The Kentucky Wildcats took care of business Tuesday night at home, defeating the Bellarmine Knights in Lexington, 60-41. After the game, Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari spent some time talking about the idea that the NCAA should waive the waiting time for Bellarmine's eligibility for the NCAA Tournament.
Via Jeff Drummond of Cats Illustrated:
“Kentucky‘s John Calipari went to bat for Bellarmine and said the NCAA should do the right thing for their kids and waive the rule about eligibility for the tourney. Speaking after Cal, Scotty Davenport sounded a bit emotional praising Cal for speaking out for his kids”
Bellarmine is still considered to be in a transitional phase from a Division II school to a Division I member, which means that the Knights are not yet eligible to join the March Madness. This is because the NCAA has a rule that prevents teams from gaining spots in the National Tournament for the first four years after reclassification to a Division I school. That rule has been put under the microscope recently, with Bellarmine winning the ASUN Tournament title last season. That would have had the Bellarmine going dancing in the National Tournament as an auto-bid, but the aforementioned rule denied the Knights of that chance.
In contrast, Kentucky basketball is a perennial candidate to win the National Championship and is a fixture in March Madness.
Calipari must also be impressed with the performance of Bellarmine despite the blowout. For one, the game was tied at the half before Kentucky basketball flexed its muscle and broke away in the second half.
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