John Clay's Sidelines

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• My Monday column saying Joker Phillips’ important work now is recruiting.
• UK volleyball extends its NCAA Tournament appearance streak, reports Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.
• UK basketball target Trevor Lacey enjoyed his trip to Alabama, reports the Tuscaloosa News. (Hat tip Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog)
• Kentucky’s football fall was foiled by lost chances, writes Eric Crawford of the Courier-Journal.
• UK’s special teams have not been very special, writes Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun.
• Chandler Howard of the Kentucky Kernel writes that the Cats have few words for disappointing season.
• Kentucky’s basketball signees are looking at the big picture, reports Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Kentucky football failed to seize its opportunities, writes Wildcat-Den.
• KSR looks at the rest of UK basketball’s non-conference schedule.
• The season ends ugly for Kentucky football, writes Ira Combs for the Kentucky Sports Network.

SEC links for Monday:

• Auburn takes No. 1 BCS rankings spot from Oregon, reports Evan Woodbery of the Mobile Press-Regsiter.
• Two SEC division winners were not the picks at the beginning, writes Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
• Auburn hopes playing South Carolina again will turn out twice as nice, writes Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser.
• South Carolina playing some of its best football going into title game, reports Travis Haney of the Charleston Post and Courier.
• Florida knocks off Florida State in basketball, reports Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.
• John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that bowl trips can sometimes go bad.
• Urban Meyer says Florida’s rebuilding project begins now, writes Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun.
• Houston Nutt denies reports linking him to Colorado job, reports the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
• Mark Richt says he has no interest in Miami opening, reports Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• For every Iron Bowl winner there is a loser, writes Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

In a one-on-one matchup of former John Calipari point guards, Derrick Rose got the better of Tyreke Evans on this play.

(Hat tip to Slam Online)

Here’s the audio of my talk with UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart outside the interview room once Kentucky had lost 24-14 to Tennessee, ending the Cats disappointing regular season at 6-6.

Barnhart said he believes UK is close, that it’s hard to get to the next step, and (oddly) mentioned that Texas had suffered a bad season. He also complimented first-year coach Joker Phillips on his discipline, and said the team needs to get where both the offense and defense are at the same level in terms of depth and talent. One year, the offense is good, the defense is not. The next year, it’s the other way around.

Click here to listen to the interview (4:25).

Kentucky quarterback Mike Hartline talks to media after the Cats’ loss at Tennessee.

Sure looks to me like Kentucky is headed to Birmingham for the BBVA Compass Bowl on Jan. 8, 2011.

But my guess is the Cats will play South Florida, not Louisville.

My bowl projections:

• BCS title game: Auburn vs. Oregon
• Sugar Bowl: Arkansas vs. Ohio State
• Capital One Bowl: South Carolina vs. Michigan State
• Outback Bowl: LSU vs. Iowa
• Cotton Bowl: Alabama vs. Oklahoma
• Gator Bowl: Florida vs. Illinois
• Chick-fil-A Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Florida State
• Liberty Bowl: Georgia vs. SMU
• Music City Bowl: Tennessee vs. North Carolina
• BBVA Compass Bowl: Kentucky vs. South Florida

For UK fans, check out the Notre Dame-Wisconsin game. Kentucky faces the Irish on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at Freedom Hall in the SEC-Big East Challenge. Of course, Florida-Florida State (Billy Donovan vs. Leonard Hamilton) figures to be interesting, as well.

(H-L photo/Amy Wallot)

Quick question after Kentucky’s loss to Tennessee on Saturday centered on Randall Cobb and the NFL?

Will he stay at UK? Or will he go?

Chip Cosby of the H-L reports that Cobb has until Jan. 15 to decide.

If I were voting, I would say he is leaving.

What do you think?

(AP photo)

Big news Saturday night was Miami taking the axe to head coach Randy Shannon after the ‘Canes loss to South Florida. And in such situations, doesn’t take long for the speculation machine to start humming.

Two names receiving a large amount of play: Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen and Louisville’s Charlie Strong.

Mullen is well-known to Miami fans for his tenure as offensive coordinator at Florida. All the Gators did was win a pair of national championships during Mullen’s stay. And the Florida offense has turned into a popgun since he departed for Starkville. Meanwhile, Mullen has State in a bowl game in just his second season.

Continue reading ‘Dan Mullen, Charlie Strong high on Miami list?’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Lexington Herald-Leader photo gallery from Saturday’s game.

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

• Missed chances lead Kentucky to fall to Tennessee for 26th straight year, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• My column saying the Cats flubbed a season for the taking.
• Tennessee’s hold on Kentucky remains unbreakable, writes Mark Story of the H-L.
• The Vols make it 26 and counting, writes Matt May of the Cats Pause.
• Goal-line fumble gave Tennessee new life, writes Michael Grant of the Courier-Journal.
• Tennessee again plays Orange crush with the Cats, writes Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Tom Leach says it was a case of lost opportunity for the Cats.
• Randall Cobb faces big decision on future, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• A familiar feeling for the Cats, writes Jeff Drummond of Big Blue 247.
• Might Danny Trevathan be thinking about the NFL? wonders Tailgate Review.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Knocked down in Knoxville once again’