Caliparication........

With over forty college basketball games being played tonight, there comes a point where even the most seasoned gamer gets worked into a handicapping frenzy. Rather than breaking down ten games like a complete degenerate, I have focused my energy on two of todays college coaching icons. When people hear the word icon they think of such luminaries as- John Wooden, Bob Knight, Coach K, etc. However, I choose to think of the two most influential coaches in the sport today- Robert "Huggy Bear" Huggins and John Calipari. These men have revolutionized the game in an unprecendented fashion. While at Cincinnati in the 1990's Huggy Bear not only made the mock turtleneck look a staple within the fashion/coaching world but he also made graduation rates completely irrelevant. Despite never winning a National Championship, Huggy Bear's teams won almost 30 games a year while sporting a mid single digit graduation rate. More impressively, Huggy Bear was able to find a number of junior colleges that most people could not locate with the most advanced GPS tracking device. Truly a man ahead of his time. Meanwhile, the 1990's was a time for coach Calipari to take a dormant UMASS program to the national level. How did he accomplish such a formidable task? Some point to coach Cal's knowledge of the game but we know it goes well beyond that. Coach Cal got booster's on board and quickly righted the ship. Money, women, etc. Then when things got dicey, the coach picked up and took his act elsewhere. Fast forward a decade later and shortly after leaving the Memphis program in complete disarray, he signs one of the most lucrative coaching contracts in sports history at Kentucky. Further proof that all is right in the world of college sports. A player gets suspended for getting $100 but a dirty coach gets rewarded to the tune of $40+ mil for rules violations and leaving a few torched programs in his wake. Good job NCAA. This guy makes PT Barnum look like a warm up act. In any event, I am releasing Kentucky +1 tonight over UCONN because of my faith in Coach Cal and his program. Calhoun may have some real winners on his squad but Kentucky has a NBA lottery as its starting five. As for West Virginia, I will stay away from this game because the line is too high (-18).