John Clay's Sidelines

Big Blue Links for Monday:

New York Post’s Zach Braziller reports a UK target could make his choice Wednesday: “Maurice Harkless returned to the court Sunday afternoon from a broken bone in his left foot, but that isn’t the biggest news the talented 6-foot-7 junior forward will be making this week. Harkless plans to announce his college commitment on Wednesday, choosing between Connecticut, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Kentucky and Fordham.” (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader reports on UK’s Music City Bowl bid:Georgia Tech earned the ACC’s BCS bid by beating Clemson, and the Chick-fil-A Bowl went with a Virginia Tech-Tennessee matchup. But with Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden set to retire at the end of the season, the Seminoles became a hot commodity on the bowl circuit, and the Gator Bowl, which had the next pick among ACC teams, decided to pass up Clemson to host Bowden’s farewell.”

My column on Kentucky making yet another trip to Nashville: “Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart announced Sunday night that from now on the football entity of our local school of higher education will be known by the letters UKMC. That is the University of Kentucky at the Music City. OK, Barnhart didn’t really make that announcement, but he could have, considering that over the past few years (and in future years) the great city of Nashville has turned in to the Cats’ second home.”

Paul Strelow of The State reports on the Clemson bid: Dabo Swinney has nixed concerns over potential Clemson letdowns because he believes the team has sustained its effort level throughout the season. Swinney’s belief will be put to the test in three weeks. The Tigers (8-5) were assigned to face Kentucky (7-5) in the Dec. 27 Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., a rematch of the 2006 meeting there that the Wildcats won 28-20. ‘We’ll get this team ready,’ Swinney said Sunday. ‘I promise you we’ll be ready.’”

Tom Leach talks to Jay Bilas about UK’s win over North Carolina.

Seth Davis has some reservations about DeMarcus Cousins: “One of the reservations I had about Kentucky going into the season concerns Demarcus Cousins’s maturity. I still have those doubts (he clearly lost control of his emotions during the win over North Carolina), but the team is not as dependent on Cousins as I anticipated.”

Brian Rickerd of the State-Journal says there was a reference point for Saturday: “Williams was referring to, arguably, the best 16, 17 minutes of basketball that Kentucky has played since, oh, probably 1996. This came in the first half Saturday when the Wildcats went on a dazzling 28-2 run after North Carolina had jumped out to a 9-2 lead. That put UK on top 30-11 with 8:44 to go before halftime.”

College Hoops writes that John Wall is now frontrunner for POY: “North Carolina’s youngsters made a game of it in the second half but the return of Wall was enough for Kentucky to hang on despite his not looking 100%. Given John’s explosive ability and the prolonged absence of Evan Turner he likely becomes the guy people look to when speaking of Player of the Year favorites.” (Hat tip to Walter’s Wildcat World.)

Aaron’s UK Football Blog has news on commitments: “Four Star Cornerback, Anterio Sloan, has committed to play for Kentucky next season. Sloan had previously been committed to Nebraska before committing to the Cats. Sloan recently received an in-home visit from the UK coaching staff and attended the UNC-UK basketball Saturday.”

Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes on the Music City rematch: “‘I think the purpose of moving up in bowls is (to) play a better opponent,’ UK defensive tackle Corey Peters said. ‘Clemson is just coming off the ACC championship game. They were a few plays away from a BCS game.’”

Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches writes on the bowl breakdown: “‘The important thing is that we are in our fourth straight bowl,’ head coach Rich Brooks said. ‘It’s a surrounding that we’re familiar with. The routine will be a little different since it’s over Christmas holiday, but we are familiar with where we’re going to practice, we’re familiar with the hotel, the meeting rooms, the whole deal, and now we just have to … see if we can keep our bowl string and our non-conference string alive.’”

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel on the Music City Bowl: “‘It definitely could have been a lot worse,’ said UK head coach Rich Brooks about his team’s bowl destination. ‘Just ask a few of the other teams that are going other places, they’re upset they aren’t going where we are. We’re upset that we aren’t going where somebody else is going.’

Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger writes that UK has to be able to play without John Wall: “Kentucky found out what it could be like to have to play without John Wall – and coach John Calipari says that probably was a good thing.”

A Sea of Blue looks at the UNC win in the rear-view mirror: “The first is the play of DeMarcus Cousins. This was a sub-par game for the big guy, and there is no doubt that he knows it. Cousins was obviously very upset with himself on the sideline, even while blaming the officials for the call that generated his benching in the second half.”

Wildcat Blue Blog looks at UK football recruiting: “So it stands to reason that Brooks will have some success on the recruiting trail after four straight winning seasons. After hosting a whole slew of recruits at the UNC basketball game, Rich Brooks got commitments from the 19th and 20th members of the 2010 class.”