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Kentucky and Louisville are both in action on the tube tonight. U of L plays host to Georgetown on ESPN2. Kentucky plays host to Lamar on ESPNU.

Five quick thoughts on the new UK football schedule:

1. Mississippi State will make a return visit to Commonwealth Stadium. After playing at UK last season, beating the Cats 28-16 in that black-out game, the Bulldogs give up the return home game for a second straight trip to Lexington. Mississippi State is Kentucky’s “permanent” or yearly opponent from the SEC West. From UK’s point of view, that’s a good thing. The two programs have been fairly equal over the last few years.

2. The defending national champs will not be coming to Commonwealth. That would have been the case under the old schedule, if LSU beats Alabama in the BCS title game. But after beating Joker Phillips’ team 35-7 this past season in Baton Rouge, LSU’s return game to Lexington has been scrapped under the new schedule.

3. The way the schedule is now set up, Kentucky will now be visiting the two Columbias in the same year. UK plays host to South Carolina in 2012, travels to Missouri. For comparison sake, the distance from Lexington to Columbia, Missouri for the Oct. 27 game against Mizzou is 463 miles. The distance from Lexington to Columbia, South Carolina is 433 miles.

4. Kentucky’s off date has been time-shifted to later in the year. UK was supposed to have an open date on Sept. 22, but that has now been filled by a road game at Florida. Instead, the Cats will have an open week on Nov. 10, just before a home game with Samford and the season-finale at Tennessee.

5. If Kentucky could win at Louisville in the opener — a tough task — the Cats should be 3-0 heading to Florida on Sept. 22. It gets tough from there, especially considering that Arkansas replaces Ole Miss as UK’s “other” SEC West foe in 2012. Aside from the Mississippi State game on Oct. 6, it could be tough for UK to get a win before it travels to Missouri on Oct. 27. And the Tigers are coming off a beat-down of North Carolina in the Independence Bowl. Joker Phillips could be 3-5 going to Mizzou needing a strong finish to be bowl eligible.

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Update: Kentucky confirms new schedule. See after jump.

The SEC has just released the new conference football schedules for 2012, which incorporates new members Texas A&M and Arkansas.

Here is UK’s conference slate:

• Sept. 22:  at Florida
• Sept. 29:  SOUTH CAROLINA
• Oct. 6:  MISSISSIPPI STATE
• Oct. 13:  at Arkansas
• Oct. 20:  GEORGIA
• Oct. 27:  at Missouri
• Nov. 3:  VANDERBILT
• Nov. 24:  at Tennessee

Enes Kanter’s NBA debut consisted of snatching 11 rebounds in 21 minutes during the Utah Jazz’s 96-71 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

Kanter, who had not played in a real game in the United States since a high school game in 2010, made just one of seven shots from the floor. He did make three of four free throws and blocked a shot. He finished with five points.

Kanter was far from the only Jazz player to have a hard time finding the basket. Al Jefferson went two-for-16. C.J. Miles was 1-for-8. That added up to the Jazz’s second biggest opening game loss, in terms of margin, in franchise history.

Elsewhere, Rajon Rondo had 22 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in Boston’s loss at Miami. DeMarcus Cousins scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but hit just seven of 18 shots, in Sacramento’s loss at Portland. Chuck Hayes also had 11 rebounds, but just four points, for the Kings. (Tyreke Evans had just four points and five turnovers.)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• Davis comfortable with Spiderman role, writes Elena Bergeron of ESPN.
• Lamar faces No. 3 Kentucky, reports Beaumont Enterprise.
• Kidd-Gilchrist much like Tebow, reports Jerry Tipton of H-L.
• Kidd-Gilchrist is ready to lead, reports Eric Lindsey of CoachCal.com.
• MKG is back on the case, writes James Pennington of Cats Pause.
• No kidding in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, reports Brett Dawson of Cats Illustrated.
• MKG excels despite mother’s illness, reports Jon Hale of Ky Forward.
• Pat Knight adopts father’s strategy, reports Tipton.
• Former Dunbar star faces UK women, reports Jen Smith of H-L.
• UK focusing on (Lamar) Cardinals, writes Kyle Tucker of C-J.

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Schools seeking to override rule for multi-year scholarships, reports AP.
• Ex-IU commit Kiel pledges to LSU, reports Jim Kleinpeter of Times-Picayune.
• Georgia scrapes by Winthrop, reports Chris Starrs of Banner-Herald.
• State faces tough test from Baylor, reports Brad Locke of Daily Journal.
• UT saving money by missing bowl, reports Megan Boehnke of News-Sentinel.
• Rodgers road to bowl full of twists, reports Greg Sullivan of Tennessean.
• Chizik simplifies Auburn’s defense, reports Joel Erickson of Ledger-Enquirer.
• Will Auburn give Frazier a longer look in bowl? asks News’ Charles Goldberg.
• Auburn needs to end year like it began, writes Joe Medley of Anniston Star.
• Crowell under weather for first practice, reports Chip Towers of AJC.

Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist talked to the media before the first of Tuesday’s two practices.

Not exactly a voluminous slate of college basketball games tonight, but they are all interesting. Trying to rebound from its loss to Wagner, Pittsburgh travels to Notre Dame. Tubby Smith and Minnesota open Big 10 play at Illinois. And Wisconsin travels to Lincoln to welcome Nebraska to Big 10 basketball.

We’re experimenting with a livestream this morning at the UK basketball media opportunity. Matthew Mitchell at 11:45. John Calipari at noon. Until then, pay no attention to Western Kentucky’s Ken McDonald.

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Noel visiting Louisville for Georgetown game, reports Jeff Goodman.
• Hayes helps Kings to heart-felt win, reports Ron Agnosti of Modesto Bee.
• Knight struggles in Pistons’ opener, reports ESPN.
• Lamar ready to face second straight ranked foe, reports KFDM-TV.
• Live stream offers realistic practice view, reports Aaron Smith of Kernel.
• Top 11 Coach Cal stories from 2011, by Eric Lindsey of CoachCal.com.
• Louisville ready for tonight’s Belk Bowl, reports C.L. Brown of C-J.
• History of UK-U of L as far as rankings, from Kyle Tucker of C-J.
• Kentucky, Duke and UCLA tied for most NBA players, reports Zagsblog.
• UK women move to No. 6 in AP poll, reports H-L.
• Hayes happy to be back with Kings, writes Jason Jones of Bee.
• An in-depth look at UK’s football miracle, by Darrell Bird of Cats Pause.