KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 / **SPORTS** / 9A
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I don't think of myself as giving interviews. I just have conversations. That gets me in trouble."
— Charles Barkley
FACT OF THE DAY
Kansas softball's senior Allie Clark has not allowed an earned run over her last six non-conference pitching appearances, a span of 21 innings.
— kuathletics.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q Which conference has the most top 25 ranked squads in NCAA softball?
A: The Big 12 with eight. The SEC and Pac-10 follow with seven top 25 teams each. Additionally, the Big 12 also boasts three teams that have knocked off a No.1 school this season.
— kuathletics.com
Barkley busts the Big East's chops
MORNING BREW
Rick Pitino turned away from the man he was bantering with for just a moment - he needed to gather him
Rman he was bantering with for just a moment — he needed to gather himself so he didn't lash in out anger. Charles Barkley had just told Pitino, Louisville's well-known head basketball coach, on national television that the conference he coaches in, the Big East, was overrated.
The Big East is typically considered to be the best conference in college basketball. Eleven teams from the Big East got bids into the NCAA tournament field. Of those 11, just two survived the first weekend of the tournament.
So Barkley, one of the new additions to the CBS tournament coverage crew, had reason to make such a bold statement to Pitino on air.
The banter got heated between the two, when Barkley said that the Big East should have never gotten 11 teams in the field. This was the first time in the heated discussion that Pitino had to turn away out of disgust for Barkley's comments.
It was last Sunday evening when the two got into one of the more entertaining 90 seconds of bickering that I've seen in a long time.
Pitino then quickly chirped back at Barkley, saying that Marquette, who had beaten Syracuse (another Big East squad) to be the second Big East team in the Sweet Sixteen, would never have made it into the tournament if the Big East wouldn't have had 11 teams.
Then Barkley dropped the bomb, "They beat Syracuse — that tells you Syracuse wasn't that good. The Big East is just
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
overrated." Barkley concluded his statements by saying that Notre Dame, a No. 2 seed from the Big East, was going to be upset by Florida State, No. 10 seed from the ACC.
The well-esteemed coach, after gathering himself for a moment, then made a statement that he would regret approximately two hours later. Pitino, flustered with frustration from Barkley, made a prediction he felt would hold true.
"Notre Dame will not lose tonight. I'm on record with that one with you," Pitino said, in defense of the Big East.
Florida State ended up pounding Notre Dame in a 71-57 upset. The surprising victory completed the shellacking that the Big East took over the tourney's opening weekend.
Barkley, who appeared to be amused from the confrontation, tried to make things a little better with the heated Pitino.
"The Big East has the best coaches in college basketball." Barkley said
But the big fella wasn't done yet.
"They have the least amount of talent. They've got some good teams, some good solid teams. That's it. None of them are anything to write home about," Barkley said.
The Big East is the benefactor of the ESPN hype machine. The experts on ESPN have repeatedly said that the Big East is the best conference in college basketball; so most people blindly believe them.
Whether it was a case of bad matchups for the conference or not, it is absurd that the Big East got 11 teams into the field, when only two survived the first weekend.
Yes, the tournament can be crazy, and it doesn't always reflect on conference strength, but I think Chuck Barkley had this one right.
Mottr than 50,000 people have viewed the argument on YouTube now, and Barkley saved his best comment in the argument for last.
"They should call it the itty-bitty east, Barkley said.
Yes, they should, Chuck.
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
Baseball
vs. Missouri State
6:30 p.m.
Springfield, Mo.
Softball
vs. UMKC
4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo.
THURSDAY
There are no events Thursday.
FRIDAY
Tennis
vs. Iowa State
2:30 p.m.
Ames, Iowa
Baseball
vs. Baylor
6 p.m.
Lawrence
Women's Golf Ole Miss Rebel Intercollegiate All Day University, Miss
SATURDAY
Women's Soccer
Central Missouri
1:00 p.m.
Lawrence
BASKETBALL
Cats and Huskies turn around late in season
MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Late regular-season defeats served as turning points for Kentucky and Connecticut, two teams that will play in the national semifinals on Saturday.
Kentucky's turning point came after a 77-76 loss at Arkansas on Feb. 23. That game marked a fifth loss by two or fewer points and
re-opened the question of whether the Cats were too young to make a deep post-season run.
Speaking on a teleconference for the four Final Four coaches on Monday, John Calipari recalled the scary upcoming schedule to finish the regular season: Vanderbilt, Florida and at Tennessee.
"They had a players-only meeting," he said of the UK players. "Normally, those meetings don't do
anything. But I think they wanted to understand each other. The veterans talked about committing to what they had to do. The young kids committed to what they had to do. I think they just came --together-"
Connecticut's turning point came in the final game of the regular season. The Huskies lost at home to Notre Dame, 70-67, despite leading much of the way.
The new season began with the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden. Connecticut won five games in five days, the last three victories coming by a total of 10 points.
"Let's go back to being the team we are and let's just play basketball," Calhoun said before the Big East Tournament. "Stop this worrying about everything else."
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