Kentucky in perfect position to finish undefeated

SO, IS 40-0 going to happen? It is now very possible.

I don't think Kentucky is one of the great college teams in history. In fact, I would take the Wildcats' 2012 national champions over this team. They finished 38-2, losing on a buzzer-beater at Indiana and to Vanderbilt in the SEC championship game. Remember, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were the first two players taken in that NBA draft. Davis and Tim Duncan are the most talented college big men I have seen since I started covering college hoops for the Daily News in 1987.

Historical comparisons are really moot because the legendary UCLA teams all featured star upperclassmen. So did the Duke back-to-back teams in 1991 and 1992, the nearly threepeat Kentucky teams in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and the Florida back-to-back teams in 2006 and 2007.

Kentucky has no seniors that play. The Wildcats have all freshmen and sophomores except defensive stopper Willie Cauley-Stein, a junior.

Their defense is historically incredible, but even that must be put into context. This is the worst offensive season in memory so defensive numbers are skewed. Still, this UK defense is ridiculous. They are holding teams to .844 points per possession. Three years ago, it was .899.

This team beat Kansas, 72-40. The Wildcats led UCLA at the half, 41-7, on the way to an 83-44 win. This is Kansas and UCLA, not directional schools. UK leads the nation in field-goal defense (34.2 percent) and scoring margin (22.1 points per game). Teams shoot just 27.2 percent from the arc against the Wildcats and they have 188 blocks, third nationally.

They have been challenged a few times and always showed poise in the final minutes. I loved how they played at LSU on Feb. 10. Even after giving up a big lead and falling dangerously behind, they played with confidence and resolve, winning 71-69. They have won their three games since then by a combined 87 points.

The Wildcats are 27-0.

As other teams are starting to tire, the Wildcats look fresh, and no wonder. The platoon system means that no player gets more than 26 minutes per game and eight average between 18 and 26.

This team's shooting does leave them a bit vulnerable, but the defense more than makes up for it. The leading scorer, Devin Booker, also happens to be the one reliable long-range shooter. He averages just 11 points, but shoots 44.7 percent from the arc with 46 made threes.

The 2012 team had the nation's second most efficient offense, averaging 1.21 point per possession. This team's offense is eighth, 1.18 ppp. So the offense is good enough because it gets so many shots at the rim or actually above the rim. The Wildcats' games are often dunkathons.

To be charitable, this is not a great season for college hoops. It is a great season for potential perfection because there are so few roadblocks.

UK has two road games left, tonight at Mississippi State and next week at Georgia. The Wildcats play Arkansas and Florida at home the next two Saturdays. Let's say they get to 31-0.

Consider this path to 40-0 that is essentially set. The SEC Tournament is in Nashville, Tenn., a "neutral court" that will be overwhelmed with Kentucky fans. Three wins gets them to 34-0.

The first two rounds of the NCAA? How about Louisville. Make it 36-0.

The Midwest Regional is in Cleveland. The competition will get much stiffer, but 38-0 is realistic.

The Final Four is in Indianapolis. Think a few Kentuckians might find their way across the border to Lucas Oil Stadium.

It has been 39 years since Indiana completed the last unbeaten season. Only Indiana State (1979), UNLV (1991) and Wichita State (2014) have even made it to the tournament unbeaten since then. Indiana State made it to the championship game, UNLV to the semifinal. Wichita was knocked out in the second game by, yes, Kentucky - with many of these same players who made it all the way to the championship game before losing to Connecticut. That may have been the trial run. This might be the payoff, 40-0 definitely in play.

Only five of the original 160 Division I teams have never played in the NCAA Tournament - Army, Northwestern, St. Francis (N.Y.), The Citadel and William & Mary.

Army (6-10 Patriot), Northwestern (4-10 Big Ten) and The Citadel (5-11 Southern) will all be longshots to win their conference tournaments. St. Francis leads the NEC with a 14-2 record. W & M (11-5) is in a four-way tie for first in the CAA. Obviously, there will be no at-large berths for those two, but if they get on a roll in the tournaments, it could finally be their time.

Last we saw Andy Enfield, the coach, his model wife Amanda Marcum and his incredibly entertaining Florida Gulf Coast team were taking over the Wells Fargo Center during the first weekend of the 2013 NCAA Tournament with lobs to the ceiling and dunks that defied gravity. FGC took out Georgetown and San Diego State like they were cones in a drill.

The coach parlayed those games into the USC job. The Trojans were 11-21 last season, 2-16 in the Pac-12 (with a 10-game losing streak), no great surprise in a first season. With a year to recruit, more was expected. It has not happened. The Trojans are 10-17, 2-13 (with a nine-game losing streak).

* In Joe Lunardi's Monday ESPN.com Bracketology, Villanova remains a solid No. 2 seed in the East. Kentucky is going to be a No. 1 seed under any circumstance. Duke and Virginia's resumés are already so strong it is hard to imagine both not on the top line. Gonzaga and Wisconsin are battling for the final No. 1, with Villanova right behind as the sixth overall seed.

* Temple slid all the way to a No. 10 and one of the last four byes after the Owls lost Thursday/Sunday trip to SMU and Tulsa. I did not recognize this Temple team in either second half. In fact, in four second halves against the two best teams in the American, all losses, Temple has been outscored 151-97.

* How about my man coach Bob Knight yelling at the fans twice during the ESPN telecast of the SMU-Temple game. Seems they were obscuring his view and he was not thrilled. I was concerned he might say the magic word, but he restrained himself.

* Only seven teams average 80 points: BYU, Northwestern State, VMI, Duke, Davidson, Iona and Eastern Washington.

* Only 12 players are averaging 20 points. The leader, Tyler Harvey (Eastern Washington), averages 22.8 points.

* Eight players are shooting 90 percent or more from the free throw line.

* Gonzaga and Notre Dame are the only teams shooting 50 percent.