Bigger than Last Season?

Today marked the first day that fans were permitted to set up tents to campout for Big Blue Madness tickets, which will be distributed Saturday morning. I was in shock to hear that there are way more fans than there were a year ago on the first day. Based on pictures and various testimonies, there might even already be more people there than there was on Friday night last season. I'm shocked. Of course I expected a great turnout, like always. However, I really didn't think the excitement of last year's team could be topped.

Perhaps, more people came out this year because of how great of an experience the campout was last season with Calipari and the players coming out and meeting the fans, bringing them breakfast, playing pick up games, and playing cornhole. Through word of mouth, KSR, Youtube, facebook pictures, and many other mediums, the amazing experience that fans had a year ago has brought out even more fans to experience the campout for themselves. The event has grown even bigger than a year ago, which I didn't think was possible. The Big Blue Nation never ceases to amaze me.

(Photo Courtesy of UKathletics.com)

P.S- CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2010 N.L. CENTRAL DIVISION CHAMPION, CINCINNATI REDS!

I experienced the victory celebration at Fountain Square last night and it was incredible and long overdue for a city that and region that loves their Reds dearly. Let's hope for a couple of more celebrations throughout October and into November.I look forward to covering the Reds some on this site throughout the Playoffs.

Remember, it's also still football season Cats fans, and we'll break down the UK/Ole Miss game for you this weekend as well. It should be a fairly evenly matched game and will be a hard fought road win, but I think the Cats will get back on track with a win

Missed Opportunity

Kentucky had a chance to bring their program up to the next level on Saturday in the Swamp. They failed; but clearly, all is not lost in the 2010 season. The Cats are still 3-1 and have a very favorable remaining schedule which appears to give them an opportunity to still be a major factor in the SEC East. It was a very big weekend all around the SEC. A couple of outcomes should give Kentucky fans reasons to still be optimistic.

Division contender South Carolina lost to Auburn, Georgia fell to 0-3 in the league, and it took double overtime for Tennessee to defeat UAB. Ole Miss, however, looked impressive in a relatively easy win over Fresno State. A win next week at Ole Miss is crucial to get things going in the right direction again for the Cats. It's a game that Kentucky may be favored to win, but Ole Miss seemingly is getting their act together based on Saturday's performance, and won't be an easy win on the road.

If the Cats can take care of business, it puts them in a position to still compete in the East. Remember, South Carolina has a conference loss and games remaining with Alabama and LSU. Florida still has games with South Carolina, Alabama, and Arkansas. The winner of this division could lose 3 conference games. Finishing first would be a long shot, but finishing 2nd remains a distinct possibility which would come along with it a trip to a warm weather New Years' bowl game.

There's plenty of negatives to take out of Saturday's loss to Florida, but they can pretty much be summed up by penalties and turnovers that we knew couldn't happen if the Cats wanted to stand a chance. Limiting mistakes was an area that the Cats had excelled at previously but the Gators were hungry and ready to prove their doubters wrong. It's also perplexing why Randall Cobb was not utilized in different formations like we expected him to be. Kentucky's star player did not touch the ball enough times for UK to stand a chance. With less talented overall players, UK needed to dig deep into the playbook and didn't. Florida, on the other hand, was not afraid to use Randall Cobb impersonator, Trey Burton, in the Wildcat offense as he scored 6 touchdowns (5 rushing and 1 receiving).

There were also some positives to take out of the game. Minus the two costly interceptions, Mike Hartline put up a respectable 242 yards in the air and a touchdown pass (he is still our best option at quarterback). Chris Mathews had 6 receptions for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Randall Cobb caught 7 passes for 67 yards but only was given 2 rushing opportunities. Derrick Locke also gained 108 yards on the ground. The offense moved the ball well but turnovers and penalties cost them and opened up the game for the Gators. It should be noted that the game was within reach until later in the 3rd quarter. Had Hartline not been picked off for a touchdown on the other end which could have essentially been a 14 point swing, things could have been very interesting going into the 4th quarter.

I know competing for 2.5 quarters was not the result that UK fans were looking for, but if you remember, the Cats didn't even compete for 1 quarter in the last 2 meetings with Florida. It's easy to go from bad to good, but it's a long process to go from good to great in the SEC. It takes more than just a few stud recruits to win big in year 1 on the football field, it is a numbers game and it takes time. South Carolina was mediocre for a long time under Steve Spurrier and is just now on the brink of becoming elite and it will probably take time for Joker as well. With a top 20 class coming in next season, Kentucky is still on the right track. There's a lot more football to be played this year and a lot on the line to still play for. I think this season still has the potential to be a great one, but either way, Cats fans need to be patient. This program is on the right track and our time is coming.

The only thing UK fans don't need to be patient about is beating Tennessee. That needs to happen this year and it SHOULD happen!

I still have faith in this season's team. But if you've already lost it, Midnight Madness tickets go on sale Saturday! Tents will be allowed to be set up as early as Wednesday.

The Next Step

We're less than 48 hours away until the Cats take the field in Gainesville in search for their first win over Florida in 23 years. Over the course of the last three or four seasons, Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips have both talked about taking that "next step" up the ladder of the SEC. This is that opportunity! Florida is beatable this year and the Cats are on the upswing. A win Saturday could be the biggest regular season win in the history of Kentucky football.

Yes, I'm aware that the Cats beat the #1 team in the country and eventual National Champion, LSU, just a few years ago. This win would be bigger because of the ramifications it would have on the advancement of this program as a national power under Joker Phillips. It's also bigger because the Cats have positioned themselves as an "upper-echelon SEC team", according to Florida head coach Urban Meyer. This win could propel them to the top of the SEC East standings and a legitimate chance at making it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

In comparison to the 2007 win over LSU, what is different this time around? Why would this win be able to catapult the Cats up to the top of the final SEC standings unlike in 2007?

Here are the circumstances of the 2007 win over LSU:

• The Cats went into that game off of a Thursday night loss at South Carolina. They already had an SEC loss under their belt going into that win.


• The Cats played Tim Tebow's Florida team the very next week after that LSU win. The Cats came out of that tough stretch with a 2-2 record in the SEC


• They still had tough games to play against a Top 10 Georgia program and a Tennessee team that was still pretty good.


• Kentucky lost heartbreakers by single digits to UF, UGA, and UT. They also suffered a lot of injuries going into the Mississippi State game and were upset by the Bulldogs.


• If things went their way here and then, UK could have won the East that year, but the SEC was incredibly tough. The Cats could have won just about any other league in the country fairly easily in 2007.

And here is where UK currently stands going into this Florida game:

• The Cats are 3-0. A win over a "down" Florida team could make them 4-0.
• The Cats then play Ole Miss after Florida, who has lost to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt. A win over Florida likely means the Cats could start at least 5-0.
• Following Ole Miss, the Cats will host an Auburn team that they defeated on the road a year ago. Auburn is improved, but this is certainly a winnable game. The Cats could be 6-0 at this point.
• Perhaps the toughest game the rest of the year would be against South Carolina the week after Auburn. The Gamecocks, Gators, and Cats seem to be the biggest contenders for the SEC East Crown. But this competition is a far cry away from what the Cats stood up against in 2007.
• After South Carolina, UK will be favored in every game the rest of the season in a down SEC East.
• UK also benefits from uneven inter-division scheduling this season. UK avoids playing the top three teams from the SEC West. They don't play #1 Alabama, #10 Arkansas, or #15 LSU.
• After playing UK, Florida has consecutive games against Alabama and LSU. South Carolina plays both Alabama and Arkansas.

Above all, the biggest difference this season could be the attitude and winning culture that Joker has created with "Operation: Win". They expect to win every game and they aren't afraid of anyone. With a win, there should be EXTREMELY high expectations for where this season will end. And even with a loss to the Gators on Saturday, the Cats could still be in a position to win the division. With UF and USC each with a couple of very tough games on their SEC West slate, I think it's fair to say the winner of this division could lose at least 2 conference games. The stars seem to be aligned to give the Cats a great opportunity. And with Joker already bringing in a top 20 recruiting class next year, a signature win like this could boost that class even higher for next year and years to come. That is why I think Saturday could be the biggest regular season win in the history of Kentucky football. It could be the one win that finally pushes the Cats over the hump.

Cats start slow, but Locke up another win.

(Photo Courtesy of Kentucky.com)

The clock was winding down to the end of the 1st quarter. UK had only a 3 point lead over Akron. It was 4th and 1, and an offsides penalty pushed back the Cats an extra 5 yards which set up a missed 51 yard field goal attempt by Craig McIntosh. Joker Phillps had seen enough. He called a timeout and gathered ALL 112 PLAYERS around a huddle and had a choice words for his Wildcats, scolding them for their lack of intensity and focus.

"We looked like we were sleepwalking during the warm-up," Phillips said. "I challenged them before the game to play with intensity, to play with excitement and to play with passion. I didn't see that out of us the first quarter. They will see next week that you can't relax. You play like that, like we did in this quarter next week, you'll be down two or three touchdowns."

Phillips was right on in his assessment. Even though the defensive starting unit only gave up 3 points the entire game, the UK secondary played poor. The corners and safeties got beat down the field too many times, there were too many penalties, and the offense was asleep until the 2nd quarter. If Akron had SEC-caliber receivers, ALL of those balls thrown down field would have been caught for touchdowns. The run defense, on the other hand, was fantastic after giving up a lot of yards on the ground the previous week against Western Kentucky. The Cats gave up only 67 yards on the ground to the Zipps. The kicking game also improved (but wasn't perfect) this week with McIntosh taking the FG and PAT duties and freshman Joe Mansour kicked off 9 times to the Zipps, with 5 of them going into the end zone for a touchback.

The offense woke up after Phillips' 1st quarter "pow-wow" and was led by another great performance by Mike Hartline and a career day by Derrick Locke. Locke had 166 yards on the ground with 2 touchdowns and reached the 2,000 yard career milestone. Hartline was 21-for-29 passing for 250 yards and 0 interceptions. Not only has Hartline not thrown an interception this season, but the entire UK offense has yet to turn the ball over. This is something that MUST continue going into SEC play. They must continue to take care of the football and they will also need to limit penalties next week if the Cats want to have a chance of winning in the Swamp.

Another thing the Cats may need is a lot more of Randall Cobb next week. Last night Cobb had a "quiet" 5 receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown. He only lined up in the Wildcat offense one time on a 4th and short conversion and he left the game after experiencing "heartburn problems" after receiving an IV at halftime. Phillips said Cobb could have returned if necessary. "By the time they had checked him out and cleared him we had just scored, and we just thought we'd keep him out the rest of the game," Phillips said.

As the Cats continued to roll towards a 47-10 rout of Akron, it became evident that this team has depth at all the key offensive positions unlike any UK team in recent history. Donald Russell and Raymond Sanders both ran the ball very well once again when the reserves came into the game. Even 4th string tailback CoShik Williams scored on a 16 yard touchdown run. Derrick Locke is unquestionably the Cats' primary running back, but look for some of the younger guys to get a few carries in a similar way that Locke did as a freshman in 2007 when he backed up Rafael Little. The Cats didn't really miss a beat at all going from the starters to the younger reserves, which is a testament to the solid foundation that was laid by Rich Brooks and the rest of the UK staff.

Speaking of 2007, the Cats came up short in a 48-40 shootout between Andre Woodson and Tim Tebow that season in Lexington. The Cats look to have the same kind of offensive firepower that they had in 2007 but Florida clearly does not in the post Tim Tebow-era. It will be a matchup of a great Kentucky offense and a great Florida defense. If UK can limit their penalties and continue to play turnover-free, the offense can score enough points to keep it close in Gainesville. In order to win the game, Kentucky's defense will have to step up and make new quarterback John Brantley beat them. They must stop the run and force the inexperienced Brantley to win this game. If the Cats can do that, I like their chances.

A look into the Weekend of Football...

Well, UK plays Akron. That should be exciting...

Akron only scored 3 points against Syracuse and lost to the infamous Gardner Webb in week 1. It should be a goal of the defense to get a shut out this week as they prepare for Florida the following week. After Ryan Tydlacka has missed 2 field goals and 1 extra point in 2 games for the Cats, Craig McIntosh will replace him this week. The supposed freshman phenom kicker, Joe Mansour, is not getting it done in practice and McIntosh will be given the kicking duties this week.

The Zips will give Randall Cobb the chance to boost up his Heisman numbers and score touchdowns in every way possible. Although Cobb is not getting the Heisman consideration he should at this point, Tom Leach describes how it could happen on his blog. When asked about the Heisman, Cobb said that he is only worried about winning an SEC Championship. If UK does that, than surely Cobb will be right there with everyone else in the Heisman talks.

The games of importance to look at in the SEC this week are No. 10 Florida vs. Tennessee and No. 14 Arkansas vs. Georgia.

The Volunteers are good enough to give Florida a battle, especially if the same sloppy Florida team shows up that has showed up the past 2 weeks against Miami of Ohio and South Florida. The Cats have to hope that it's as physical as can be this week between the Gators and Vols. Kentucky's starters hope to be rested on the sidelines in the 2nd half vs. Akron as Urban Meyer's Gators find themselves in what could be a physical matchup with Tennessee, just a week before they host the Cats in Gainesville.

In the Arkansas/Georgia matchup, the Bulldogs could very well fall to 0-2 in the SEC and maybe remove themselves from seriously contending in the SEC East, leaving Florida, South Carolina, and Kentucky as perhaps the three teams with the best chance of heading to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game.

Cats fans should root for Tennessee and Arkansas, and things could look very bright for UK going into conference play. Be sure to check out Brown's picks for ALL of the big predictions in college football this week.

October: the best month in sports?

We're officially less than a month away from Big Blue Madness and about 2 weeks away from the month of October. In this state, nearly everyone would agree that March is usually the best month in sports around here. March Madness in the bluegrass and the excitement of baseball season to come, nicer weather, and horses running at Keeneland is a great time of year. Some fans may argue that Christmas, New Years, college basketball, and the Bowl season of late December and early January is the "most wonderful time of the year". But I'm here to argue today in favor of the month of October, as the best month in sports.

As I sit here today watching the Reds play an afternoon game with the Diamondbacks, up 8 games on the Cardinals and gearing up towards an October playoff run, I've never been more excited about this month. Not only do you have the Reds in the postseason making a World Series run, but you have four great Kentucky football matchups against Ole Miss, Auburn, South Carolina, and Georgia. Those four games will make or break Kentucky's hopes for an SEC Eastern Division championship, and three of those games happen to be home games at Commonwealth. The month of October is the one month of the year where virtually every sport is playing. College football and the NFL is in full swing, MLB is winding down through the playoffs and heading into the World Series, the NBA and Hockey is just starting, Keeneland is running, and Big Blue Madness kicks off the always anticipated and unofficial start of the college basketball season in the Bluegrass.

USA Today has ranked Big Blue Madness (a glorified PRACTICE session) as one of the top 10 "must see live" sporting events in the World. But the week long campout, which brings out thousands of UK fans to campus for a chance at Madness tickets, is probably an even greater experience. In addition to Keeneland, you also have the World Equestrian Games in Lexington this year, of which I have no interest in. The event will, however, bring in tourists throughout the World to see the Bluegrass in a beautful time of the year as the leaves turn colors, the fall semester is at its peek at UK, and basketball season is near. This year October will particularly be special with not only the World Equestrian Games, but also playoff baseball in Cincinnati, which Reds fans have waited to happen for 15 years.

Just to get you a little excited, here's some videos from last year's campout! You gotta love October, go ahead and vote in our poll as well. What's the best part of October?

Cobb, Hartline continue to shine. Cats roll again

Many fans were hoping this offseason that one of UK's younger talented quarterbacks could beat out Senior Mike Hartline for the starting job. Hartline had to start the season off exceptionally well to quiet the doubters, and he's done just that. Against the Hilltoppers on Saturday, Hartline passed 213 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-20 passing. In both of his games combined, Hartline is 33-of-46 on the season for 430 yards with three scores, a rushing touchdown and no interceptions. Hartline came into the season with mixed reviews, but there's no question that everyone had extremely high expectations for Junior WR/QB/PR Randall Cobb.



The Legend of Cobb continued last night when he threw a touchdown pass, caught a touchdown pass, and returned a punt for a touchdown all in one game for a combined 192 all-purpose yards. Against Louisville, Cobb had a rushing touchdown. In 2 games, he has 4 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing, 1 receiving, and 1 special teams) on only 24 touches. He's scoring a touchdown every 6 times he touches the ball. To this point, if you think another player in the country should win the Heisman trophy, you're ignorant. He hasn't played against the best competition yet, but neither have most players at this point. As a Junior, Cobb is only 6 touchdowns away from tying Craig Yeast's all-time TD record at Kentucky.

For Cobb to get serious Heisman consideration, he'll have to have a lot of other guys making plays all around him to keep the defense honest. He'll also have to play on a team that wins 10+ games and competes for an SEC Eastern Division Title. So far in the young season, all of these things seem very possible of happening. In 2 games, Hartline has thrown for over 200 yards in both outings with 0 interceptions. Kentucky has also ran for over 200 yards in each game. Against Western, UK had 8 players catch a total of 19 passes and another 8 players rush for positive yardage, led by Derrick Locke's 105 yards on the ground.

Kentucky had a big lead for the 2nd week in a row going into halftime. The Cats scored 42 points in the first half. Reserves came into the game midway through the 3rd quarter and performed well on route to a 63 point offensive performance. Sophomore Morgan Newton was 2 for 2 passing for 48 yards and Redshirt Freshman QB Ryan Mossakowski made his college debut. Freshmen Raymond Sanders and Donald Russel also impressed on the ground in the 2nd half. There's no question that the Cats are stacked at nearly every position on offense and they have depth that has never been seen here at UK on the offensive side of the ball. Kentucky's 2007 team had plenty of offensive weapons, but they didn't have 2nd and 3rd string backups that were capable of filling in after an injury like this team does.

One of the few question marks for the Cats continues to be the kicking game. Kicker Ryan Tydlacka has missed a field goal in both games this season. The defense is also still a work in progress and must improve before the Cats face the Gators in Gainesville in 2 weeks. Kentucky has a very young and inexperienced defense that simply has given up too much in the first two games of the season. WKU running back Bobby Rainey ran for 187 yards against the Cats. Granted, Rainey also ran for 150 yards against Nebraska, but if there's areas the Cats need to improve: it's kicking and defense.

Despite these issues, the Cats have looked awfully good overall in the first two games of the Joker Phillips era. He has become the first UK head coach to start his career 2-0 since Bear Bryant. Other SEC East foes seem to have plenty to work on themselves and the East is up for anyone to grab. Florida trailed South Florida at halftime, Georgia only mustered 6 points against South Carolina, Vanderbilt lost to LSU, and Tennessee was blown out by Oregon last night. South Carolina and Kentucky might just be the two teams to beat at this point, but I'd never bet against Urban Meyer's Gators to get things going eventually. Kentucky will have one more tune-up this coming Saturday against Akron before the Cats' SEC slate begins at the Swamp.

Pearl lied to NCAA about Tennessee Violations

The New York Times has dedicated over 2,000 words in their newspaper about rumors surrounding Kentucky and John Calipari this off season that have had little to no truth to them. This week, an ACTUAL violation has occurred at Tennessee, one that actually happened and one that they will be punished for. One that Bruce Pearl lied about to the NCAA and now is admitting it. The New York Times has decided to write less than 100 words about this, an actual violation, but continues to print 2,000 words worth of false rumors about Kentucky. Simply unbelievable. Could you imagine what would happen if Calipari did this? Enjoy a great day of Football folks, and continue to laugh at all things Tennessee and Louisville.

Go Cats and Go Colonels!



...and apparently, the video of the press conference is so embarassing that UT won't let anyone embed it onto other sites, but you can find it here. A fire alarm goes off during the middle of Pearl's speech. Hillarious.

Brown's Picks

Week 2

Presbyterian @ Clemson

#18 Penn State @ #1 Alabama (-12)

#7 Oregon (-12) @ Tennessee

Michigan @ Notre Dame (-3.5)

#12 Miama (FL) @ Ohio State (-8.5)

Western Kentucky @ Kentucky (-24.5)

#22 Georgia @ #24 South Carolina (-3)

#17 Florida State @ #10 Oklahoma (-7)

Florida State

Battle(s) of the Bluegrass!

At my time as an undergrad at Eastern Kentucky University, the Eastern/Western game was known as the "Battle of the Bluegrass". It was nearly always a competitive game and a great small college rivalry. However, there was really nothing "small" about this game. It didn't feel anything like a 1-AA football game. The atmosphere was great, students were into the games, and it was always the best tailgate of the year. I experienced the game twice at EKU and once in Bowling Green as a freshman, when I was the Colonel mascot!

As an EKU Alum, it saddens me that this game still doesn't exist and I think WKU fans should feel the same. From Western's perspective, they were making the move up to 1-A football and they thought they were better than EKU despite all the close games and the fact that Eastern beat them in one of the final meetings between the schools in Richmond. Perhaps, the real reason was that they felt they had more to lose from this game than to gain. Just maybe, they were scared as an FBS school to loose to an FCS school? After an 0-12 season a year ago, maybe the Hilltoppers regret dropping Eastern. Maybe they don't feel so superior anymore.


EKU VS. WKU, my sophomore year.

But in a way, the Eastern/Western rivalry lives on tomorrow. The Colonels travel to Louisville to face the Cards and the Hilltoppers come to Lexington to face the Cats. Instead of one "Battle of the Bluegrass", there's now two. Western is still searching for their first FBS victory and it's not going to happen tomorrow against UK. Eastern nearly shocked Indiana a year ago playing on the road in a Big 10 stadium and another OVC team has already made some noise this year when Jacksonville State knocked off Ole Miss. Ole Miss is much better than Louisville, and the Indiana team that the Colonels nearly knocked off a year ago may be better than Louisville as well, so I see no reason why EKU couldn't legitimately pull off the upset tomorrow.

On the other hand, Western is very unlikely to play competitively with the Cats. The Battle(s) of the Bluegrass tomorrow could serve as "bragging rights" between the Colonels and Hilltoppers. I like Eastern's chances to give a much better showing than the 'Tops. It's too bad they just can't play each other on the field. They think they're better than Eastern, but tomorrow might just show otherwise. Eastern could very well beat an FBS team before Western does, and the Hilltoppers get 12 chances a year to do it.

GO CATS, and GO COLONELS!

Ok, I'm going to admit now that I just saw that EKU lost 31-9 to Missouri State last week. Sleep well Cards fans, but not too well.

The Truth about Kanter, Calipari, and Marcus Camby

According to Calipari, we'll know in a few weeks on the status of Enes Kanter. Pete Thamel's second attempt to bring down the Cats taught us nothing new that we already didn't know. We've known for months that Kanter played on a semi-professional team since he was fourteen and received money. This is old news. We've known about this for months and we've known that Calipari and the University have been honest and upfront about the situation with the NCAA.

Kentucky didn't even play Kanter on the Canadian exhibition trip because they were waiting for the NCAA to make a decision on his eligibility. Media outlets across the country have made misleading headlines on this story leading people to believe the situation was a lot worse and insinuating that Calipari and Kentucky are involved in a scandal. That couldn't be any further from the truth as they have been working with the NCAA for months on this issue. In fact, the NCAA is even considering new rules that would make it easier for European players who have received similar benefits at a young age the chance to play college basketball in America.

It's also important to note that the Turkish team making these claims has an incentive for Kanter to not be elibile at UK. If Kanter is ruled ineligible, Kanter would have to either return to Turkey or be signed by another European or NBA team. If another professional team signs him, the Turkish team will receive loyalties for his services. They receive nothing if he plays for UK. Another note of importance is that Kanter never signed any professional contract and the team did not disclose any "financial statements" to Pete Thamel when he asked them to as he actually had the audacity to travel to Turkey to report this "story". Thamel has also been accused of misrepresenting quotes in the article.

Perhaps, Kanter could miss a number of games this year but could be eligible by the end of the season. Last season, John Wall missed just one regular season game as he paid back money he received from an AAU coach to help him pay for college visits. Regardless to the ruling, UK has done the right thing every step of the way to ensure that Kanter is eligible before even allowing him to play in summer exhibition games. The Cats also played very well without him in Canada and look to have an entertaining team with or without Kanter. Enes' future is also not on the line, as NBA Draft experts project him as a top pick even if he goes back and plays in Europe for a year.

Meanwhile, Marcus Camby is being honored in Amhurst this weekend on his first visit back to UMass. Camby has paid back the revenue the University lost from the 1996 NCAA Vacated Final Four and he is being inducted into the UMass Hall of Fame. He's taken full responsibility for his mistakes. In an exerpt from an article in the Hampshire Daily Gazette, Camby says, "The poor decision I made, it was definitely disappointing, not just for me but for the entire university. When I went through that, I couldn't blame anybody but myself. When that stuff was going on, no one knew about it, no one at the university, none of my coaches ...or teammates. I thought the only right thing for me to do was own up to my mistakes."

Unfortunately, people don't want to know what really happened; they just want to think what they would like to think as true, or whatever is most convenient for them to believe. This is true in politics, business, and sports...especially when John Calipari and Kentucky are involved. John Calipari has a clean record, Sandy Bell is the best complaince director in the nation, the rest of the world is against UK, but clearly, the unbiased and rational people out there know that Kentucky has nothing to worry about.

Upcoming Weekend's SEC Matchups

Coming off an all around weak performance around the conference in Week 1 against less competitive teams, the SEC will be greatly tested this week and will give Kentucky fans a better look at how the Cats can stack up. The UK/WKU game won't say much at all about how Kentucky will fair this season (unless they pull an Ole Miss), but these other games will as teams begin to play significant games within the conference as well as outside of it.

Thursday:

Auburn (1-0) @Mississippi State (1-0): A look at two future opponents down the road for the Cats.

———

Saturday:


Georgia (1-0) @South Carolina (1-0): Another preview of two UK divisional opponents in what will be a crucial month of October. The winner of this game sets themselves up to have an early lead in the SEC East standings.

South Florida (1-0) @Florida (1-0): Before the season, this game looked like a blowout. However, after Miami of Ohio gave the Gators a somewhat competitive game, this one could be even closer if Florida doesn't get their act together.

LSU (1-0) @Vanderbilt (0-1): LSU comes off a non-impressive win over a North Carolina team hit hard with suspensions just days before the matchup with the Tigers in Atlanta. Vanderbilt comes off a close loss at home and a decent showing against Northwestern, another "smart school" that is coming off of an Outback Bowl appearance a year ago. If only UK played in the Big 10 last year...

Penn State (1-0) @Alabama (1-0): The #1 team and defending National Champs will be severely tested in Week 2 and maybe without last year's Heisman winning RB, Mark Ingram. As far as the Cats are concerned, the only chance they'll see the Tide is in the SEC Championship Game.

Arkansas (1-0) vs LA-Monroe (0-0) (Neutral Location): No significance at all for UK, but the Razorbacks look to be one of the best teams in the Western Division right behind Alabama this season. Bobby Petrino's recruiting is starting to take effect in Fayetteville and the Hogs should win this one, big.

Oregon (1-0) @Tennessee (1-0): These two teams beat their Week 1 cupcakes by a combined score of 122-0. This should serve as the real opening kickoff for both teams and a big test for first year coach Derek Dooley's Volunteers.

Western Kentucky (0-1) @Kentucky (1-0): Cats need to get a very big early lead and never look back. Should be an opportunity for Cobb to get some different looks early on and a chance for Morgan Newton and/or Ryan Mossakowski to get some snaps as well.

Ole Miss (0-1) @Tulane (1-0): Another game that looked like a blowout before the season began, but if Ole Miss can lose to 1-AA Jacksonville State, they could also lose to Tulane. As another future opponent of the Cats, this should be an interesting game to look at. Was last week's loss just a huge fluke? Can the Rebs' bounce back and have a good season in a similar way that Michigan was able to back bounce from their debacle with App. State to eventually beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl?

For the entire 2010 SEC Football Schedule, click here. And to see how well my readers are actually reading, the first person to comment below and find an inaccuracy in that schedule will receive a prize! I'm serious.

Check back tomorrow and I may talk about Enes Kanter, but right now: "It's FOOTBALL TIME in the Bluegrass!" I'm looking forward to reading "Brown's Picks".

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!

Louisville may have lost, but luckily Coach Strong had Wilmhoff to cheer him up :)

Four in a Row

Admittedly, while in St. Louis I was watching two different games on two different screens Saturday afternoon. I watched the Reds beat the Cardinals on one screen and Kentucky roll to a 4th straight win over Louisville on the other. I was extremely impressed with the Cats first half performance in nearly every facet of the game. Cobb was unstoppable in whatever he did, Locke ran through holes pretty easily, Hartline was surprisingly very solid with his feet and his arm, and the depth of the wide receivers looks to be the best group we've seen since the 2007 group led by Keenan Burton and Stevie Johnson.

After week 1, here's what Cat fans can feel good and bad about looking forward a few weeks ahead and into SEC play.

The Good

• First half aggressive play calling that fully utilized the abilities of Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke.
• Depth at the WR position. We knew Chris Matthews was pretty good, but La'rod King and Matt Roark stepped up big. Two years ago, Randall Cobb was the only capable receiver on the field. Now, the Cats have 4 capable receivers as well as a couple of RB's that catch and run well with Locke and newcomer Donald Russell.
• The play of Mike Hartline. He was 17-26 for over 200 yards and 0 interceptions. He started the game red-hot, completeing 9 of his first 10 passes.
• Florida, Ole Miss, and other SEC teams on the Cats' schedule played very poor in Week 1, and you HAVE to feel much better about the Cats' chances of competing in the East. No team that Kentucky plays this season looked unbeatable in week 1.

The Bad

• The 2nd half conservative play calling kept UofL in the game. UK had the chance to blow the Cards out, but instead they went back to a "managing the game" type of offense for Mike Hartline. Randall Cobb was not involved in the offense until later in the game when the Cats needed a first down to clinch the win. Until teams find a way to stop Cobb, keep calling his number.

The Ugly

• Kicker Ryan Tydlacka cost the Cats' 4 points on a missed chip shot FG and a missed extra point. Against a good SEC team, that could cost us the game. The kicking game must be more effective for the Cats to make that next step up to a run at an SEC Eastern Division Title.

But all around, Joker's debut as head coach was a great day and the Cats showed a lot of potential in the 1st half. They certainly look a lot better than they did a year ago when they faced the Cards. With the rest of the conference appearing to be a bit down, this could be the year for the Cats to win 9 or 10 games.

Brown's Picks

Hello again everyone. While baseball season is in the home-stretch, college football kicks off tonight! Every week I'll give you my picks for some of the big games. The first week of the season is always interesting since no one has seen any team in a game situation. For this week's picks, I have included my conference championship picks as well. I hope you enjoy the games this weekend, no matter where you are watching from. As for me, I'll be watching with 80,000 of my closest friends in Death Valley.


ACC - Virginia Tech
Big 12 - Oklahoma
Big East - Pitt
Big Ten - Ohio State
Pac 10 - Oregon
SEC - Alabama

National Championship - Alabama vs. Ohio State


WEEK ONE

Southern Miss @ South Carolina (-14)

#15 Pittsburgh @ Utah (-3)

Kentucky (-3) @ Louisville

Boise St. (-2.5) @ Virginia Tech

North Texas @ Clemson (-24)

LSU (-3) @ North Carolina

Cincinnati @ Fresno St. (-3)

UK Football Fan Day Photos

Hi everyone! I'm Laura Donnell, I'll be adding photos from time to time on Wildcat Wrap. If you like what you see, more of the photos can be viewed at www.topsinlex.com and also purchased.

I may even be filling in as a writer (sometimes) so be looking for my stuff!

And, as always, GO CATS!

Cardinal Killin' Weekend

On Friday morning, I'll be heading to St. Louis to watch the Reds face the Cardinals. When I purchased the tickets about a month ago, I had hoped that the Reds would simply still be in the race for the N.L Central Division crown and that these would be meaningful games. It turns out the Reds have an 8 game lead. I had faith that the Reds could have the lead at this point, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that they'd be in control as they are now to be cruising into the playoffs like this.

This series isn't as important as I thought it would be when I planned the trip, but it feels even better with a large lead and the chance to bury the Cardinals even further. Especially after the big brawl that happened at Great American Ballpark a few weeks ago, it's going to be bittersweet walking into Busch Stadium with an 8 game lead over the Cardinals, whether they win or not....at this point it doesn't look like it really matters, and will be a fun trip regardless.

I will NOT be attending the Saturday afternoon Reds/Cards game because I'll be in my hotel room watching the Cats beat up on those other Cardinals in Louisville. I will not; however, have a computer with me. I'm hoping to have someone else break down the game for you and the rest of this weekend's college football action, either a previous contributor of Wildcat Wrap (like Mike Brown), or perhaps a newcomer, maybe even a little female perspective will be provided on this Saturday's game? Either way, I'll be back by Labor Day to give you my insight on the Governor's Cup as well as my baseball trip to St. Louis.

When I get back, I'll also explain to you why the Reds have a better chance at winning the World Series (not just the NL Pennant), than Ohio State does of beating Alabama or any SEC school in the BCS National Championship game. It's not rocket science, but many Ohioans don't understand. I'll also make the case for October (playoff baseball, college football, start of Big Blue Madness) to be the greatest month in sports, perhaps even better than March. October is just one month away, folks.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend, everybody!