A warning to the next college basketball team that ascends to No. 1 in the polls: If President Barack Obama makes a congratulatory call, you might want to think twice about accepting it.
The top-ranked and previously undefeated Kentucky Wildcats answered Obama's call on Tuesday morning, and were promptly upset that evening, 68-62, by South Carolina.
Kentucky was the nation's last unbeaten team.
In the 24 hours preceding Wednesday night's game at New Mexico, the BYU Cougars had the longest winning streak in the land, 15 games, and were tied with Syracuse for the best record in Division I hoops, 20-1.
Regardless of the outcome in the Pit, the No. 12-ranked Cougars were in no jeopardy of being ranked No. 1, though, and probably couldn't expect a phone call from the commander in chief anyway.
Unless, of course, they do something as gracious and commendable as Kentucky did.
The Wildcats actually got the call from the president not for their exploits on the court but for helping to raise more than $1 million during the "Hoops for Haiti" telethon. Oddly enough, the president cautioned the 'Cats about letting down, as the top-ranked teams before them, Texas and Kansas, had done.
"There is that tendency once you get to No. 1 to let down a little bit," Obama said, then told the players he was proud of what they did to aid the victims of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti.
Other college basketball programs across the country have also joined in the effort to raise funds for Haiti: Notre Dame's men's and women's programs reportedly raised $250,000 for the impoverished country.
DeMarcus Cousins, a Kentucky freshman, reportedly told Obama that he was looking forward to visiting the White House, a ritual reserved for NCAA champions, to which the president replied, "The way things are going, that may happen."
But then South Carolina -- and specifically guard Devan Downey -- happened.
Downey outplayed much-hyped Kentucky guard John Wall, who will probably be the first player selected in this summer's NBA Draft, by scoring 30 points while Wall had just 19. Downey did throw up 29 shots, making only nine.
Kentucky coach John Calipari deserves no sympathy after leaving NCAA violation messes at Memphis and, before that, Massachusetts. But there's some sadness here for Wildcats fans, seeing as how their program attained the No. 1 ranking on Monday for the first time since 2003, but will surely lose it to Kansas, Villanova or Syracuse in four days.
Kentucky, famous locally for knocking off Utah several times in the NCAA Tournament, including the 1998 national championship game, was off to its best start since its 1965-66 team opened with 23 straight wins. It was just the third time in school history that the Wildcats had started a season with 19 straight victories.
Calipari became only the second coach in college basketball history to get three schools to the top of the polls, joining Frank McGuire (North Carolina, South Carolina, St. John's).
"I'm just trying to tell our guys it's not a burden, it's a badge of honor," Calipari said on ESPN Monday night. "It's something to take pride in, but now there's a bigger bull's-eye."
Especially when the president calls.
