Just when it seemed safe to go back into the water — the sparkling, March-crisp, crystal-clear pool known as picking the NCAA tournament — the upset sharks returned, taking huge chunks out of the big fish.
Instead of blue (Kentucky) or sunset orange (Syracuse), we have blood in the water and a haze on the horizon.
The Orange were gouged by Cincinnati in the semifinals of the Big East tournament. The Wildcats were stunned by Vanderbilt in yesterday’s SEC title game.
Going into the weekend, Kentucky and Syracuse were the only BCS-conference schools with just one loss. Now 30-1 Murray State remains the only team with one defeat.
There is no safety in this pool. Swim at your own risk.
“My comment to them after is, ‘Maybe I’ll have your attention now,’ ” Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the loss, “and you’re really going to focus in and listen to what I’m saying, how we’re going to have to play these next few weekends.’’
Calipari told his players they had become arrogant.
That same charge could have been leveled at Iona, which lost in the semifinals of the MAAC tournament. But in a shocking selection, the Gaels (25-7) got an at-large berth.
In a more shocking statement, NCAA Selection Committee chair Jeff Hathaway, the former athletic director at Connecticut, said the Gaels were not the last team in, though they will have to face BYU in a first-round game Tuesday in Dayton.
“They had a very good non-conference strength of schedule,” Hathaway said. “They’re a very good basketball team, very good on offense. We think we got that one right.’’
Seton Hall, however, wasn’t as lucky as the Big East got nine teams in. The Pirates (20-12) did not secure an at-large berth, leaving coach Kevin Willard with mixed feelings. He left Iona two years ago for Seton Hall.
The feeding frenzy didn’t stop with the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams going down. Florida State beat North Carolina for a second time this year, this time in the ACC title game. Baylor took out Kansas in a Big 12 semifinal.
So as the NCAA tournament field was unveiled last night, the same fear of wading into the pool of pools returned.
Kentucky (South), Syracuse (East) and North Carolina (Midwest) held on to their No. 1 seeds but suddenly they seem vulnerable. Michigan State, which outlasted Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, took advantage of the loss by Kansas to snag the No. 1 seed in the West.
The Wildcats, though they retained the No. 1 overall seed, might have done themselves the most harm. They face a potential third-round game against defending NCAA champ UConn and a possible regional semifinal against Indiana.
Until yesterday’s collapse, Kentucky’s only loss was at Indiana on a last-second 3. Kentucky-Indiana is a hoops holy war.
Kentucky also could face Duke in a regional final flooded with subplots. Calipari is on a quest to win his first NCAA title. Duke coach Mike Krzyz-ewski is going for his fifth. No doubt it will be billed — unfairly — as a matchup of everything right in college basketball against everything wrong.
Syracuse, which will open in Pittsburgh on Thursday against North Carolina-Asheville, limped out of the Big Apple. Seniors Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine did not show up for either game.
“The tournament that starts next week is the only one that matters,’’ coach Jim Boeheim said. “Nothing else matters anymore in college basketball.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com