John Clay's Sidelines

Just a few morning notes as we make the way to the swamps of Jersey:

- Press conferences and open practices are today at the Prudential Center in Newark. Here is the schedule:

• Open Practices
  • Noon – 12:50 p.m. Marquette
  • 1:00 – 1:50 p.m. Kentucky
  • 2:10 – 3:00 p.m. North Carolina
  • 3:10 – 4:00 p.m. Ohio State
• Interviews
  • 1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Marquette
  • 1:30 – 2:00 p.m. North Carolina
  • 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Kentucky
  • 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Ohio State

- I’m traveling this morning, but understand that some of my colleagues, who left yesterday, had problems getting to the East Coast and ended up short of Newark. Wish me luck.

- Temperatures in Newark are supposed to be in the 40s all weekend. We’re not in Tampa anymore.

- My predictions for tonight: In New Orleans, Florida will find a way to contain Fredette and beat BYU. Meanwhile, Shelvin Mack will turn in another monster game, and avoid any late “dumb” fouls, and Butler will beat Wisconsin. In Anaheim, Connecticut will ride Kemba Walker to a victory over Steve Fisher and San Diego State. Arizona will give Duke absolute fits, but the Blue Devils will prevail thanks to Kyrie Irving.

- Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes on what Jay Bilas has to say about the Kentucky-Ohio State matchup. Gametime is 9:45 p.m. Friday on CBS. Bilas says it will take an extraordinary effort for the Cats to beat the Buckeyes. But on the same teleconference, Fran Fraschilla seemed a bit more optimistic about the Kentucky cause. Fran said he will be interested to see how John Calipari prepares his team for the challenge.

- You can find audio clips of Jay from yesterday here.

- My random notes column for the print edition today deals with a variety of NCAA Tournament issues.

- One nagging thought about Friday concerns Ohio State’s William Buford. He’s sort of the forgotten man in the Buckeyes’ attack. And he’s good, a hard-to-guard guy who gets his points. Buford had 18 in the drubbing of poor George Mason on Sunday. If you double Jared Sullinger inside, or try and take away OSU’s perimeter marksman, you must still account for Buford, who can slash to the basket.

- Other thing that struck me in watching Ohio State on Sunday, those guys can pass the basketball. Point guard Aaron Craft, who comes off the bench, recorded 15 assists against just two turnovers.

- Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes that Kentucky is not the only team loaded with talented freshmen.

- One thing is for sure, Kentucky cannot afford foul trouble on Friday.

- Doug Lesmeries of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer writes that Calipari and Thad Matta are getting a lot done with one.

- Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times writes on Jared Sullinger.

- Wish that John Pelphrey had succeeded at Arkansas, but Mike Anderson is a great hire for the Razorbacks. Anderson will employ the uptempo style Arkansas fans have missed since Nolan Richardson was forced out. He’ll be able to recruit and make a splash in the SEC West. The league is better when Arkansas is good, as proven in Richardson’s glory days when it seemed like the entire state followed their beloved Razorbacks to the SEC Tournament.

- Did you see Tennessee’s wish list for a new basketball coach? Jamie Dixon, Jay Wright, Mark Turgeon, Gregg Marshall and Anthony Grant. As someone said yesterday on the Houston Chronicle NCAA chat, why didn’t the Vols add Coach K and Morgan Freeman, as well. Given the probable NCAA probation, Tennessee is going to have to lower the bar a bit.

- The Kernel’s Aaron Smith, a kid after my own statistical heart, breaks down how John Wall and Brandon Knight got their points.

- OK, we’re getting ready to board. Be back with more later.