UK's Fab Five??

I'll be rooting for UConn, but not really because of this.   The Fab 5 have had their time to shine, and they're known for a lot more than being 5 freshmen that did very well.

(Edited to sound less dickish.  Since I have a habit of sounding dickish)

Kuck Fentucky!!!!

At least not ALL of our freshmen accepted cash and other illegal benefits.

Rooting for UConn. Not because of the 5 freshmen, but because Calipari seems like a jerk. Whenever I have seen his press conferences he always seems to discredit the notion that the other team outplayed his team. It's always "well we didn't do this, or we didn't do that" and one of the things I find endearing about Beilein is his ability to give credit where it's due. 

Rooting for Kentucky. My dad wins like $500 if they win. Some blind pool he bought in to. 

It's a totally different era and game now. Much easier for a freshman to make an impact now in the  in the "one and done" age. The college game is much younger now then back when the Fab Five played, and freshmen are often the best players in the game (look at the draft histories since the age limit rule went into effect).

Records were meant to be broken, and it was only a matter of time until an all freshmen lineup won a championship with the way the draft eligibility rules are setup today. I don't really care who wins tonight but probably leaning Connecticut because Calipari irritates me.

Well, I believe Fab Five is a trademarked term (by Jalen maybe). So no, just like the US women's gynamastics team in 2012 found out, UK legally and technically doesn't have a Fab Five.  Take that, Parrish!

(Edit) - Besides, the Fab Five changed the face of college basketball (and athletic fashion as well).  There is much more to what Webber and Co. accomplished than just hardware in a trophy case.

...it seemed pretty improbable that a starting lineup of freshmen could nearly win the NCAA championship but we also need to consider the context.  It was a different era then and the Fab 5 were battling many senior-laden teams.

In today's context with so many younger players getting into games and then moving to the pros after a year or two, probably it's more surprising that all-freshmen teams haven't yet won a title in this era.

this is just one of the many reasons we are all huskies tonight.

I simply find Kentucky annoying, and don't want them to win.

Having said that, I think we're a bit jealous. Wouldn't almost every team like to have such gifted individuals come to their school?

I'm not sure that Calipari is a jerk. He is just dealing with the hand he has been dealt, and the fact that many one and done players are coming to congregate at UK.

I really wish Michigan or Wisconsin had knocked UK off, but it didn't happen. To their credit, the Michigan players were respectful, and gave UK credit. They dared UK to hit from outside the arc, and they did. What can you say?

I hate Calipari.  Ergo, Go Huskies!

I'll echo some comments above.  The fact is that the Fab Five had a CULTURAL impact.  This was the true differentiator of that team, not just that they were five freshman starters (although that in itself was also unique) that made two national championship games in a row.  

Good for those UK kids.  They're uber-talented and having a great run.  But they aren't, and never will be, on the level of the Fab Five.  

If you don't think so, you are the most naive college basketball fan on the planet. Cheering for the Huskies because I do not want to see the human slime win another championship. 

I agree with most posters. The Fab Five played in a different era. Their impact on and off the court cannot be understated (within the context of college athletics). UK's group are a bunch of highly rated individuals who really underachieved until three weeks ago. The Fab Five came in with high expectations, but no one outside of Ann Arbor wouldve thought that those guys wouldve had the lead at halftime against Duke in the title game. What the Fab Five did was truly incredible. I cant see anyone other than Julius Randle starting on the Fab Five. Rose, King, Howard, and Webber would eat the sad five's cheerios without saying please or thank you.

And Calipari is a used car salesman with a whistle. Hes the same guy who left his team out to dry when they were underperforming this earlier this year. Hes a frontrunner that cheats. He has no ability to develop talent or really even coach a team. Hes pretty much running an NBA prep program like its an AAU team.

I'm rooting for UConn simply because I hate John Calipari.

Rooting for Kentucky.  I would rather have the team that knocked Michigan out of the tournament win than the team that knocked MSU out. 

I'm rooting for UConn, but because Calipari is a scumbag, not because of any threat to the Fab Five's legacy.

Kentucky is a talented team, as we know first hand, and it would be huge accomplishment if they win the title game tonight. That being said, they are NOT the next Fab Five. Winning (or not winning) was only one of the many factors that made our collection of freshmen special. The Fab Five forever changed the culture of college basketball - for better or worse. This UK team, while very talented on the court, has done no such thing.

All of that being said, go Huskies! I couldn't stand the ESS-EEE-SEE winning another title.

(KU, UK - Who's paying attention?)

It took twenty years and two documentaries to come even remotely close. . .  And odds are people won't remember them so much as they'll remember the original fab five after it's done. . .

Sure someone has already said it, but those Duke and Carolina teams are better than anything college basketball has produced since the one-and-done rule has been implemented.

the enduring memories. The Fab Five rocked college basketball for two years; Kentucky. . . not even a discernible playing style, let alone players who compel our attention. The Fab Five was a cultural force!

Kentucky fans and local beat writers will be the only ones who ever refer to this Kentucky group as the Fab 5. Everyone else will always think of Michigan and the way they changed college basketball.

As long as you're completely ignoring any bit of context.

no Kentucky team under Calipari ever will be. Quick, name 3 of the starters from UK's last national title team.....no one remembers any of Kentucky's players. They're just a bunch of hot shots who play a year or two and then go to the NBA.

The Fab Five weren't just 5 really talented freshmen like all of UK's teams are. The Fab Five were different as far as their 'swag' on the court and how they wore their uniforms (black socks, baggy shorts). Kentucky's freshmen have no cultural influence. They're just five freshmen.

KY resident here. 

For what its worth, i've gotten nods of agreement when I tell my coworkers that this team is in no way comparable to the Fab Five and will not be remembered as such down the line.  As someone pointed out above, this team is 5 individuals who didn't decide to start playing anywhere near a team-centric level until tourney time. 

Fab Five 2.0!!!

— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) April 6, 2014

They will never have the impact that the Fab Five had on and off the court. The only time I rooted for a Calipari squad they choked to Kansas. I wanted to see CDR and Memphis get a ring.

Tbh, I never saw the Fab Five play live so I cant really talk. I mean to me, it isnt even a big deal that an all Freshman team in in the National Championship Game.

His argument is bullshit.  

Michigan's Fab 5 was there when the expectation was that the top college players would stay for at least 3 years.  They were going up against some of the best talent and they were all 2-3 years older than them.

UNC's team had 6 McDonald's all americans - 5 of whom were Juniors or Seniors.  Michigan's route went through Jamal Mashburn's junior year at Kentucky in the final 4 as well. 

I think UK has been very impressive in how they reached the final game, but not one game has there been a combination of elite NBA talent at a senior-led team - because quite simply, that doesn't exist in college hoops anymore.  

The Fab Five had to play Duke in the final.  That 1992 Duke team would beat anyone in this tournament by double digits.  That's back when guys like Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, and Christian Laettner actually would play four years.  It's easier to win with freshmen now than it was back then. 

Playing five freshmen against teams were the majority of NBA level leaves as soon as they have the opportunity is not the same as starting five freshmen against teams were NBA talent stayed through thier junior or senior years. I absolutely hate the comparison.

I'll be rooting for UCONN. The main stream media seems to forgot or not even mention how he put two schools on probation before he got to Kentucky.

Sadly, given what we know about Calipari, I think this Fab 5 will ultimately have its legacy just as tarnished in a couple of years.

UCONN is a totally different team

UConn's roster looks nothing like 91-92 Duke or 92-93 UNC.

I am rooting for UConn.

Our Fab Five made it to TWO NC games in a row. 

We can talk about FabFive 2.0 if UK's guys all come back and get to the NC game again.

Meanwhile I hope UConn guards against a 3 pointer at the end of the game.

...I rarely skip the OP, but this is one of those times.

I'll just say this. These guys from UK are AWESOME.

BUT! There will never be another Fab Five.

Culturally it is literally impossible for UK or any other group in the future to even be compared to THE Fab Five.

On the court, sure...go for it. But don't call them the Fab Five because the Fab Five were more than just basketball. They changed SO much in college sports and culture period. So much about the Fab Five has NOTHING to do with sports. In the same way you can look at Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods' legacy off the playing surface and see an impact (just not to that degree, obviously).

I think the fact that when our fab five was playing, the competition was far superior.  Our freshmen were for the most part playing against teams loaded with upperclassmen and the leagues were far deeper.  This Kentucky team has some next level guys for sure but I don't think there really is any comparison between the two.

Kentucky frosh ain't it either. This dude needs to stop biting too...be more original.

... Because they beat all the higher seeded teams they faced. UConn beat the consensus #1 team in the country convincingly in addition to the 2,3,4 seeds in its bracket. Kentucky took three members of last years Final Four (1,2,4 seeds) before Wisconsin, so they both have the requisite mountain of skulls.

As FF2, I agree with the posters above: today's one-and-done rules make it nearly impossible for a team to assemble a resume as good as the original FF. They just won't have anyone as impressive to beat. This iteration also doesn't appear to have five NBA players including two guys who played at All-Star levels for a decade.

Don't really care who wins, they both have game and it should be a good matchup. I don't care if the coaches are idiots; I care somewhat if they're cheaters, and I would care more if they're actually cheating now, but the only evidence of that seems to be Calipari's past, which isn't enough for me.

Perry Watson and, in retrospect, Ed Martin, probably delivered CWebb and Jalen to Michigan.  OTOH, UK's boosters have probably delivered every four or five star to sign with UK since Calipari got there.  

The Fab Five may have had a couple of players get some decent change, but UK has pretty much stopped pretending that they don't want to buy every one and done they need.  The only upside is that they are more than likely buying one or two players a year who would have taken the money in Columbus.

This team had blossomed In the tournament. They very well could outdo the Fab Five. There is only one Fab Five though!!

In the one and done era, Michigan's Fab Five would have crushed all.  Uconn 2014 is no Duke '92 nor UNC '93.

would rather Hold Your Hand, or ask you to Drive My Car, or even Live In A Yellow Submarine, than drive the lane (unless it's Penny Lane).

They also answered to the names John, Paul, George, Ringo, and either Stu or Pete.

I have nothing against the Kentucky Freshman, but the biggest difference between them and the Fab 5 is Everybody who followed College Basketball was able to name all 5 Members of the Fab Five, not many people can name the 5 Freshman of the Kentucky team since Lee has only played 1 minute of this entire tournament before the Michigan Game, and Johnson wasn't too involved in the rotation until late in the season.

    The Kentucky Freshman come in way more Heralded then the Fab 5 accourding to thier All American Rankings out of highschool , but what the Fab 5 did was change the entire landscape of college basketball.

  Because of the Fab Five , the baggy shorts,the bald heads the Blck socks on Black shoes are all still instilled into todays game, and it all changed because of the Fab Five.

Webber, Rose Howard King and Jackson.

no how. this team does not compare to the fab five what so ever. I'll argue that Webber, Howard, and rose are better than any player on UK. not to mention this is a totally different era in college basketball. the fab five played against 4 year seniors not the young squads of today's 1 and dones. the fab five would eat this team alive.