NEWARK, N.J. — Kentucky coach John Calipari made a comment on his radio show this week that Ohio State wants to be Kentucky.Misunderstood by other fan bases, the quote was a reflection of the totality of the two programs, a comparison of their history and tradition. It didn’t sit well with some because the reality of the current situation — Kentucky wants to be in Ohio State’s position this year. UK wants to be the top dog again.Meeting Friday in the Sweet 16, the fourth-seeded Cats will face the No. 1 overall seed Buckeyes in an unfamiliar position as the underdogs. Over the long history of the NCAA Tournament, it has generally been Kentucky — not Ohio State — that enjoys both the spoils and pressures of being the favorite.The Cats say they’ve noticed.  “Everybody expects us to lose,” freshman forward Terrence Jones.And Jones doesn’t necessarily disagree with the majority’s perception.”They had a better season than us,” Jones said. “They’re playing better.”Ohio State enters Friday’s primetime matchup at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. as the odds-on favorite to cut down the national championship nets in April. At 34-2 on the season with an average winning margin of 18.0 points per game, it’s easy to see why the Buckeyes are so highly touted.As one of the few elite teams in college basketball this season, the Buckeyes own the best freshman in college basketball, center Jared Sullinger (17.1 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game), along with one of the most balanced supporting casts in the nation. Veterans Williams Buford, Jon Diebler and David Lighty all average 12.1 or more points a game, and freshman point guard Aaron Craft is one of the top assist men in all of college basketball.”We haven’t watched a whole lot of film yet,” UK freshman point guard Brandon Knight said of Ohio State. “I just know they’re a good team with a lot of great players. They’re the best team in the country right now.”The position of underdog seems to be a role the Wildcats, winners of their last eight games, are enjoying.”We’ve been the underdogs the last two games,” freshman guard Doron Lamb said. “We’re used to that. We just have to prove everybody we’re the best team.”For once, the pressure of the expectations to advance isn’t on Kentucky. Last year, it seemed like a formality that No. 1 seed UK would at least make it to the Final Four. When the Cats didn’t, it resulted in major disappointment across the program and state.This year’s situation is a little different. Just by pure seeding, Kentucky isn’t expected to advance past this round. Add to that the fact that UK is going up against the No. 1 overall seed and it appears to make things that much more dire.Not that you could tell by looking at Kentucky.
The Cats appear looser than they’ve ever been. The players are joking with one another, the coaches are smiling and a quiet confidence — one similar to what West Virginia had a year ago against UK — seems to be building. “Guys are growing closer together over the season on and off the court,” Knight said. “Guys are starting to hang out with each other more off the court. We are talking to each other more. It shows we’re growing up.”For a coach who likes to tout Kentucky as everybody’s Super Bowl in the regular season, Calipari is doing his best to say the right things and downplay the underdog role. It’s a role, though, that is right up his alley.”We are worried about us,” Calipari said. “We are worried about us playing well. We’ll give them what they need to play this game. But to this point, we have been focused on us and I am not worried about who is favored, who is not favored, who is the underdog or who is the favorite. Non of that matters in this stuff.

“There is so much more that goes into it and players dealing with all this other stuff. An inexperienced team like mine, it is hard to predict how they will come out and do that with the lights on the way they are.”The Buckeyes don’t appear to be uptight with their role as the pick to win it all, but they say they’re wary of the spotlight. Ohio State coach Thad Matta said last year’s loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16 heightened their awareness for how good the opposition is at this stage in the tournament.”I think these guys have done a much better job of not buying into all the hype that goes along with this,” Matta said. “I think they have a better understanding of, regardless of what happens tomorrow night, (that) if we don’t come to play well, it’s all irrelevant. It’s one of the things we tried to do with our guys, is really tune out the best that they can everything that’s going on around the outside and just concentrate on what’s on the inside and things that we can control.”But Kentucky’s players wouldn’t mind if the fans and the media continue to butter up the bustling Buckeyes.”I don’t think that matters what people say before the games,” Jones said. “That’s how upsets are created.”Upset and Kentucky in the same sentence? On Friday night, we’ll find out who truly is the better team.”I know they’re one of the top teams, but we’ve been playing so well, I think we’re one of the top teams, too,” Jones said.