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The most perfect thing in sports looks like a pair of identical ant trails. It looks like the War of the Stick Figures. For 23 days -- from mid-March to early April -- we are under its spell wholly, happily and willingly. When it comes to crowning a sporting champion, the NCAA tournament bracket has no rival.

They say Rick Majerus died of heart failure. They're wrong. The Rick Majerus I knew was all heart. His life, all 64 years of it, was a breadcrumb trail of random acts of kindness.

Big Blue Nation will be celebrating Kentucky's national championship for a while. But the Wildcats' title, though decisive and complete, also feels crazily hollow. Then again, so does the entire season.

NEW ORLEANS -- Final Four washout or first-time champion? Overpaid or underappreciated? One-and-done specialist or dynasty builder? There is no middle ground for Kentucky coach John Calipari. He either wins a national title against underdog Kansas...

NEW ORLEANS -- The Road Ends Here. That's what all the signs say in this Final Four town. The road from the start of the basketball calendar in November to the finish come Monday evening at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The road from Lexington, Ky....

John Calipari claims he doesn't need a national title for validation or for his legacy. But when you've been branded the best coach to have never won it all, it does matter. And John Calipari very much matters Monday night.

Kentucky didn't play great against Louisville. But despite their B-game, the Wildcats still advanced to Monday's title game against Kansas.

You can't even invent reasons why Kentucky could leave New Orleans without the NCAA championship trophy.

After Sunday's victory over Baylor, John Calipari is two steps away from his first national championship. To get that elusive title, though, he'll have to go through former UK coach Rick Pitino. How very appropriate.

ATLANTA -- Thanks to the numbing agent No. 1 Kentucky used to finally subdue Indiana just past midnight, we are now a combined 80 minutes away from a game never thought possible until now. Say it with me: Kentucky versus Louisville ... Kentucky vers...

Thanks to Kentucky's victory over Indiana, we are now a combined 80 minutes away from a game never thought possible until now: a Commonwealth Armageddon in New Orleans.

Friday's South Regional semifinal between Indiana and Kentucky isn't just about IU's return to prominence. It's also about the connection between coaches Tom Crean and John Calipari.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Marquette is going to the Sweet 16, which is like saying the sweat-soaked dress shirts of MU coach Buzz Williams are going to the dry cleaners. It's almost a given. Saturday evening at the KFC Yum! Center, Marquette defeated Mur...

For 40 minutes against Murray State, Marquette turned up the physicality to a new level. Now the Golden Eagles are in the Sweet 16.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Early in the first half of Kentucky's game against Western Kentucky on Thursday evening, as the Wildcats tried to scrape the 16th-seeded Hilltoppers from the bottom of their sneakers, a chorus of boos arrived without warning. Fr...

Were you looking forward to Calipari versus Calhoun? Iowa State did not seem to care. But Kentucky surely took notice -- these Cyclones will not be an easy out Saturday.