[outdoorsman43]

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.....Losers of three straight, the Cats had played their way onto the outskirts of the NCAA tournament bubble, in danger of missing the Big Dance for the first time since the program was on probation in 1991. With another loss, all those Kentucky fans who take vacation days in March to follow their team might have nowhere to go. Hope was on the ropes.

Not only that, they were on the brink of an all-time low -- their first-ever three-game home losing streak in Southeastern Conference play. Kentucky has been in the conference since 1933, so we're merely talking about a 76-year run.

To stave off historic ignominy, the Wildcats merely needed to slay the program that has owned it and the Southeastern Conference.

Florida had beaten Big Blue seven of the last eight meetings. It has won two national titles and visited three Final Fours since Kentucky last hung a truly significant banner in Rupp. And Florida's coach, Billy Donovan, had spurned an all-out effort by UK to make him its coach in 2007........


...Nick Calathes stood at the foul line with the air vibrating around him.

For those few seconds, the sound in Rupp went beyond intrusive to percussive. It pressed upon the eardrums. It messed with the mind.

The decibel level at Rupp Arena reached epic levels with Nick Calathes at the free throw line with less than a second remaining.It won the game.

"That's the loudest I've ever heard Rupp Arena," said Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks, whose miracle 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left would be the difference between agony and ecstasy.

Meeks is correct, but he's only a kid. I've been attending games here for 21 years, and I've never heard it as loud as the moment when Florida's splendid guard stepped to the line with three shots to tie. Not when Rex Chapman was soaring or Pitino's Bombinos were scoring 100 points. Other longtime Rupp regulars concurred.

It wasn't just loud. It was desperately loud. It was Calathes against all the audio force Kentucky's fandom could throw at him.....

This is beautiful.