John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Matt Goins)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• On Dan Patrick’s Radio Show, John Calipari says John Wall wants to stay.
• Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader on UK’s freshmen vs. Michigan’s Fab Five freshmen.
• Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader on the UK women opening NCAA play in Louisville.
• Tipton on Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury saying the officials missed a key call late in SEC title game.
• Writing for the Boston Globe, Charles Pierce thinks some Cats have tuned out John Calipari.
• Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant takes a shot at Calipari. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)
• Rick Bozich of the C-J on Kentucky finding a way to win.
• Eric Crawford of the Courier-Journal on UK driving its way to the Big Dance.
• Brett Dawson of the C-J on Kentucky being the kiddie Cats.
• Drew Bruno of the Evansville Courier on UK’s young and restless.
• Stewart Mandel of SI.com thinks Kentucky will make it through to Indianapolis.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Calipari tells Patrick that John Wall wants to stay’

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Scott Dochtermann of the Cedar Rapids Gazette thinks Bruce Pearl will be on Iowa’s wish list.
• Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register has Pearl atop the Iowa search list.
• Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that Tennessee sees itself in San Diego State.
• Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Tennessee’s big challenge.
• Vanderbilt is guarding against that unlucky No. 13 seed, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun reports that Florida’s Billy Donovan took special pride in this NCAA bid.
• David Jones of Florida Today writes that the Gators are giddy about return to tournament.
• Paul Finebaum of the Mobile Press-Register wonders if Anthony Grant really wants to be the coach at Alabama.
• Seth Emerson of The State writes that South Carolina is truly Darrin Horn’s team now.
• Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger reports that a still-steamed Mississippi State is preparing for its NIT game.
• Ole Miss wants to move forward, reports David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal writes that Mississippi State is trying to regroup.
• Tim Tucker of the AJC reports that Georgia wants to start a football season with a game at the Georgia Dome.
• Chris Bahn of Arkansas 360 says comparing John Pelphrey to Nolan Richardson does a disservice to both.

(H-L photo)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Mark Story of the H-L picks Kentucky to win it all.
• Dick Vitale also picks the Cats to cut down the nets at the end.
• Kentucky will face a bumpy road, writes Story.
• Some are calling it a brutal road, reports Jerry Tipton and Ryan Alessi in the Herald-Leader.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal on Kentucky’s No. 1 seed in the East.
• Matt May of the Cats Pause on Kentucky’s seeding and NCAA path.
• The tournament is wide open, writes Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post.
• Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News on Kansas and Kentucky as Goliaths.
• Boogie time in Nashville, writes Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel.
• ESPN.com on DeMarcus Cousins’ crush on Connecticut’s Maya Moore.
• B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel on UK’s tough draw in New Orleans.
• Kentucky kept its emotions in check in Nashville, writes Ray Glier in the New York Times.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky faces a tough road to the top’

SEC links for Monday:

• Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger reports on the double bad day for Mississippi State.
• The madness began on Sunday, writes Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun reports that the committee included Florida after a two-year absence.
• Florida made it with room to spare, writes Jeremy Fowler in the Orlando Sentinel.
• David Jones of Florida Today writes that it was the non-conference schedule that gave the Gators the bid.
• Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald writes that Florida did just enough to get an invite.
• Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports on Tennessee’s No. 6 seed in the NCAAs.
• The truth starts on Thursday, writes Mike Strange of the News-Sentinel.
• David Climer of the Tennessean writes that blowout loss impacted Tennessee’s seed.
• It was a Vol fall, writes Wes Rucker of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Vanderbilt was excited to get a No. 4 seed, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean.
• Ole Miss will start with Troy in the NIT, reports David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Brad Locke of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal on the Rebels and Bulldogs going to the NIT.
• Will the fact that Chuck Person doesn’t have a degree disqualify him for the Auburn coaching job? So asks Ray Melick of the Birmingham News.

This from the in-box:

You might find this interesting. A couple of weeks ago my wife and I were watching Kansas playing somebody. The TV broadcast crew was Bob Knight and Brent Mussberger. During the broadcast and usually during time-outs, they would do promos about upcoming games. They did a couple that day with UK and an upcoming opponent. After the last promo involving UK, my wife said something to the effect: Did you notice that neither Bob Knight or nor Brent Mussberger ever said the word “Kentucky”.

They would dance around it by referring to that first place team in the SEC or something to that effect but, they would not say the word “Kentucky”. Well,we just watched Kansas beat Kansas State and the game was broadcast by Bob Knight and Brent Mussberger. Guess what? They did it again! At no time did they say the word “Kentucky” during a promo. They would say Georgia Tech vs. Duke and Mississippi State vs. the regular season SEC winner but, they would never say “Kentucky”. Think maybe Bob Knight had something to do with that? Our only explanation was that they must suffer from “Wildcat Phobia”. It was kinda funny, really.

(AP photo/Wade Payne)

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

• Kentucky thumps Tennessee to reach finals, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• My column saying that Kentucky proved that it thinks the SEC Tournament does matter.
• Tipton’s notes lead with Mississippi State’s second chance.
• Herald-Leader photo slide show of Kentucky win over Tennessee.
• Kentucky-Tennessee turned into a chipfest, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• David Climer of the Tennessean writes that the blue dust will bother Mississippi State.
• Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel calls Saturday a Big Blue beatdown.
• What went wrong for Tennessee? Almost everything, writes John Adams of the News-Sentinel.
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun writes that Big Blue days are here again.
• A huge 27-4 run helped Kentucky rout the Vols, writes Darrell Bird of the Cats Pause.
• Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Kentucky’s domination.

Continue reading ‘BBL: State stands between UK and SEC crown’

(AP photo/Wade Payne)

SEC links for Sunday:

• Mississippi State’s defense sticks it to Vanderbilt, reports Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Jarvis Varando sparked Mississippi State to the SEC final, writes Ron Higgins in the Commercial Appeal.
• Kevin Stallings takes the blame for Vanderbilt’s loss, writes Joe Biddle of the Tennessean.
• Vanderbilt’s offense ground to a halt, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean.
• Ray Glier of the New York Times reports on State’s victory over Vanderbilt.
• State is focused only on Kentucky, blogs Chris Low of espn.com.
• Randy Kennedy of the Mobile Press-Register on how Auburn basketball lags.
• Bill Bryant of the Huntsville Times writes that Auburn’s problems finally caught up to the now fired Jeff Lebo.
• Florida will spend today awaiting its NCAA fate, reports Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.
• LSU is switching up its secondary, writes Scott Hotard in The Advocate.

Kentucky’s Daniel Orton on what caused him to briefly leave the UK bench.