April 1, 2015
It’s been almost 40 years since the last college basketball team went undefeated throughout a season. The 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers were the last to accomplish the feat and 39 years later, the Kentucky Wildcats are hoping to become the latest. Kentucky will head into this weekend’s Final Four game against Wisconsin with a record of 38-0. The Wildcats have been dominant for most of the season, ranking third in the nation for points against.
This will be Kentucky’s 16th trip to the Final Four in school history. It will be the fourth time in the six years under John Calipari as head coach. The Wildcats were previously in the Final Four last season when they took on Wisconsin, the same opponent will take on this year. Last year the average price for Final Four tickets was $891.29. That also included a game between UConn and Florida. This year, the average price for Kentucky Final Four tickets is $1,054.34, 18.2% above last season’s average. In 2014, the Wildcats were a No. 8 seed taking on the No. 2 seed Badgers. Kentucky won 74-73. They would fall to the seventh-seeded UConn Huskies in the championship game, 60-54.
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Last season’s Final Four was played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This year, the host venue will be Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, under 200 miles away from the heart of campus. The close proximity, along with Kentucky’s pursuit of perfection, have helped drive up ticket prices.
Kentucky has won a total of eight national titles, the most recent coming during the 2011-12 season. That year Anthony Davis helped lead the WIldcats to a 69-61 victory over the Louisville Cardinals in the Final Four and a 67-59 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks in the title game.
That team breezed through the NCAA Tournament and this year’s Kentucky team has been even better. The odds are in the Wildcats’ favor to bring home the school’s ninth title, and fans will be paying a premium to see it happen.
