Kentucky is undefeated with 36 victories, has been ranked No. 1 all season, and is getting ready to breathe fire all over the 15 chumps left in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, beginning with West Virginia tomorrow. And they still relax with those old hotel-room staples — a Nintendo 64, and Super Smash Bros.
In this episode of Kentucky Wildcats TV, the athletics department's YouTube channel for the hoops program, Andrew Harrison explains how Super Smash Bros. came to be the Wildcats' pastime. Alex Poythress, the McDonald's all-American who tore knee ligaments back in December, brings a Nintendo 64 along on road trips so he, Harrison, E.J. Floreal and Brian Long can play Smash Bros. Eventually the foursome got the rest of the team roped into a never-ending round robin.
"I don't even remember playing it as a kid, that's how old it is," Harrison admits. He was five years old when the game launched in 1999.
"When you're stuck in your room in a hotel all day, this is fun," Harrison added. "This is relaxing, and gets your mind focused on basketball."
Naturally, Harrison and his brother,Aaron, who are twins, play as, yep, Mario and Luigi.
Kentucky, seeded first in the Midwest (Cleveland) regional, is a Vegas favorite to win the national championship and become the first team since Indiana in 1976 to complete an undefeated season winning an NCAA tournament title.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed Andrew Harrison's remarks. The story has been revised throughout.
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