Kentucky Wildcats basketball fans apparently behaved pretty well after the Final Four loss to Connecticut on April 2, 2011.

University of Kentucky basketball player DeAndre Liggins has overcome a lot to get where he is today.

The Final Four^® is set for the 2011 NCAA Tournament in men's Division I college basketball. March Madness^® truly seems like March Madness^® with none of the four #1 seeds nor any of the four #2 seeds making the Final Four^®!

#3 seed Connecticut, #4 seed Kentucky, #8 seed Butler, and #11 seed Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) are scheduled to play in the Men's Division I NCAA College Basketball National Semifinals on Saturday, April 2, 2011.

The bracket is available on NCAA.com.* In one semifinal #3 seed Connecticut will play #4 seed Kentucky. In the other #8 seed Butler will play #11 seed VCU.

#11 seed VCU may be the crowd favorite. Since they were one of the eight teams that had to play in the opening round, they’ve played one more game than the other three schools. It would truly be amazing if they could win it all as a #11 seed!

But, personally I live in Lexington, Kentucky and am a big University of Kentucky (UK) basketball fan. Despite starting three freshmen most of the season, UK has enjoyed a great season. In fact only once this season did they lose by a double digit margin.

The one team that embarrassed Kentucky by that margin: Connecticut. The Huskies humiliated Kentucky early in the season in a tournament in Maui, Hawaii. Of course back on November 24 when Kentucky and Connecticut played Kentucky’s freshmen were just getting acclimated to college basketball. Hawaii may have been a distraction, too. The Kentucky team has come a long way since then. Still, such a humiliating loss is perhaps memorable. I am ashamed to state that my pretournament predictions did not put Connecticut in the Final Four.

Butler appeared in the Final Four^® last year, losing to Duke in the championship game. It’s great to see them back as a Cinderella school, if a returning team to the Final Four^® can be called a Cinderella. Butler and VCU both astonished me (and lots of others!) by getting this far!

I commend all four teams for their success as well as all the other schools that played in the tournament. In a sense, it’s a shame that all but one of the tournament teams ends its season with a loss. Thus, for three of these four outstanding basketball teams the season will end with their team on the lower end of the score.

Predictions

Kentucky is a much better team than it was at the beginning of the season and has the added incentive of desiring revenge for Connecticut’s big win early in the season (if any added incentive is necessary at this stage of the tournament). I expect the game to be much closer. But in the end I think Connecticut will pull out a close win in that semifinal matchup.

Butler is the favorite over VCU based on the seed and has Final Four^® experience from last year. I pick Butler to win the other semifinal.

In the championship game, I think Connecticut will win over Butler.

But based on how my pretournament predictions worked out, don’t expect my predictions to be accurate. However, I do expect three wonderful games to conclude this exciting NCAA tournament! March Madness^® is here!

Source/Reference:

* NCAA; "NCAA Men's Basketball Division I Bracket"; NCAA.com; http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-men/d1/2011 (Website accessed March 27, 2011.)

Ohio State roared through the regular season, the Big Ten tournament and two rounds in the NCAA tournament as a swashbuckling juggernaut riding the talents of freshman star Jared Sullinger and torrid outside shooting to romp after romp.

Now this is College sports at its best. A wonderful essay from the point of view one of the losing teams of this year's NCAA Basketball Tournament. As a Kentucky fan, I find myself and others in total agreement with both the spirit and the analysis of this essay.

"Orena Flynn . . . says she never misses a UK game on TV."

John Calipari had seen enough. The Kentucky coach watched the Wildcats jog through 25 mostly uninspired minutes against Mississippi State on Tuesday night when he ordered his team to go to a fullcourt press.

Why can't Kentucky football play two halfs with the same spirit? Why does it require significant 'reboot' in the locker room by the players themselves? This is one fan that is hoping for at least one complete game this season against the Orange!

Many University of Kentucky basketball fans are already camped out on September 29, 2010 for tickets for the first preseason practice, "Big Blue Madness," that will be given out on Saturday, October 2, 2010.

The University of Kentucky men's college basketball program got a commitment from Kyle Wiltjer of the class of 2011 on Saturday, August 28, 2010. UK will likely have the best recruiting class in the country in 2011 for the third year in a row.

""Two boys, ages 5 and 3, were found dead Friday [August 6, 2010] in the cab of a pickup truck."

The University of Kentucky women's basketball team upset #1 seed Nebraska in a regional seminal of the NCAA tournament.

University of Kentucky women's basketball player Lydia Watkins is a mother of a nine-month-old in addition to being a student athlete.

"President Obama plans to give the University of Kentucky men's basketball team and Coach John Calipari a presidential high-five for their 'Hoops for Haiti' fundraiser"

in January 2010.

"For an unprecedented 18th time, the University of Kentucky cheerleading team won the Universal Cheerleading Association's national championship

on January 17, 2010.

"University of Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari and his undefeated team raised more than $1 million in about five hours Sunday afternoon [January 17, 2010] at a 'Hoops for Haiti' telethon."

UK freshmen look very good against Louisville's seniors! This was the major test we were waiting for to see what these freshmen are made of and they passed with flying colors. They did need a little help from the upperclassmen-but demonstrated their unanimous committment to TEAM.

Kentucky's 2,000th victory looked awfully familiar.

Patrick Patterson scored 21 points, including nine during a decisive second-half run, and No. 3 Kentucky beat Austin Peay 90-69 on Saturday.

The great Wall, as he is known in the Blue Nation, has made us proud once again. He is the real deal. But I have a few concerns that come out in this article. 1) The obvious lack of offense when John Wall is not on the floor.

John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins may become the University of Kentucky's first basketball players to turn pro after only one year at UK.

A North Carolina fan, SB Nation's Andrew Sharp, writes about his experience watching Kentucky and North Carolina play basketball on Saturday, December 5, 2009.

I think Andrew Sharp uses a significant amount of hyperbole -- but as a University of Kentucky basketball fan I enjoyed the article and loved his positive, upbeat approach.

Kentucky scored 14 points off four Georgia second-half turnovers and the Wildcats rallied to beat the Bulldogs 34-27 on Saturday night for their first win in Athens in 32 years.

How big is the stunning win for Kentucky football? Well, UK hasn't won at Georgia since 1977 and Georgia is just about their biggest rival along with Tennessee. This is also the third win in the SEC on the road this year which also hasn't been done since 1977.

Controversy is swirling over Wayside Christian Mission's decision to reopen Hotel Louisville as a hotel and not as a shelter as they originally planned. The question many people are asking is if Wayside in compliance by running Hotel Louisville as a hotel and charging its guests a penny to stay there.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari has spent the last six months visiting every city, town, hamlet and holler in the Bluegrass, selling himself and his revitalized program with the kind of energy and showmanship that would make P. T. Barnum blush.

"Sagarin looked back at the past 72 years of the sport to spit out Kentucky as No. 1, two percentage points ahead of UCLA."

3 more players won't be playing next season for the Kentucky Wildcats. Calipari is doing more trimming.

Coach Cal announced today that John Wall has signed a letter of intent to come to the University of Kentucky!

Rivals.com's analysis of college basketball recruting of the 2009 high school class ranks the University of Kentucky #1 thus far. This article lists Rivals.com's ranking of the top 25 colleges for recruiting thus far this season.

Bledsoe committed to the University of Kentucky on May 6, 2009.

Bledsoe -- who now holds Rivals.com five-star status -- also elevated his standing as the No. 23 prospect nationally among the Class of 2009 and the No. 3 point guard recruit in the country.

Parker coach Maurice Ford said last Friday Bledsoe was waiting on his latest ACT score before he makes his decision. He did not think Bledsoe would sign this week.

He shared Kentucky is highly involved in the process. They've offered and new coach John Calipari made a Birmingham visit to check on Bledsoe on April 17. Ford also said Memphis offered and was very much in the hunt for his signature on a grant-in-aid scholarship along with Florida, Cincinnati and Alabama.

The following information was obtained from Kentucky.com. Follow the links to see pictures of this gorgeous house.

Three top high school seniors are considering Kentucky.

A source "told Yahoo! Sports" that Kentucky's Jodie Meeks will "enter the NBA draft" without an agent.