"This is all house money": Oakland HC Greg Kampe remains unfazed ahead of First Round matchup against Coach Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats 

Even if coach Greg Kampe and his 14-seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies are massive underdogs against 3-seed Kentucky Wildcats, he's confident that his team could overcome all odds.

An ecstatic Kampe said in a recentl press conference that he's excited about the chance for his team to prove themselves against one of the best teams in the nation:

Here`s an excerpt of his words:

"Getting Kentucky in this Tournament is the greatest thing for Oakland because we cut the nets down in our league tournament, we got to stand under the confetti. We got our moment, now this is all house money."

Oakland got into this year`s NCAA Tournament largely because of their recent win in the Horizon League conference title game, where they took down the Milwaukee Milwaukee Panthers, 83-76. This year is the first time in over a decade that the Golden Grizzlies are in the Big Dance, having last made the Tournament in 2011.

Greg Kampe will have another chance to take Oakland further than they`ve ever been in Division 1 NCAA competition. Overall, the Golden Grizzlies have appeared in four D1 NCAA Tournaments including this year.

Their previous berths were in 2005, 2010 and 2011 as previously mentioned. During that span, they`ve never made it out of the first round and were never seeded higher than 13.

It`s also worth noting that Greg Kampe is the nation`s longest-tenured active college basketball coach in D1 NCAA men`s hoops (via the Detroit Free Press). He first took the reins of Oakland around 40 years ago and hasn't left since then.

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Should Kentucky be wary of Greg Kampe and Oakland?

Every high-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament should always be wary of potential upsets. John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats squad is no different, and Greg Kampe`s confidence about Oakland`s chances in the first round should speak for itself.

The Golden Grizzlies match up quite well with the Wildcats in the frontcourt, having the advantage in power forwards and being even with the centers (via Yahoo Sports). They fall behind in the two-guard spot but match up evenly at the one, but Kentucky has the clearly deeper bench.

On paper, the Wildcats should have the advantage, but this is a matchup that could be too close to call for the boys from Lexington. What it means is that they cannot afford to fall asleep on the wheel and keep their foot on the gas the entire game.