OSCAR L. COMBS
Top-Ranked 'Cats Go From Hunters To Hunted
It's a shame when a team cannot savor a victory longer than what Kentucky can after its great 82-76 victory over Indiana Saturday at the inaugural Big Four Classic, but that's the way it is in big-time collegiate basketball.
The double dose is that the Wildcats now become the hunted, at least for the time being. No sooner had Kentucky nailed Bobby Knight's Hoosiers than did word arrive that the 'Cats were getting a helping hand from an old UK alum in their drive to reach the nation's No. 1 ranking.
Ex-Wildcat CM. Newton and his Vander-bilt Commodores sent shock waves throughout the nation for the second year in a row as Vandy upset previously No. 1 North Carolina in Nashville Saturday night.
That paved the way for Kentucky to move up to the No. 1 spot in this week's Associated Press rankings.
Vandy. which has become a giant-killer outside the SEC these days, upset then ranked No. 1 Indiana last season as well as Notre Dame last winter even though Vandy didn't make it to the NCAAs. It shows just how tough the SEC really is.
But back to Kentucky.
With the Kentucky victory, UK has moved back to the nation's top ranking by the AP for the first time since the 1984 season when the 'Cats went to the Final Four in Seattle.
As sweet as the victory over Indiana was, Kentucky must now turn its full attention to arch-rival Louisville and the big battle coming up Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. Thankfully, Eddie Sutton was smart enough to schedule a week off after each of the Indiana and Louisville games to give his warriors enough time to either enjoy the fruits of victory or lick their wounds from the agony of defeat. He probably still remembers that scheduling goof of last season when he faced Georgia in Louisville only three days after beating the Cards. Don't look for that to happen again when it's possible to schedule around such an emotional game.
Turning to this Saturday, some experts are expecting Kentucky to destroy the Cardinals after the two clubs' respective showings in Indianapolis. Folks, it just doesn't work out that way.
You cannot compare scores in sports. Sure, Kentucky beat IU. Sure, IU destroyed Notre Dame, and sure, Notre Dame waxed Louisville. But don't add all those margins up and think you'll have this week's game pegged.
Who would have dreamed of UK beating Louisville by 34 last year in Freedom Hall? Who would have thought UK in turn would get creamed by 35 at the hands of LSU in, of all places, Rupp Arena?
That's why this game is so great. You play games one at a time. What we're going to see this week is how good a job two great coaches do when they prepare their teams from opoosite directions.
Crum has to convince his Cardinals that the Notre Dame game is history, that nothing can be done to change the outcome of the game and that if the Cards put their minds to it, anything can happen at Rupp Arena.
On the other hand, Sutton has to remind his players they are now the hunted, that they are as capable of being upset at home as they were a year ago when LSU came to town.
And he knows full well, Crum would enjoy nothing more than beating the 'Cats on their home floor when they're ranked No. 1.
The difference in last winter and now is that Sutton definitely has more talent. And Louisville has a point guard (although young) who will become a great one before he hangs it up in the Falls City. It's just a matter of time before he puts on a show to rival that of David Rivers' exhibition in Indy.
Kentucky should beat Louisville Saturday, but it won't be the blowout some are predicting. I see it more of an eight- or nine-point victory.
Crum is too good a coach to get bombed two years in a row, and quite frankly, Kentucky could be caught reading a few press clippings after the Big Four Classic.
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With Notre Dame whipping Louisville the way it did, you can bet there is going to be a great deal of interest in the Kentucky-Notre Dame battle next month at Freedom Hall in Louisville. It'll probably be a sell-out by the time you read this as tickets to the game went on sale last week by mail order only.
Digger Phelps had his Irish fine-tuned for the Louisville clash and with the schedule he has for his Irish, they could be ranked in the Top Ten when they return to Freedom Hall for the first time in more than five years. The boys from South Bend slipped into the Top Twenty for the first time this week, premier-ing at No. 19.
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One of the interested bystanders during the stay in Indy was Wildcat signee Sean Woods who was spotted at the team's headquarters on Saturday morning. Woods, who plays for nearby Indianapolis Cathedral, scored 24 points Saturday night in an game which was decided by the same 82-76 score that the UK-IU game was decided. His team, however, was on the losing end of the score to Bedford-North Lawrence which got 38 points from sophomore sensation Damon Bailey. Bailey is considered one of the country's premier sophomore blue-chippers.
Fans around Indy are still buzzing about Eddie Sutton's ability to raid the Hoosier State of two of its most prized recruits-Woods and superstar Shawn Kemp of Elkhart.
One newspaper article suggested that Sutton's signing of the two stars has done nothing to help create good feelings with Mr. Kngiht. But can you really believe what you read these days, Bobby?
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BIG FOUR TIDBITS . . . While the first Big Four Classic turned out to be a delight for the Wildcats inasmuch as the Big Blue escaped with a victory, the classic fell far short in other areas. For instance, while there were a few fans who succumbed to some outrageous scalpers' prices on Friday, those $25 tickets went for as little as $2 at game time. In fact, one scalper offered me a pair of tickets on row four for $5 each right before tipoff . . . The media was less then thrilled
with the reception it received. Most of the big names in the reporting field were there, but Big Four officials had no functions planned for the media other than one press conference with each coach. Practices were even closed and Bobby Knight even refused to let his players talk with the media after his team's loss to Kentucky. Generally, a media luncheon is served before an event like this, but reporters who showed up early had to wait until between games before they were finally served hot dogs. The media's treatment wasn't as bad as some portrayed, but it definitely lacked the touch of class which many thought it would have, considering the magnitude of the event and the size of the big bucks it took in . . . Most of the talk during the Big Four centered on a suggestion that the classic be expanded to a two-night tournament with winners and losers playing the second day. UK athletics director Cliff Hagan's response: "No way, Jose." The tournament wouldn't be a bad idea, but only if and when the event is rotated annually among Lexington and Louisville. I'm still surprised Kentucky and Louisville ever agreed to the four-year run in Knight's backyard in the first place . . . Anyone who had doubt about this being an Indiana homecourt advantage was convinced Saturday. Sure, the tickets were supposedly distributed equally with each school getting 9,300, but the total attendance was over 43,000. Where did the other 5,800 fans come from? So there probably were 800 or so media, officials, etc. That still leaves about 5,000 tickets unaccounted for. Most of those probably went to the corporate sponsor,  Bank One which is very big in Hoosierland, much more so than in Kentucky. So where do you think those tickets went to? My friend, that requires no guessing. Of course, Bank One shouldn't be condemned. It deserved something in return for shelling out $100,000 for the right to tag its name on the big show . . . If I were in the guessing business, the breakdown of fans at the Hoosier Dome would be in this order: Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky and Notre Dame. Just looking around the Dome, it appeared Indiana probably had at least 40 percent of the crowd with Louisville having perhaps 25 percent. Kentucky obviously had its 10,000 or so, but there were more red-clad fans in Kentucky's section than there were blue-clad fans in the Louisville and IU sections. Notre Dame appeared to have very few fans, definitely not more than 4,000 or so. So where did the tickets go? From here, my guess is that IU fens made a mad scramble to buy up the Irish tickets and did a pretty good job. Anytime UK plays on the road, the Big Blue fans have a way of latching onto a ticket or two from the home team's fens. It was difficult to tell whether the red-clad fens in the UK sections were from IU or Louisville . . . IU, since day one, has been advocating a proposal to expand seating capacity to more than 60,000 for the Big Four, but UK and Louisville have been reluctant to such a move. The Hoosiers can kiss it goodbye now. The Kentuckians' point-of-view is that they believe an already IU-dominated crowd  will become an overwhelming homecourt advantage for IU with 20,000 additional seats. While both Louisville and Kentucky sold out their allotments, the schools'
ticket demands were met by the 9,300 tickets. Officials believe it will be difficult to get more Kentuckians to make the long and expensive trip to Indy. Consider the 60,000 deal dead . . . ABC-TV had to love the second game of the twin-bill after the dull opener. It paid $600,000 for the first year's rights to the Big Four and reportedly holds first refusal rights on the classic next year. Rumors around the national television scene have it that the network will attempt to scale down the rights fee for the 1988 affeir. One television critic said this year's deal was the biggest holdup since NBC-TV lost its exclusive college basketball rights almost a decade ago . . .Here's the all-tournament team selected by a panel of seven writers from major papers in the region shaped up: David Rivers (MVP) of Notre Dame. Pervis Ellison of Louisville. Ed Davender and Cedric Jenkins of Kentucky and Rick Calloway of Indiana. . . . The Big Four was expected to be an economic bonanza for the business community in Indianapolis, but store owners and hotels say they never experienced the windfall which was expected. In fact, they say the only way they'll reap any dividends is for the classic to be expanded to a two-day affeir. Practically all UK and UL fens (save a couple hundred of each) did not go until Saturday morning and then returned home after the game Saturday evening. Part of the problem contributing on the low number of fens staying overnight was the feet the games were played in the afternoon for national television. And none of IU's 15,000 or more fens had to stay overnight. The Hyatt, where Louisville was headquartered as well as the media, was practically empty considering the scope of the Big Four . . . While the crowd was in a frenzy much of the time in the second game, they probably can give an assist to the concession sellers at the Hoosier Dome where beer was flowing as freely as David Rivers was as he led Notre Dame to a surprising easy 69-54 win over Louisville. Beer is not sold at UK, IU or Notre Dame home games, but is sold at Louisville home games. Anything to make a fest buck, I guess . . . The game program for the inaugural Big Four Classic also brought a hefty price tag of $4 each ($6 by mail order), but before you jump to quick conclusion, let it be said this is one aspect which is worth the money. The program was put together by Host Communications of Lexington and is top-notched all the way, despite looking like an IU program. The stories inside are written exclusively by Billy Reed and Bloomington sportswriter Bob Hammel and inside the program it says it is published in conjunction with Indiana University. It was right nice of them to say so.. . . By the way, after watching Kentucky battle to the wire for the 82-76 overtime victory, I celebrated the event by grabbing a couple burgers and flipping on the television set at the Hyatt after the game and low-and-behold, was treated to more Bobby Knight. He was introducing another regular program to IU viewers around the state which includes a replay of a great IU game of the past. He and a guest narrate the show by recalling the games and events around the game. This first episode
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