John Clay's Sidelines

Scott Fitzpatrick has foresight.

Before Kentucky’s football season even got off the ground, Fitzpatrick stared “The Wildcat Winning Streak Against Tennessee Begins: November 28, 2009″ page on Facebook.

It’s now up to nearly 1,000 members.

If you’re a member of Facebook, he’d love for you to help him put the number over the top.

Here’s the link.

Alfonso Smith is among UK

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes on UK’s senior football class: “But as Smith and 25 other seniors prepare for their final home game against Tennessee, they’ll leave as one of the most successful senior classes in Kentucky history. They’re the first to go to four straight bowl games and, if they can pull off the win, they’ll finish an unprecedented second place in the SEC East and win eight games in the regular season for the first time since 1984.”

• Mark Story of the Herald-Leader writes that Alcoa, Tennessee is split: “Yet, this week, the most talked about face on the wall is the one who supplies a speck of blue amid the orange. Go Cats! is the salutation Randall Cobb signed on the picture of himself in his blue No. 18 Kentucky jersey that hangs in the main lunch spot of his hometown.”

• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes on DeMarcus Cousins: “ky Coach John Calipari kept emphasizing that the victory would not have come without DeMarcus Cousins’ contributions. The problem was, Stanford came close to being able to say the same thing.”

• Dexter Castro of Coaches Aid gets Brandon Knight’s thoughts on UK: “‘Something I don’t like is that they’re just trying to rebuild their program. I’m not quite too sure where they could end up going with it. Something I do like is they have a good new coach, a lot of good new recruits and it looks like they’re headed in the right direction.’” He could think of no cons for Florida. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

• CBS SportsLine’s Gary Parrish continues his man-crush on John Wall: “It was an awesome display of talent and poise, and it’s what allowed Kentucky to ultimately escape with a 73-65 victory over Stanford in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge. Wall finished with 23 points and five assists in 45 minutes. The freshman point guard is now averaging 19.8 points and 6.6 assists per game.”

• Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal reports that C.J. Leslie will play in Lexington: “On Jan. 8, LexCath will host Word of God Academy from Raleigh, N.C., which features top University of Kentucky target C.J. Leslie before hosting the six-game Dunkin Donuts National Classic and playing North Oldham on Jan. 9.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Preparing for Kentucky’s Senior Night’

SEC links for Friday:

• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun previews today’s Florida-Michigan State hoops matchup.
• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Tennessee has protected Jonathon Crompton well.
• Mark Bradley of the AJC writes that there’s a grim big picture at Georgia.
• Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald reports on Georgia’s challenge facing Georgia Tech offense.
• Tommy Deas of the Tuscaloosa News thinks Alabama’s Mark Ingram may be on the verge of Hesiman history.
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News writes that Gene Chizik is back in the Iron Bowl.
• Ron Morris of The State writes that a change is needed in South Carolina’s rivalry.
• In the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Mike Griffith writes it’s not personal, it’s business for Bruce Pearl.
• Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger writes on Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon.
• David Jones of Florida Today writes that seniors add legacy for Urban Meyer.

A tweet last night from Jared in Bowling Green:

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Happy Turkey Day:

• Jerry Tipton of the H-L reports from Cancun on the Cats’ overtime win over Stanford: “Calipari noted how a coach can learn about his team and his players in a pressure-cooker game.’I think we’ve got two guys who are not afraid to make plays,’ he said of Wall and Bledsoe. Later, the UK coach added Harris and Patterson to the freshman guards as players who won his trust.”

• Jerry’s notes from Cancun: “Because Kentucky fans bought almost 500 ticket packages, tournament officials moved the court to a North-South configuration. The rectangular court sits in the middle of a rectangular ballroom. That provided room for seven rows of bleachers behind the benches, six rows behind the opposite sideline and seven more rows behind each end line.”

• Mark Cornelison’s slide show from Cancun.

• Tom Leach has video of Calipari’s post-game press conference.

• Chip Cosby of the H-L reports that Tennessee is coming together: “Tennessee comes into Commonwealth with an unremarkable 6-5 record, but the Volunteers are a much different team now than they were in September. They easily beat Georgia and South Carolina and came within a blocked field goal of knocking off No. 2 Alabama. The only recent hiccup was a 42-17 loss at Mississippi that came on the heels of three players being arrested for attempted armed robbery.”

• Dave Hooker of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports UT can’t believe Randall Cobb got away: “Want to know what type of impact Randall Cobb will have on the Tennessee-Kentucky game on Saturday? Just check the scoreboard. ‘I think you’re talking about potentially a 14 to 21 point difference in one player about whether he was signed at Tennessee or went to Kentucky,’ UT coach Lane Kiffin said this week.”

• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press also writes on Cobb: “The Knoxville-area native, who stunned Tennessee by picking the Wildcats over his childhood favorite Volunteers, is potentially a pesky problem looming in the near horizon. Whether he lines up at receiver, special-package quarterback or return specialist, Cobb drives the Wildcats.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cats escape Cancun, Cobb escapes Tennessee’

Monte Kiffin

SEC links for Happy Turkey Day:

• In the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Austin Ward reports that Tennessee wants to tame Kentucky’s wildcat.
• David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes on Lane and Monte Kiffin.
• Wes Rucker of the Times Free Press reports on the Tennessee kicker try-out.
• Writing for the Advocate, Adam Zagoria reports on LSU’s lopsided loss to Connecticut in the NIT.
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News writes that Auburn’s Ben Tate is making memories, while Bama’s Mark Ingram is making history.
• Also in the News, Ray Melick writes that Tate shouldn’t apologize for thinking he’s the best.
• Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser reports that Auburn is eager to face Alabama defense.
• Mark Bradley of the AJC writes that Georgia fans tell Tech fans to shut up and deal.
• ESPN’s Chris Low breaks down the SEC quarterbacks.

• Continue reading ‘SEC links: Tennessee wants to stop UK’s wildcat’

Update: Stats have been corrected after box UK posted last night had given a Miller three-pointer to Wall.

Here are Kentucky’s game-by-game stats through Stanford game:

• Kentucky’s game-by-game individual stats in Excel, using Google Docs.

• Kentucky’s game-by-game team stats in Excel, using Google Docs.