Dick Vitale's national championship pick has to make UK fans happy.
Most Kentucky fans were distraught after the Wildcats lost to Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals, the second straight loss to the Vols this season. However, national analysts are not nearly as worried about the Wildcats — and neither are the oddsmakers who make a living projecting winners and losers.
Tipico Sportsbook has Gonzaga as the favorite at +320 but Kentucky is tied with Arizona, another team that lost to Tennessee during the season, for the second pick at +600. Kansas is next at +1000 while Baylor , the No. 1 seed in the East Region with UK, is +1200. SEC champion Auburn and Duke come in next at +1500.
DraftKings Sportsbook has No. 2 seed Kentucky as the favorite in the East Region over No. 1 Baylor. Kentucky is listed at +160 and Baylor at +200 for making the Final Four. No. 3 seed Purdue is listed at +350 and No. 4 seed UCLA at +600.
ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale listed the East Region with Kentucky, Baylor, Purdue and UCLA as the nation’s toughest region with the Midwest Region with Kansas the top seed as the weakest region.
But here is why Kentucky fans should love Vitale, who has been battling cancer and unable to be on air, even more — he has Kentucky projected as the national champion.
No, Vitale can’t use his voice but he put his thoughts on huge work boards and shared them on social media.
His Final Four has No. 1 Gonzaga out of the West Region. He went with Kentucky in the East over Baylor.
The other two Final Four teams are surprises. He went with No. 3 seed Tennessee to come out of the South and picked No. 5 seed Iowa in the Midwest. In the national semifinals, Vitale picks UK to knock off Gonzaga and Iowa to beat Tennessee.
That would set up a Kentucky-Iowa matchup for the national title and he likes the Cats in the title game (even if he didn’t list UK center Oscar Tshiebwe as one of the seven “big men on campus” who have the size and skills to be major factors in March Madness).
So my guess is that today Kentucky fans really do think Vitale is “Awesome Baby.”
