West Virginia Gets Cocky Before March Madness Game Against Undefeated Kentucky

West Virginia freshman Daxter Miles Jr. made a bold prediction to the media on Wednesday when he guaranteed that his team would beat undefeated Kentucky in their sweet 16 matchup Thursday night.

“[I] salute them to getting to 36-0. But tomorrow they’re gonna be 36-1,” Miles declared out of either confidence or hubris.“They should be more intimidated. Because they’re the ones who have the high standard, and we’re coming for them.” He went on to say the Wildcats wouldn’t be able to pass the ball under the Mountaineers’ press.

West Virginia, a 5 seed , has just a 13% chance of snapping 1 seed Kentucky’s streak, according to Nate Silver’s predictions at FiveThirtyEight. And bettors have the Wildcats as a 13-point favorite over the Mountaineers.

Even West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was careful to hedge Miles’ claims. “I don’t know,” he said when asked if the press could stop Kentucky. “I hope so. It’s going to be a long day for us if we can’t.”

But who knows. With Miles’ conviction, March Madness could just get that mad. Kentucky and WVU play on Thursday at 9:45 p.m. EST.

[ESPN]