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.

Pelphrey's Hogs stand in Cats way of #1 Ranking

With a win today vs. Arkansas, UK moves up to the #1 spot in the rankings for the first time since 2003. The key to the win is stopping, or at least containing, the 3-point shooting of Rontei Clark. We saw what Miami of Ohio and a few other sharp shooting teams were able to do against the Cats early on this season. We will see just how much their three point defense has improved today against one of the best outside shooters in the nation. Ronei's weakness, however, is his speed and defense which should be greatly taken advantage of and exploited by John Wall and Eric Bledsoe. If the Cats play their way, up and down the court at a fast pace, the Hogs' only hope is an unbelievable shooting performance by Clark.

However, don't judge Arkansas too much by their 8-10 overall record. They have had an additional 15.8 ppg from Marshawn Powell since he and additional players have returned from suspension and have put together impressive performances in a 9 point loss to Texas, a 2 point loss at Mississippi State, a 12 point win over Alabama, and a 5 point loss against Florida. Today should be no different as Wildcat Legend, John Pelphrey, takes his talented team into Rupp Arena.

Wall's Shot, Dance Moves, Charlie's comment's, and Tonight's Picks

Here's a video of John Wall's heroics last night in the final seconds of action in his first college game.



Here's just a sweet video of Wall's dance moves.




Last night we gave you Coach Cal's comments on audio after the game, here is an entertaining video of Miami coach Charlie Coles.



Tonight's 24 hours of college basketball on ESPN concludes with two big games.

Louisville vs. Arkansas and Memphis vs. Kansas

My picks: Arkansas and Kansas.

Why: Because Arkansas returns everyone from a team that knocked off Texas and Oklahoma around this time last year (top 5 teams). Also, because former UK unforgettable and current Arkansas head coach, John Pelphrey, wants this game against his old coach and old rival, very badly. Louisville is a whole different team trying to find their identity, kind of like Kentucky last night. Memphis, is trying to find an identity even more without John Calipari and new coach Josh Pastner. They have the incredibly difficult challenge of facing the #1 team in the country, Kansas, in a rematch of the National Title game a few years ago. I think the Tigers will keep it closer than people think, but Kansas is just too much for them right now.

Picking the Western Division and All-SEC team

As promised yesterday, here are my picks for the the SEC West:

1. Mississippi State (AP ranked 18th): The Bulldogs are the only team from the SEC that return all 5 starters from an NCAA tournament team a year ago. They return Jarvis Vanardo, one of the best shot blockers in the nation. They also landed one of the nation's top recruits in Freshman Forward Renaldo Sydney, who is facing similar eligibility problems as John Wall but has yet to be cleared by the NCAA. As long as Sydney becomes eligible before their February 16th matchup at home against Kentucky, the tandem of Vanardo and Sydney will give Patrick Patterson, Demarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, and Perry Stevenson their toughest fight of the season. No team in the SEC, nor the country, has the depth down low that the Cats do but Mississippi State has enough talent down low to make Kentucky depend on the guard play of John Wall and Eric Bledsoe to win this one. (3 Seed, NCAA)

2. LSU: The Tigers lose Marcus Thornton but return Tasmin Mitchell from last year's SEC regular season champion. A lot of people are picking LSU to finish as low as 5th in the division, but the Tigers were the class of the SEC a year ago, winning 27 games and giving North Carolina their toughest game and biggest scare in the NCAA Tournament. They lose a lot, but they return enough talent to finish 2nd in the weaker side of the SEC and squeak into the NCAA Tournament as one of the last teams in. (13 Seed, NCAA)

3. Arkansas: In John Pelphrey's second season at Arkansas, they entered SEC play undefeated with wins over two top 5 teams, Texas and Oklahoma, but the Razorbacks were the best example of why the conference wasn't as bad as people thought it was a year ago. After going through a tough non-conference schedule undefeated, the young Hogs team fell apart and went 2-14 in SEC play. A year older and more experienced and in their third year under Pelphrey, expect the Hogs to play a lot better in SEC play this season and finish in the top 3 of the West. The talent is there to make the NCAA Tournament, but I'm not ready to put them there after only winning 2 conference games a year ago. They'll make strides this season and earn a trip to the NIT. (NIT)

4. Alabama: The rest of the SEC West is a crap shoot and really the only team that stands out is Mississippi State. The rest of the Western Division could finish in any order but I pick Alabama fourth because they return their leading scorer and also because of the impact that new head coach Anthony Grant will have. Grant is a disciple of Billy Donovan, comes from VCU, and is one of the highest rising young coaches in the game. He will at least take the Crimson Tide to some form of postseason play. (NIT or CBI)

5. Ole Miss: A 16-15 record a year ago was a huge step back for Andy Kennedy's program, but the Rebels did have a lot of injuries and could finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th in the West. Their season depends on how they are able to recover from those season ending injuries from last season and if super sophomore, Terrico White, can continue to develop into a future NBA shooting guard. (CBI)

6. Auburn: The Tigers were a pleasant surprise last year and barely missed the NCAA Tournament, but they lose nearly all key players from that team and it should be a rebuilding year for Auburn. (SEC Tourney, 1st round loss)

And now, here is the Wildcat Wrap All-SEC Team:

PG: John Wall (UK)
SG: Tyler Smith (UT)
SF: Tasmin Mitchell (LSU)
PF: Jarvis Vanardo (MSU)
C: Demarcus Cousins (UK)

Honorable Mention: PG Devan Downey (USC), PF Patrick Patterson (UK), PF Renaldo Sydney (MSU), C A.J. Ogilvy (Vandy), C Wayne Chism (UT)

Yeah, I gave the nod to Vanardo on the 1st team simply because he will put up better numbers with Miss. State than Patterson will on a team loaded full of NBA lottery picks. No disrespect meant at all towards Patrick, he will still have a great year and improve in the Dribble Drive Offense. Patterson and Devan Downey would be 1st team picks in any other conference and could both definately prove me wrong with not only SEC honors, but even All-American honors when it's all said and done.

Also, be sure to check out our preview of our lil brother 65 miles to the West. That's right, we will have a UofL preview coming up in the next couple of days by an actual UofL fan, Neal Thompson (the same guy who created a facebook group trying to ban me and my "biased and ridiculous opinions" from facebook. Let's see what he has to say about his Cards...