiculous, giant tattoo on his back.