More UK thoughts,… from yours truly

1st: Randy Sanders will be calling the plays, NOT Joker. Can’t be overstated. This will make a huge difference.

2nd: The more I think about it, the more I find myself overlooking the UK UL game. My mind has it penciled in as a win. Most of the fans I talk to are also just as dismissive. Well, let me show some respect and offer the thought that, if UK isn’t ready to play against UL, they have a chance of starting 0-3. So, with that thought in mind, let me focus my energy (and somehow transfer that to the team) on UL, and concentrate on whipping our in state rival to start the season. Let’s don’t give Kragthorpe his signature win to prove he belongs. Let’s hit em mouth from the jump, and practice winning against them. GO CATS!!!

3rd: I have stated many times that UK HAS to beat Alabama to get off to the 2-1 start. But,… there’s that part of my mind that says…. Florida may be ripe for the picking. I know it’s crazy. I know it’s hypocrisy. I know the media tells us that, on paper, no way UK can beat…. not Florida, but Tim Tebow. I just get that feeling. Maybe it’s the optimist. Maybe it’s the critic. This Florida team should be good. But, let’s not kid ourselves, or let the what-can-you-sell-for-me-now media kid us either. Florida is beatable. And, I can’t think of a more hostile, hungry crowd, PARTICULARLY after beating an LSU that won the title with a two loss season, than these fans at commonwealth. I think it will be emotional. I think this team will play harder than any team we’ve seen in over twenty years.

So, the ole Katmen is gonna lay it out now. If UK comes into that game 2-0, they will beat Florida. Commonwealth will be so loud and packed with fans that I think the energy will be palpable. There it is. I throw out the caveat of the 2-0 and because football is a game of momentum, and energy. An upset loss to Loserville, or a letdown against Alabama will make room for doubt, and deflate fans. BUT… come in 2-0, and UK will headline the early season by beat Florida.

4th: Folks, I love the SEC. Love it. Admire it. Respect it. But this is the facts. The best conference in college football, THIS year, is the big twelve. AND, the top two teams in the big twelve (OKLAHOMA and Texas) are better than the top two in the SEc. Fact. My early money says, barring critical injury, One of those two teams Will win the national title.

5th: I think the media needs to quit storking its… feathers to Nick Saban and get a reality check. Alabama at #5? Tell you what, if Alabama is in the top ten at the end of the year, I’ll get on this board and call myself stupid. They will be solid, maybe touch good. But, they are an 8 win team at best.

Alabama has got a tougher road than many think, and let me put a little bug in some people’s ears. Like it or not, Bobby Petrino can coach. He’s dirty. he stinks. But, he gets talent on the roster and gets it to perform on the field about as good as some of the best that are in the game. My early predictions are Alabama losing to Va Tech and Arkansas.

USA Today Poll

USA Today has released there preseason top 25. The Cats got 9 votes and are ranked 42 in the nation.

What shouldn’t surprise anyone is that there are no Big East teams ranked to start the season. Cincinnati, Pittsburg, W. Va, Rutgers and S. Florida all got votes. Its hard to see anyone besides Cincinnati or W. Virginia making a climb in to the top 25 due to the strength of their non-conference schedules.

The MWC and the WAC have four teams in the top 25 and a fifth Nevada got a few votes. Its easier to see some of them staying in the top 25 since they have teams that stand a fair chance of winning games against the BCS teams on their non-conference schedules.

USA Today Poll

1. Florida (53) 0-0 1,466

2. Texas (4) 0-0 1,386
3. Oklahoma (1) 0-0 1,358
4. USC (1) 0-0 1,321
5. Alabama 0-0 1,134
6. Ohio State 0-0 1,126
7. Virginia Tech 0-0 1,020
8. Penn State 0-0 988
9. LSU 0-0 917
10. Mississippi 0-0 889
11. Oklahoma State 0-0 861
12. California 0-0 711
13. Georgia 0-0 707
14. Oregon 0-0 694
15. Georgia Tech 0-0 559
16. Boise State 0-0 542
17. TCU 0-0 461
18. Utah 0-0 404
19. Florida State 0-0 371
20. North Carolina 0-0 293
21. Iowa 0-0 257
22. Nebraska 0-0 236
23. Notre Dame 0-0 194
24. Brigham Young 0-0 178
25. Oregon State 0-0 165

Others Receiving Votes: Kansas 138, Michigan State 136, Texas Tech 114, Cincinnati 90, Pittsburgh 64, West Virginia 55, Rutgers 51, Miami (FL) 46, Missouri 44, Illinois 38, Clemson 30, South Carolina 18, UCLA 14, Auburn 12, South Florida 11, Nevada 11, Kentucky 9, North Carolina State 7, Wisconsin 6, Arkansas 6, Northwestern 5, Southern Miss 4, Wake Forest 4, Arizona 3, Boston College 3, CENTRL MICHIGAN 3, East Carolina 3, Colorado 2, Maryland 2, Navy 2, Tennessee 2, TROY 1, Minnesota 1, Michigan 1, Houston 1.

SEC Recruiting Expenses

Here are the figures for the last three years on recruiting expenses for football, baseball and basketball in the SEC. The final number following football spending indicates the recruiting ranking according to Rivals.com for that year.

One thing that stands out is that Kentucky was ranked 1st, 3rd and 2nd in spending for baseball. I wonder what would have happened if we had ranked like that in football spending. A second is that Tennessee is spending a lot of money to be as bad as they have become. Finally the name Alabama must still be strong for them to be as good as they are with as little as they spend on recruiting.

FOOTBALL

2005-06

Tennessee: $1,071,264 (23)
Florida: $643,406 (2)
Auburn: $621,115 (10)
LSU: $577,393 (7)
Georgia: $534,004 (4)
Arkansas: $490,771 (26)
Ole Miss: $436,948 (16)
Miss. State: $300,100 (44)
Kentucky: $291,370 (36)
S. Carolina: $248,585 (24)
Alabama: $237,774 (11)
Vanderbilt: N/A (60)

2006-07

Tennessee: $1,311,894 (3)
Auburn: $756,880 (7)
Florida: $649,375 (1)
LSU: $634,896 (4)
Arkansas: $513,784 (31)
Georgia: $506,462 (9)
Ole Miss: $389,224 (27)
Kentucky: $319,289 (54)
Miss. State: $286,430 (39)
S. Carolina: $283,505 (6)
Alabama: $258,846 (10)
Vanderbilt: N/A (67)

2007-08

Tennessee: $1,081,250 (35)
LSU: $776,029 (11)
Auburn: $737,380 (20)
Georgia: $523,056 (7)
Florida: $506,673 (3)
Arkansas: $494,181 (36)
Ole Miss: $405,654 (29)
Alabama: $360,327 (1)
Kentucky: $312,056 (57)
S. Carolina: $289,639 (22)
Miss. State: $272,872 (44)
Vanderbilt: N/A (90)

3-YEAR AVERAGE

Tennessee: $1,154,802
Auburn: $705,125
LSU: $662,772
Florida: $599,818
Georgia: $521,174
Arkansas: $499,578
Ole Miss: $410,608
Kentucky: $307,571
Miss. State: $286,467
Alabama: $285,649
S. Carolina: $273,909
Vanderbilt: N/A

MEN’S BASKETBALL

2005-06

Auburn: $311,113
Arkansas: $220,669
Florida: $206,346
Georgia: $196,482
Kentucky: $169,498
Tennessee: $144,240
S. Carolina: $122,819
Alabama: $110,591
Ole Miss: $84,968
LSU: $83,599
Miss. State: $83,374
Vanderbilt: N/A

2006-07

Auburn: $306,000
Arkansas: $286,007
Florida: $283,078
Georgia: $196,437
Kentucky: $165,123
LSU: $152,015
Alabama: $126,649
Tennessee: $125,528
S. Carolina: $98,340
Ole Miss: $93,759
Miss. State: $85,064
Vanderbilt: N/A

2007-08

Florida: $354,208
Arkansas: $304,275
Auburn: $293,000
Kentucky: $211,253
Georgia: $155,152
Alabama: $138,332
LSU: $127,021
Tennessee: $124,244
S. Carolina: $117,713
Ole Miss: $104,829
Miss. State: $100,058
Vanderbilt: N/A

3-YEAR AVERAGE

Auburn: $303,371
Florida: $281,210
Arkansas: $270,317
Georgia: $182,690
Kentucky: $181,958
Tennessee: $131,337
Alabama: $125,190
LSU: $120,878
S. Carolina: $112,957
Ole Miss: $94,518
Miss. State: $89,498
Vanderbilt: N/A

BASEBALL

2005-06

Kentucky: $80,449
Arkansas: $69,140
Auburn: $65,883
Florida: $62,210
Alabama: $53,703
Tennessee: $50,308
Ole Miss: $43,921
S. Carolina: $42,164
Georgia: $40,868
LSU: $28,150
Miss. State: $23,325
Vanderbilt: N/A

2006-07

Arkansas: $91,756
LSU: $80,348
Kentucky: $72,458
Auburn: $68,500
Alabama: $57,325
Florida: $47,514
Tennessee: $47,440
Georgia: $45,829
Ole Miss: $42,460
S. Carolina: $31,804
Miss. State: $18,342
Vanderbilt: N/A

2007-08

Arkansas: $87,115
Kentucky: $71,849
LSU: $70,493
Auburn: $68,500
S. Carolina: $53,196
Tennessee: $50,282
Georgia: $47,962
Florida: $47,612
Ole Miss: $46,868
Alabama: $38,609
Miss. State: $26,518
Vanderbilt: N/A

3-YEAR AVERAGE

Arkansas: $82,670
Kentucky: $74,918
Auburn: $67,627
LSU: $59,663
Florida: $52,445
Alabama: $49,879
Tennessee: $49,343
Georgia: $44,886
Ole Miss: $44,416
S. Carolina: $42,388
Miss. State: $22,728
Vanderbilt: N/A

Is it time to worry yet

Looking at the 2010 recruits signed so far you have to wonder if its time to worry yet. There is a lot of time before we need to worry but from looking at the SEC schools so far we should at least think about worrying. Its been said that we are recruiting players who are ranked higher than we normally do and they tend to sign later so there is no need to worry yet. Here is what scout.com is showing about the SEC teams recruiting so far.

Alabama: 16 HS players. 7 ranked top 150, 7 ranked in the 70’s and 2 ranked 40’s. They also have 2 JC commitments.

Arkansas: 8 HS players. 1 ranked top 150, 4 ranked in the 70’s and 3 ranked in the 40’s. They have 1 JC commitment.

Auburn: 8 HS players. 2 ranked top 150, 5 ranked in the 70’s and 1 ranked in the 40’s.

Florida: 14 HS players. 9 ranked top 150. 1 ranked in the 80’s, 2 ranked in the 70’s and 3 ranked in the 40’s.

Georgia: 13 HS players. 7 ranked top 150, 4 ranked in the 70’s and 1 ranked in the 40’s. They have 1 JC commitment.

Kentucky: 1 ranked in the 70’s and 1 ranked in the 40’s.

LSU: 14 HS players. 7 ranked top 150 and 7 ranked in the 70’s. They have 1 JC commitment.

Mississippi: 2 HS players. 1 top 150 and 1 in the 40’s.

Mississippi St: 5 HS players. 2 top 150 players and 3 ranked in the 70’s. They also have 1 JC player.

South Carolina: 12 HS players. 4 ranked in the top 150, 5 ranked in the 70’s and 3 ranked in the 40’s. They also have 1 JC commitment.

Tennessee: 9 HS players. 3 ranked in the top 150 and 2 in the 40’s. They also have 3 JC commitments.

Vanderbilt: 13 HS commitments. 1 top 150 commitment. 11 ranked in the 70’s and 1 in the 40’s.

Scouts.com shows 84 players still considering the Cats including 4 top 150 players who are being recruited by teams we should be able to out recruit. Given the odds we should sign some good players but still we need to start worrying a little.

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.

Meeks NOT “Meek” with 45 points, Record — Win for UK over Arkansas

The road was “KIND” again for Jodie Meeks. With the mentality of “The Alpha Male” of the UK basketball team, Jodie Meeks again took UK by the collar and led them through Bud Walton arena, with not only the victory, but another scoring record for Mr. Meeks.

Indeed, no other basketball player has ever treated the screaming HOGS with such a scoring outburst, and left a dwindling crowd one more for the road with 54 seconds to go, when he soared in for one of his patented Sprint Baskets”, and threw down a massive two handed slam…Bill Rafferty now almost devoid of adjectives, having used them all on Jodie during the game stated simply:

“There it is FOLKS, A GUARD, see it and WEEP!

And weep they did, as Jodie hit shots all over that arena and generally OUTRAN the “boys from Fayetteville”. Speaking of running, I bet “Pelph” has that team running until the next game over letting Jodie get all those sprint outs…

With Patrick Patterson on the bench nursing a sprained ankle, Jodie Meeks took it upon himself, as he is wont to do, to score 2PAT’s points or something of that nature, easily equalling both his own scoring average and 2Pats…

“He’s like halfway human.” Darius Miller

With one half of our “Batman and Robin” team scoring all over the court in every way, the score was tied at the 4:07 Mark ‘O Da 1st 1/2 – Jodie Meeks 22 Arkansas 22. The real score was UK 37 Arkansas 22….! Nuff Said….!

Let us now talk of what they speak, Jodie Meeks for President..Yes, you heard it here. Barrack look out! Jodie Meeks is more humble than you and can take you to the hole just like all the other guys you play against….

Well, that’s a bit lofty for now. How about we shoot for “PLAYER OF THE YEAR” . Now those comparisons of MOZ’s to the – Big “O”- don’t seem so “OFFT BASE” — as Amos Moses would allow…

As for his “work ethic”, it would be an understatement now to say that running bothered Jodie Meeks…Being a track star at his high school, gives one the impression that he loves to run, and if BCG ask him to run to the game, I suspect he would run alongside the bus, and score 50 once he got there…!

“…A PLEASURE TO WATCH”… Tim Brando

“He just makes it happen out of what we try to do.” …Billy C. Gillispie

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.

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.

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