“Looking back on it, I don’t think Kentucky played very well."

Georgia and Kentucky don't tip it off on the court until tomorrow night, but the psychological warfare has already begun.

In one corner, you have Calipari, who wants his guys to believer Georgia is a Final Four team that could have won at Rupp if only they'd had their best player:

"I've been doing this for 20-some years. And Mark Fox, every game we've played has been one of those games where he's tried things, done things," Calipari said. "He may come out and play zone. He may come out and play man. They may sag. You don't know what he's going to do. He looked at the tape and he's gonna try to exploit us defensively.

"He is one of those coaches that I know when we walk in we better be ready. Our team better be ready. Our staff better be ready. His team will be ready. he's one of the toughest ones to go against that I've been (against) in 20-some years. So that game (at Rupp) doesn't really matter. He didn't have his best player. This is a totally different game."

In the other, you have Fox, who'd like to convince his players that the game in Lexington wasn't actually that close:

“Looking back on it, I don’t think Kentucky played very well. They didn’t have (Trey) Lyles,” said Georgia's Mark Fox, who then pointed out that Kentucky led the entire game, often in double digits. “We got it close, but that game wasn’t close.”

If you're Mark Fox you're trying to find the sweet spot where your kids believe they have a chance but also know it's going to take a fantastic performance to spring the upset.  If you're Calipari, you're just trying to keep your kids motivated to play what is ultimately a meaningless game on the road a mere two weeks before your real season begins.

[Ledger-Enquirer]