Never to early to go out on a limb

With a little over two months left till the football season starts its time to talk about what sort of season the Cats will have this year.

Starting off the season with Miami of Ohio 2-10 last year should give the Cats an easy win although the hiring of Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood as head coach should put a little spunk in the Redhawks offense. Haywood has worked as an assistant at Texas, LSU, Ball State, Ohio, Army and Minnesota and in 2005, he was named NCAA Division I-A assistant coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association. Kentucky 1-0.

Louisville 5-7 last year should be another win but this is a rivalry game. With Hunter Cantwell’s back up Matt Simms transferring Louisville has no experience at quarterback making it a little more difficult for Louisville to come away with win. Kentucky 2-0.

The third game of the season brings Florida 13-1 to Lexington. The best we can realistically hope for is that the Gators stomp Tennessee the week before and the Cats play the Gators much better than they did last year. A good game could be a launching board for a great season. Kentucky 2-1.

Alabama 12-2 last year is the next visitor to Lexington. Last year with one or two breaks the Cats could have beaten the Tide. Having them in Lexington and without an experienced quarterback they can be beaten. If Mike Hartline can connect with our receivers and couple of defensive stops go our way and this could be a big upset. Kentucky 2-2.

OK the Really Ole Ball Coach thinks he’s finally found his quarter back at South Carolina 7-6 last year. The Cats are due to win this game. Kentucky 3-2.

Auburn 5-7 last year had a problem the Cats use to have. According to Gene Chizik “Depth is an issue at this point, and I think that’s glaring”. Their offense also stinks so this is close but another winnable game. Kentucky 4-2.

We then get Louisiana Monroe 4-8 last year at home. The Warhawks beat Alabama in 2007 but wont beat the Cats in Lexington. This will be the game where a freshman quarterback gets a decent amount of playing time. Kentucky 5-2.

Mississippi State 4-8 last year doesn’t come to Lexington and win. Kentucky 6-2.

Eastern Kentucky 8-4 won the OVC last year but don’t look to match up with the Cats although they might play them better than people expect. Kentucky 7-2.

Vanderbilt 7-6 came into Lexington and beat the Cats. Mackenzi Adams is a good quarterback and running back Jared Hawkins should be much improved as a senior. This game is a toss up but I think injuries will be starting to plague the Cats by this time of the season. Kentucky 7-3.

Georgia 10-3 last year will be a tough game for the Cats. If they can go thru the season without as many injuries as last year they should beat the Cats. Kentucky 7-4.

The final game of the season is against Tennessee 5-7 last year. With Lane Kiffin bringing the Vols to Lexington the Cats welcome him to Kentucky. I’m gonna get out on my limb and say the Cats win with Morgan Newton running for a touchdown and tossing a touchdown to Cobb with little time left in the game. Kentucky 8-4.

SEC Coaches Awards

From SECsports.com The SEC Coaches awards were announced today. Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks both were named to the all SEC first team.

Birmingham, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference unveiled its men’s basketball coaches postseason awards Tuesday to cap off another exciting season of SEC basketball.

LSU’s Trent Johnson earned SEC Coach of the Year honors and LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton was selected SEC Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. Ole Miss’ Terrico White took the SEC Freshman of the Year award and Alabama’s Justin Knox earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State was picked as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. South Carolina’s Brandis Raley-Ross earned SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year honors.

In his first season at LSU, Johnson led the Tigers to their first SEC championship since 2006 with a 13-3 mark in league play.

Thornton garnered SEC Player of the Year honors in leading LSU to a 25-win season and the SEC championship. One of five unanimous All-SEC First Team selections, Thornton ranked second the league in scoring with 20.9 ppg.

White led all SEC freshmen with 18.4 ppg in league play. White was among three unanimous All-Freshman team members.

Knox earned the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, sporting a 3.219 grade-point average in Pre-Business.

Varnado leads the nation in blocked shots (4.6) and is 15 blocks shy of the breaking the single-season SEC record of 157. Last year he tied the record Shaquille O’Neal set in 1992.

Raley-Ross won the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year award. A key part of South Carolina winning a share of the SEC East Division title, he is averaging 7.2 points per game.

Coaches voted on eight member teams for First Team All-SEC, Second Team All-SEC and for the SEC All-Freshman Team. They voted on a five-player squad for the SEC All-Defensive Team. They were not permitted to vote for their own players and ties were not broken.

A complete list of the 2009 SEC Men’s Basketball postseason awards follows.

First Team All-SEC
*Nick Calathes, Florida – G, 6-6, 194, So., Casselberry, Fla.
*Jodie Meeks, Kentucky – 6-4, 208, Jr., Norcross, Ga.
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky – 6-9, 235, So., Huntington, W.Va.
Tasmin Mitchell, LSU – F, 6-7, 240, Jr., Denham Springs, La.
*Marcus Thornton, LSU – G, 6-4, 205, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State – F/C, 6-9, 210, Jr., Brownsville, Tenn.
*Devan Downey, South Carolina – G, 5-9, 175, Jr., Chester, S.C.
*Tyler Smith, Tennessee – F, 6-7, 215, Jr., Pulaski, Tenn.

Second Team All-SEC
Alonzo Gee, Alabama – G, 6-6, 219, Sr., Riviera Beach, Fla.
Michael Washington, Arkansas – F, 6-9, 239, Jr., McGehee, Ark.
Korvotney Barber, Auburn – F, 6-7, 225, Sr., Manchester, Ga.
^Garrett Temple, LSU – G, 6-6, 190, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
David Huertas, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 200, Jr., Humacao, Puerto Rico
Terrico White, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 211, Fr,. Memphis, Tenn.
^Dominique Archie, South Carolina – F, 6-7, 200, Jr., Augusta, Ga.
^Zam Fredrick, South Carolina – G, 6-0, 203, Sr., St. Matthews, S.C.
Wayne Chism, Tennessee – F, 609, 242, Jr., Jackson, Tenn.
A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt – C, 6-11, 250, So., Sydney, Australia

SEC All-Freshman Team
*JaMychal Green, Alabama – F, 6-9, 220, Fr., Montgomery, Ala.
Courtney Fortson, Arkansas – G, 5-11, 180, Fr., Montgomery, Ala.
Erving Walker, Florida – 5-8, 161, Fr., New York, N.Y.
Trey Thompkins, Georgia – F, 6-8, 245, Fr., Lithonia, Ga.
*Terrico White, Ole Miss – G, 6-5, 211, Fr,. Memphis, Tenn.
*Dee Bost, Mississippi State – G, 6-2, 170, Fr., Concord, N.C.
Scotty Hopson, Tennessee – G, 6-7, 185, Fr., Hopkinsville, Ky.
Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt – G/F, 6-7, 210, Fr., Norrkoping, Sweden

SEC All-Defensive Team
^Quantez Robertson, Auburn – G, 6-3, 200, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio
Garrett Temple, LSU – G, 6-6, 190, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.
Chris Johnson, LSU – C, 6-11, 210, Sr., Montross, Va.
*Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State – F/C, 6-9, 210, Jr., Brownsville, Tenn.
^Dominique Archie, South Carolina – F, 6-7, 200, Jr., Augusta, Ga.
Devan Downey, South Carolina – G, 5-9, 175, Jr., Chester, S.C.

SEC Coach of the Year: Trent Johnson, LSU
SEC Player of the Year: Marcus Thornton, LSU
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Justin Knox, Alabama
SEC Freshman of the Year: Terrico White, Ole Miss
SEC Sixth-Man of the Year: Brandis Raley-Ross, South Carolina
SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State

*-Unanimous selection
^-Ties are not broken

SEC Basketball Rankings

Hear is our latest SEC Basketball Rankings. Things are starting to sort themselves out in the conference.

1. LSU: With wins over SC, Tenn and Miss St. twice along with the bottom of the conference LSU is showing they belong at the top. With 2 tough games left with Auburn and 1 with Tenn and UK they can cement there position with wins.

2. South Carolina: Sitting tied with UK and Tenn. in the east makes SC one of the three number 2 teams in the league.

3. Kentucky: Again tied with SC and Tenn. but with a spanking of Tenn. and a drubbing of Fla. on their record the Cats are number 3.

4. Tennessee: Starting to look like they were ranked earlier but still at 4.

5. Florida: Loosing 3 out of 4 drops the Gators to 5th and just when they were starting to get some media love.

6. Miss St: Loosing 2 in a row sends them down to 6th.

7. Auburn: Easily ahead of the bottom of the SEC and 2 games left with LSU to move up.

8. Vanderbilt: Interchangeble with Mississippi and Alabama but have games left with UK, LSU, Fla. and SC is going to make it hard for them to keep their ranking.

9. Mississippi: Near the cellar but stand a good chance of winning 3 of the next 6.

10: Alabama: Their next 2 games are Fla, and Miss St. Win those 2 and they stand a chance of moving up.

11: Arkansas: Been a up and down season for the Hogs but not at the bottom of the pile yet.

12. Georgia: A win over Fla. doesnt get them out of the cellar.

Signing day thoughts

Signing day is a couple of days behind us and I have some thoughts on our recruiting this year. Brooks and co did very well in filling our needs. Sure a couple of 5 star players would have helped our final recruiting rankings but the JUCO players we got will help us a lot. Chris Matthews is the #2 WR in JUCO football and we need help there badly. With both Ryan Mossakowski and Morgan Newton signing we filled another need QB.

Getting recruits from Texas as well as Georgia helps us now if coach can get his foot in the door with the Polynesians in Hawaii and on the west coast we could be looking at top 25 classes every year.

HS
Brian Adams, ATH Cumming, Ga.
Jordan Aumiller, TE Danville
Justin Bean, WR Tupelo, Miss.
Mister Cobble, DT Louisville
Jonathan George, RB Lincoln, Ala.
Qua Huzzie, LB LaGrange, Ga.
Tristian Johnson, DE LaGrange, Ga.
A. Kendrick, TE/WR Katy, Texas
LaRod King, WR Radcliff
Patrick Ligon, DE, Memphis, Tenn.
Demetri Merritt, LB LaGrange, Ga.
Kevin Mitchell, OL Douglasville, Ga.
Terrell Mitchell, TE Powder Springs, Ga.
Ryan Mosby, LB Rockwall, Texas
Ryan Mossakowski, QB Frisco, Texas
Martavius Neloms, DB Memphis, Tenn.
Morgan Newton, QB Carmel, Ind.
Donte Rumph, DE St. Matthews, S.C.
Donald Russell, RB Plm Bch Gardens, Fla.
Samuel Simpson, OL Lexington
Dakotah Tyler, RB Indianapolis
Jarvis Walker, LB Metairie, La.
Myron Walker, DT Metairie, La.
Larry Warford, OL Richmond
Ridge Wilson, LB Louisville

JC
Mark Crawford, DT Indianapolis
DeQuin Evans, DE Long Beach, Calif.
Chris Matthews, WR Los Angeles

UK 61 UA 51

It was another ugly half. Meeks was having to fight and claw for everything, Patterson was pretty much no where to be found, and other Cats were again being put in a position to step up. And they were not. The Alabama game plan was simple. Try to restrict Patterson’s touches, assign a guy to Meeks full time, and don’t worry much about anyone else. We are used to seeing people attempt to limit Patterson’s touches. What we haven’t been used to is seeing people actually do it until the last few games. We are also not used to seeing Patterson out worked on the boards as he has at times, and it happened again in the first half. Giving up offensive rebounds, turning the ball over and poor execution by anyone other than Meeks pretty much tells the tale of the first half.

Then halftime came. And this half time was nothing close to ordinary. The half ran longer than normal, then it was announced that a Cat had collapsed during the half. Turns out, it was Harris. Also, no coach at the start of the half and the first thought was that there wouldn’t be a coach sighting in the second half. But, as things usually do work themselves out, coach did reappear. That pretty much told me that Harris was doing OK. His status was, and at the moment is, still a mystery but at least the young man is home safe and sound. And in times like these, basketball is nothing compared to the health of a player.

Coach had hinted that he may change his substitution pattern around. I understood why he had not before and I understand why he thinks it might be time to now. Harris and Porter do give you everything they have but they are limited in what they can offer. And Porter didn’t have a bad game. But with all the focus on Meeks and Patterson, its very easy for me to link the forced play trying to get them shots directly with many of the turnovers. The problem to date has been that guys like Miller and Liggins are also limited but in different ways and for different reasons. And their limitations to date have far outweighed Porter and Harris. But as that gap closes, UK needs to reach a point where they rely more on Liggins and Miller, because UK will need some of the added skills they can offer if they are not hurting UK in other areas as much. And yesterday, in the second half, we saw the result of this change in thought by coach. Miller, out of necessity due to Harris, but also Liggins out of necessity simply because UK needs to be able to make plays by guys other that Patterson and Meeks. Consider it done. Meeks did get his. He always does. Miller didn’t do anything flashy, but he did provide solid D, some great passing and solid play that helped get UK into an open court game. Liggins did provide some needed scoring and overall good D. The major contribution came from Stevenson who, in my opinion had a monster second half and was the key to the game.

I don’t know what is going on with Patterson. I know he has a sore finger, but six points, five boards, two turnovers ZERO assists and five PFs is NOT a Patterson game even if he didn’t have a hand. This is a guy that rarely got in foul trouble last year but it is the case this year. I know he’s the focus of defenses, and I know the team is going to Meeks as much as possible, but he has to keep his head in the game. And I think the others like Porter, Harris (if possible), Miller and Liggins need to make teams pay for showing so much attention to Patterson. They get open shots, and this team will not rise to the next level until those guys knock down those shots.

But, UK continues to plow forward. No one thought it would be as easy as the first two games and it certainly has not. And in the big picture, UK will enter the top 25 on Monday, has total command of the SEC. It’s on to Ole Miss. Go Cat!

Week 2 SEC Basketball Rankings

1. Tennessee: Finishing strong gets Tennessee to the top. Games against Kentucky and South Carolina this week could cement their top ranking.

2. Kentucky: Cats held on to beat Vandy and get to rise one. They have a chance to move up with wins over Tennessee and Georgia this week.

3. Arkansas: Beat Oklahoma and Texas last week and loose to Miss St at home. Hard to figure out how good this team is.

4. Florida: Florida is floating right now. Still waiting to see if they can beat a good SEC team.

5. South Carolina: A 12 point win over Auburn helped to show that SC is for real.

6. Mississippi St: A win at Arkansas shows that Miss St is playing good enough to be ranked this high.

7. Alabama: Win over LSU has Alabama ranked above LSU.

8. Vanderbilt: I’m not sure that Vandy should be ranked this low.

9. LSU: Lots of easy wins except against decent teams has LSU dropping.

10. Georgia: Georgia showed a little spunk in their two loosses and move up two spots this week.

11. Mississippi: Not much of a difference between 11 and 12.

12. Auburn: A 12 point loss to South Carolina lands them in the cellar this week.

SEC Basketball Rankings

The SEC is about to get underway so here is the first of my weekly SEC rankings.

1. Arkansas: Not much of a schedule but they beat a real good Oklahoma team so they get the #1 this week.

2. Tennessee: To many losses to good teams considering how high they were ranked to be #1 this week.

3. Kentucky: A much better team than the 12-4 SEC team last year.

4. LSU: 12-1 but a loss to Texas A&M the only good team they played in the pre SEC games. This team has the potential to rise quickly in SEC play.

5. Florida: Florida could go either way after this weeks games.

6. Alabama: Losses to Texas A&M, Oregon and Mercer are keeping Bama down.

7. South Carolina: A win over Baylor has South Carolina ranked this high.

8. Vanderbilt: I’m not sure that Vandy should be ranked this high.

9. Mississippi St: Wins in the last two games over Houston and Western Kentucky make me think Miss St is gelling.

10. Auburn: A loss to 7-7 Mercer and a 10-4 record so far gets Auburn a #10 ranking.

11. Mississippi: Losses to every good team they have played so far have Mississippi near the bottom of the list.

12. Georgia: With games against Georgia Tech and Tennessee this week its going to be real hard to climb out of the cellar for Georgia.

Utah could be the NC

Unbeaten Utah’s still has a chance for a piece of the national title thru The Associated Press poll. The AP, not part of the BCS, awards its own national champion. Granted its a real slim chance.

Unlike unbeaten Hawai’i last year Utah beat a big boy in Alabama to finish the season 13-0. They beat Alabama at their own game with a dominating defense, intercepting John Parker Wilson twice and sacking him eight times.

Utah became the first school with two undefeated seasons in the BCS era (since 1998), extending its current bowl winning streak to an FBS-best eight games.

Got to give the Sugar Bowl credit for picking a non BCS team for the second year in a row and this year they got it right.

I also have to wonder if Nick Saban is thinking that maybe the MWC is a real BCS conference about now.

SEC Power rankings

Here my weekly take on the SEC power rankings.

1. Alabama: Alabama may not be the flashest team in the SEC but once again they have proved they are one of the best teams in the nation.

2. Florida: The SEC championship will prove who is the best in the SEC.

3. Georgia: Still 3rd best in the SEC yes but wouldnt win the ACC title or the PAC 10 title.

4. Old Miss: Have the next SEC quarterback star and can play against anyone.

5. South Carolina: The ol ball coach thought he had a contender but South Carolina has had enough offensive problems to keep them in the middle of the pack.

6. Vanderbilt: Bowl elegable for the first time since 82 and finally living up to their first five games. Should be favoried over Tennessee.

7. LSU: An ugly loss drops them down.

8. Arkansas: Who to rank 9th took some thought but not to much. Better than Auburn, Tennesee and Miss St.

9. Tennessee: Beating Vandy and Kentucky moves the Vols up

10. Kentucky: Banged up and no offensive but the defense even giving up 30+ points in the last few games still makes them better than the bottom of the SEC.

11. Auburn: What can you say

12. Mississippi State: The worst offence in the SEC and a defense thats not living up to what is expected of them.

This weeks Top 25

This weeks top 25 rankings are out and clearly show that the winner of the Florida Alabama SEC championship game will be the team favored to win the national championship. The BCS rankings will be out later and will help solidify which non BCS team or teams will play.

AP Top 25
1. Alabama (62) 12-0 1,620
2. Florida (3) 11-1 1,516
3. Texas 11-1 1,488
4. Oklahoma 11-1 1,480
5. USC 10-1 1,355
6. Penn State 11-1 1,257
7. Utah 12-0 1,216
8. Texas Tech 11-1 1,197
9. Boise State 12-0 1,103
10. Ohio State 10-2 1,069
11. TCU 10-2 885
12. Ball State 12-0 834
13. Cincinnati 10-2 824
14. Oklahoma State 9-3 798
15. Georgia Tech 8-3 708
16. Oregon 9-3 630
17. Georgia 9-3 495
18. Boston College 9-3 482
19. Missouri 9-3 479
20. Brigham Young 10-2 385
21. Michigan State 9-3 312
22. Mississippi 8-4 280
23. Pittsburgh 8-3 241
24. Northwestern 9-3 190
25. Oregon State 8-4 122
Others Receiving Votes
Iowa 66, Virginia Tech 47, Tulsa 13, Florida State 12, California 7, West Virginia 4, Rice 3, Connecticut 3, Nebraska 3, North Carolina 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Florida State 23.
USA Today Poll
1. Alabama (58) 12-0 1,521
2. Oklahoma (2) 11-1 1,397
3. Texas 11-1 1,396
4. Florida (1) 11-1 1,385
5. USC 10-1 1,298
6. Penn State 11-1 1,176
7. Utah 12-0 1,153
8. Texas Tech 11-1 1,116
9. Boise State 12-0 1,044
10. Ohio State 10-2 999
11. TCU 10-2 836
12. Cincinnati 10-2 770
13. Ball State 12-0 765
14. Oregon 9-3 658
15. Oklahoma State 9-3 613
16. Georgia Tech 8-3 590
17. Missouri 9-3 470
18. Brigham Young 10-2 461
19. Georgia 9-3 440
20. Boston College 9-3 435
21. Michigan State 9-3 414
22. Northwestern 9-3 333
23. Pittsburgh 8-3 154
24. Oregon State 8-4 127
25. Mississippi 8-4 126
Others Receiving Votes
Virginia Tech 41, Iowa 31, Tulsa 21, Florida State 15, Nebraska 11, Kansas 10, Connecticut 5, North Carolina 5, Rice 5, California 4.
Dropped From Rankings
Florida State 24, West Virginia 25.

« Previous Page — Next Page »