The Kentucky Wildcats are 34-0 and have a chance to become NCAA Division I's first undefeated champion since Indiana in 1976. But even if they do, some might not consider this group to be the best that coach John Calipari has had since arriving in Lexington. Who might be such doubters? Perhaps some former Wildcats who take a lot of pride in their own teams.
Consider: Calipari's first team in 2009-10, with John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, won its first three NCAA tournament games by an average of 25 points but lost in the Elite Eight, 73-66 to West Virginia. The 2011-12 team, led by Anthony Davis, won the national championship.
Asked if his Kentucky team would beat Wall and Cousins' squad, Davis had an easy answer.
"For sure," Davis said. "We are proven winners and they're not. They can't compete with us."
Wall and Cousins see it differently.
"They can't beat us," Wall said. "They only say that cause they won a national championship. That's the only reason they that. They couldn't beat us though."
Both the 2009-10 and 2011-12 Wildcats reached March Madness with identical 32-2 records. The Elite Eight loss left Wall and Cousins at 35-3 while Davis' title team finished 38-2.
Cousins felt Davis was letting the different year with different competition factor into his assertion. The older big man shook off Davis' claim.
"Absolutely not," Cousins said of Davis' team being the better of the two. "Their team's too small. Anthony's too light.
Wall went into the x's and o's of the hypothetical matchup.
"DeMarcus is too physical," Wall said. "I was the point guard. Eric Bledsoe was the two guard. We had all the pieces. We just lost the game. They had what it did to take it. They won and we didn't. They would say we were the best, but we'd win. We talk about that all the time."
If this year's Kentucky team, with Karl-Anthony Towns, Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, wins the national title, it will have the added distinction of a perfect season, which could be a trump card in any debate with Wall, Cousins, Davis or anyone else.
"I think so," Davis says of the 2014-15 team potentially going undefeated. "They got the opportunities. They have the talent. They just have to compete."
The competition is sure to get tougher for the Wildcats in March and early April. Potential foes Maryland, Notre Dame, Kansas, Butler and West Virginia await in the Midwest Region. Wisconsin and Arizona could be Kentucky's opponent in the Final Four.
The Wildcats' March Madness journey starts Thursday in Louisville against No. 16 Hampton.
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
