Wisconsin Badgers Vs. Kentucky Wildcats Live Stream: UK Starts 5 Freshman Against Bo Ryan's Badgers In Final Four Showdown

Bo Ryan Wisconsin Kentuck — Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers hope to move past Kentucky when the two meet in the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four. Getty Images

Hoping to move into the championship game against either the Florida Gators or Connecticut Huskies, Kentucky and Wisconsin are making their final preparations before squaring off in the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Final Four. A highly intriguing match-up, the national semifinal between the No. 2 seeded Badgers and No. 8 Wildcats – who won the 2012 National Championship – should serve as a tremendous way to end the Final Four since each team possesses high levels of talent up and down the roster. Confident that his veteran squad will not get distracted by the national spotlight, Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan looks forward to the fresh challenge of playing in the semifinal, especially since coaching in the Final Four will be a first-time experience for him as well.

“This is our first time being to this stage of the tournament,'' the 66-year-old head coach said at the Final Four press conference. “One of the players actually made a comment as we were driving in: 'So, this is the road to the Final Four. I don’t know what it’s going to be like playing in front of 75,000 but once the ball is thrown up, you still have to manage in those first timeouts. You have to manage emotions and energy and try to channel it the right way and get everybody concentrating on what it is we do and don’t try to be somebody we’re not. We try to encourage our players to take in the ambiance and the surroundings, but when it comes time to play, then just be who you are.”

While Bo Ryan leads a veteran squad into AT&T Stadium, National Championship-winning head coach John Calipari hopes to take his young starting five – comprised of five freshman – to the 2014 National Championship game. Drawing comparisons to the famed 1992 University of Michigan squad affectionately referred to as the ‘Fab 5’ thanks to a tremendous group of first-year talent, Calipari says he knew it was just a matter of time before his young team began to work together consistently on the court. Ranked as the preseason No. 1, the Wildcats are now on the cusp of reaching a plateau many expected them to achieve prior to the start of the 2013-2014 season, even without the services of sophomore star Willie Cauley-Stein.

“I never give up on a player,” Calipari said. “I never give up on a team. I just think it's going to take longer. There are times that I get more aggressive. There are times I get more impatient, but I never stop believing. I will never give up on an individual player. Wish we had Willie. Maybe we will. I doubt it, but this would be his game. But he's not here, and if he's not here and he can't play then we've got to do what we have to do, try to figure out our plan will be let's get ready as though he's not playing.”