NASHVILLE -- There is one reason Kentucky is the king of Southeastern Conference basketball.
It has nothing to do with officiating, but more on that later.
It has nothing to do with coaching.
It has nothing to do bluegrass, thoroughbreds or cheap cigarettes.
It has everything to do with talent. The Wildcats get some of the nation's best talent and they win with it, and while the newly crowned champions of the SEC Tournament are most likely not National Championship talented, they were clearly the best team in the conference.
Sunday, they were the SEC's best team again and looked like they were going to run away with a 68-49 lead.
But Kentucky Coach John Calipari pulled most of his starters and let the air out of the ball with 5:38 to play, and before he could rectify the mistake, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville rallied to within 73-64 with 1:34 to play.
The Razorbacks, most likely, weren't going to come all the way back with Kentucky's starters back on the floor, but the ending was almost as dramatic as if they did.
Two flagrant fouls were called against the Razorbacks in a span of 18 seconds, and the officials were half right.
At 1:02, Dusty Hannahs set a hard screen -- that's all it was -- and his folded arms came up. But by the time they did a Wildcats player was already down and out.
A ridiculous review ensued, and the officials were apparently so horrified that Hannahs arms moved they didn't notice there was just the first knockdown contact, which barely jarred Hannahs, and called a flagrant foul.
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson was vehement in his defense of Hannahs but to no avail.
Kentucky made the free throws, got the ball back and 18 seconds later Moses Kingsley took out Wildcats freshman phenom De'Aron Fox.
It was an aggressive move and Kingsley was called for a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected because he had justifiably received a technical foul in the first half.
His NCAA status should not be affected.
So, Kingsley didn't see the blue, white and yellow confetti fall celebrating the Wildcats' 82-65 victory.
Just like the officials missed seeing a gesture that probably incited the Razorbacks, or perhaps they were protecting a prized freshman Wildcat who led Kentucky in scoring this season.
Twice, once in front of the Arkansas bench, freshman Malik Monk made the slashing the throat sign, which is supposed to be an automatic technical.
Monk, from Lepanto, was obviously pumped to play the Hogs. He's not been greeted kindly in Arkansas since his senior year at Bentonville when he announced he was picking Kentucky over Arkansas.
In defense of that decision, Kentucky is where most one-and-dones go; either Kentucky or Duke.
As for his throat-slash motion in front of the Arkansas bench, it was unnecessary and unneeded.
The Wildcats controlled the game almost from start to finish. They did it the way great teams do with a tenacious defense that gave the Hogs fits.
The Razorbacks had 10 field goals in the first half, five in their half-court offense against a too-quick Kentucky man-to-man defense and five in transition off turnovers.
The Wildcats made 17 of 28 (60 percent) from the floor in the first half and stayed hot until there was about 11 minutes to play.
Monk was held to 17 points and he needed six free throws to get there. If he weren't so good he'd be overrated, but he didn't need to talk trash or use the throat slash to prove it. He does that with his God given talents.
Sports on 03/13/2017