Kentucky and Kansas win the games champions win

Kentucky went into The Hump last night and found themselves down to an undermanned Mississippi State team 67-60 with three minutes left in the game in front of a rowdy crowd.

But Kentucky answered, scoring seven unanswered points in the final 2:45 of regulation before a John Wall and-one gave Kentucky their final lead in the overtime. Kentucky would win 81-75.

"We made plays. We made shots. We made blocks. We did enough to win the game and now we're going to get out of here," Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the game.

On Monday night, Kansas went into College Station and was on the ropes against a tough Texas A&M team after the Aggies made a run to open a 52-48 lead with seven minutes left in the game.

But like Kentucky, Kansas buckled down, holding the Aggies to just two points over the final seven minutes as they took over down the stretch, eventually winning 59-54.

"It's amazing to me that we won the game," Kansas coach Bill Self said after the win Monday. "We won the game muddy. It's probably a good thing for us to know that we can win when it was really a muddy, ugly from an offensive standpoint game."

That's life on the road in conference play. Mississippi State and Texas A&M, unlike Kentucky and Kansas, and competing for their tournament lives. The Bulldogs are probably on the wrong side of the bubble right now, and unless they make a run over the final five games of the regular season or in the SEC Tournament they will be headed to the dead man walking tournament NIT. Texas A&M is in much better shape, but they have been in a similar spot the past two seasons and failed to make it past the first weekend. You don't think they would love to get out of that 8-9 game?

Kansas and Kentucky are without a doubt two of the best teams in the country and the clear cut favorites to win their respective conferences. But, like Louisville and UConn before them, better effort and better coaching can produce an upset.

MSU and A&M were playing in front of a home crowd with their backs against the wall. They both took late leads. And in both games, the better team made the plays down the stretch.

That is what Jayhawks and Wildcat fans should take out of this. Sure, it would have been nice to blow these teams out. But the ability to make big plays and win close games against desperate teams in front of raucous crowds is what separates champions from contenders.