Brown's Picks

Last week was a little better for me. I went 3-2 which brings my season record to 10-11. Cincinnati is off this week so I added in my pick for the EKU game. Some good picks for this weekend should put me over .500 for the short time I've been picking games. Let's get to it:


Ohio St. ( -12) @ Michigan
No matter how poorly either of these teams has performed, the Buckeyes and Wolverines bring their A game for this one. Considered one of the best rivalries in all of sports, Ohio St. and Michigan will go at it this Saturday. Ohio St. has been rolling of late, beating Penn St. and Iowa in the last two weeks and clinching yet another trip to the Rose Bowl. After jumping out to a 4-0 record, the Wolverines have left 4 in a row and 6 of their last 7 (with the only win being against Delaware St.) I think this one will be close in the first half, but Ohio St. will eventually pull away and win by 17.

PICK: OHIO ST.

Virginia @ Clemson (-21.5)
-With a win on Senior Day in Death Valley, the Tigers will be heading to Tampa and to their first ACC Championship game. I think the key to this game is going to be the Virginia defense. Clemson has a number of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. By now everyone knows about CJ Spiller, but I think the big game is goign to come from Wide Receiver and return-man Jacoby Ford. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers handle the pressure of trying to wrap up a division title. I think Clemson wins pretty easily but I'm not sure if they cover the spread. I'm actually going to pick Clemson by 20, with a score of 30-10.

PICK: VIRGINIA

Kentucky @ Georgia (-9)
-Both of these teams come into this game with identical 6-4 records overall. One problem UK is going to face this Saturday is the potential lose of Sophomore Randall Cobb. In my opinion, Cobb has been the best offensive threat the Cats have had all year, leading the conference in touchdowns per game. Cobb didn't practice much this week and Coach Rich Brooks said he will be a game-time decision. With starting QB Mike Hartline already out, UK may need to rely on Cobb more than usual. Georgia has their big rivalry game next week against Georgia Tech and I think UK has a great chance to catch the Bulldogs looking ahead on their schedule. I think this one stays close for most of the game, but being between the hedges will prove too much for UK and their injuries. I like UGA by 10.

PICK: GEORGIA


LSU @ Mississippi (-4.5)
-LSU comes into this game at #8 and with hopes of sneaking into a BCS game. Mississippi is favored in this game, but I think they are going to need a big game from their defense to pull this one out. LSU has not been overly impressive on the offensive side of the ball this year, averaging only 25 points a game. On the other hand, Ole Miss is putting up 31 and 400+ yards of offense a game. This is going to be a tough game for the Tigers; Mississippi wins it by 7.

PICK: MISSISSIPPI

Eastern Kentucky @ Jacksonville St.
-On Thursday night Jacksonville St. demolished Tennessee Tech. That plays an important role in this game, because all the Colonels will have to do in order to win the OVC for a third straight year is beat the Gamecocks in Jacksonville on Saturday. Eastern is also trying to extend their streak of consecutive non-losing seasons. EKU is going to have a hard time handling a Jacksonville St. Offense that is scoring 35 a game. This one is going to be close but I like to Colonels to win the game and another conference championship.

PICK: EASTERN KENTUCKY




That's all for my football picks this week. Enjoy the football everyone!


GO TIGERS!
GO COLONELS!

Wildcat Wrap x2, featuring John Wall's debut and a nice win in Commonwealth.

In the exhibition opener against Campbellsville, the Cats put together a dazzling first half performance but looked tired and sluggish in the 2nd half. This week, Coach Calipari addressed the conditioning issue with two-a-day practices beginning at 6:15am each day. It apparently worked after the Cats put together two fantastic halves of basketball in a 65 point win over Coach Cal's Alma Mater, Clarion. John Wall made his debut with an unselfish 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 9 assists. Wall could have scored a lot more if he wanted to, but he's a team player and his presence made everyone play better and that is why he's a favorite to win National Player of the Year as a freshman. Demarcus Cousins added 20 points, as he and Wall combined for 47 of the team's 117 total points.

Eric Bledsoe sat out for precautionary reasons after a minor ankle injury that occurred against Campbellsville. With Wall ineligible for the regular season opener against Morehead State, the Cats didn't want to risk anything with Bledsoe. As good as this team looks right now, we still haven't even seen our two best guards playing together and that will be quite a treat to watch in the second regular season game against Miami (Oh). Daniel Orton also left the game early with chest pains, but is listed as day-to-day.

The only other player who did not see action was DeAndre Liggins, who also didn't play against Campbellsville. One of the top point guards in the country from the class of 2008, Liggins started a significant number of games for the Cats last season and led them with 18 points in a loss to Miami (FL), but the guard seems to be in Coach Calipari's doghouse. Liggins, Stevenson, Harrelson, and Harris all started a lot of games last season and are having to earn their minutes this season. Everyone except Liggins have made the most of their opportunities and Stevenson has gotten back into the regular rotation of substitutes. Mark Krebs has also impressed in the limited time that he has seen.

We may not see another 65 point win this season, but with the incredible depth of this team it's safe to say that there will be many 30, 40, and even some 50 point wins against decent competition. Just think about this: four of our so called "mop up" players started games for us last season. Teams better start off well against Kentucky this year or it could be a very long day for them as very experienced former starters will come in later in the game and not make things any easier for them at all.

Not much can be said during exhibition play, but I will say this....this team's best player (John Wall) is better than anyone on the 1996 team, arguably the best college basketball team ever assembled. This team also has much more depth at the bottom of the roster than the 1996 team did. If this team wants to win a National Championship and be compared to the 1996 team, it all depends on how all the role players develop.

Who will become this year's Mark Pope? We know Wall, Cousins, and Patterson are going to be great just like Walker, McCarty and Delk were. We also know we're solid all the way down the roster. Mark Krebs is a lot better than Steve Massielo and a few others on that team. But it will be the guys that average 10-15 minutes a game that will make the difference. Guys like Jon Hood, Darnell Dodson, Josh Harrlelson, Daniel Orton, Darius Miller and Ramon Harris will determine where this team will stand in history. Those guys all have a long ways to go, but if they can contribute in a way like Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, and Anthony Epps did, than this team could go in the history books as one of the best. Unfortunately, the one thing that most of those guys lack is experience, which could be the difference of these 2 teams. But as Coach Cal says, "I'll take talent over experience any day of the week". At least when you're talking about this kind of talent, I think he might be right.

We've talked about the Cats' performance against John Calipari's alma mater, now lets talk about the football Cats and their performance over MY alma mater, Eastern Kentucky University.

WILDCAT WRAP

UK VS. EKU

Throughout the first half, it looked like the Colonels were about to put another scare on a Division 1 FBS team for the second time this season. With three minutes left in the 1st half, they only trailed the Cats by a score of 10-6. The Cats didn't come out as mad as I thought they would after losing to Mississippi State. They did march down the field in their first possession but then turned it over on downs when Coach Brooks elected to go for it on 4th and 1 in the EKU redzone. It also should be noted that they were without their two best players on offense, Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke, who usually account for about 90% of the Cats' total offense. The Colonels played with a lot of heart and passion, and at least in the first half, seemed to have wanted this game a lot more than some of the lackadaisical Wildcats.

However, the Wildcats came to play in the second half and wore down on the Colonels as the game went on. True Freshman QB Morgan Newton ended the day with 20 completed passes in 29 attempts for 187 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Newton threw his first career touchdown pass to tight end Maurice Grinter and later found Chris Matthews in the corner of the endzone. It was great to see Newton make some progress just before next week's SEC matchup with Vanderbilt. The future looks brighter than what some people may think, in my opinion. Mike Hartline is expected to possibly return and take over as the starting quarterback against Vandy. A win on Saturday in Nashville would make the Cats bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, with two games remaining with Georgia and Tennessee.

In the end, the game ended up exactly how I thought it would and how I hoped it would. EKU played tough and kept it close for a while in a pretty well played game by both teams. They showed a lot of heart and made me a very proud alum out there today. I honestly think Eastern might just be the 2nd best team in the state. I certainly think they would at least give UofL a very good game. If UK had committed the amount of turnovers that they did against UofL today, it could have been very close just as the UofL game ended up being. I also definately think Eastern looked better than two FBS schools on UK's schedule, Miami (Oh) and Louisiana Monroe. The Cats looked sluggish in the first half, but without their two best players on the field, ended up with a 37-12 victory and now find themselves one game away from bowl eligibility with three games remaining.

Kentucky vs. Eastern Kentucky

Eastern Kentucky is celebrating 100 years of football this season. The first 100 years has surprisingly only featured two matchups all-time against their neighbors 20 miles up the road in Lexington. Unfortunately for EKU, those 2 matchups were against Tim Couch in 1998 and Andre Woodson in 2007 and the Cats combined to win both games for a score of 102-17.

The Colonels (5-3, 3-2 OVC) are trying to make it a 31st consecutive winning season, one of the longest streaks in the nation at any level. Their goal is to also win the school's 21st OVC Championship and third straight trip to the NCAA FCS Playoffs. They've won two FCS National Championships under legendary coach Roy Kidd in 1979 and 1982. Before the FCS Playoffs were established, the Colonels made appearances in the Rice Bowl and the Tangerine Bowl (winning the Rice Bowl). Danny Hope succeeded Roy Kidd at Eastern and now is the head coach at Purdue, with a win over Ohio State already on his resume. Former Wake Forest Defensive Coordinator, Dean Hood, is now the head boss in Richmond.

In the glory days of EKU football under Kidd, the Colonels were probably the best team in the state in many of those years. In 1982, when Kentucky was 0-10-1 and Eastern was 13-0 and the FCS National Champions, it likely would have been a very embarrassing loss for the Cats that year. They never faced the Cats in that era, but the Colonels did put a 45-21 thumping on Louisville in 1985 and you could say it's questionable as to what the result would be this year if the Colonels had another shot at UofL.

They opened up this season in Bloomington against Big Ten foe Indiana, and scared the Hoosiers to death as they escaped with a 19-13 win against EKU. Down 19-10 at halftime, the Colonels outplayed the Hoosiers in the 2nd half. They only allowed one IU first down in all of the 3rd quarter. Late in the 4th quarter, the Colonels had the ball inside the 5 yard line about to score and take the lead, before fumbling on 2nd and goal.

Although the Colonels are rich in history and tradition, this year's matchup faces a Kentucky program that is building some tradition of their own as they look to win their 4th straight bowl game this season. Three weeks ago, the Cats had a huge win on the road at Auburn. They followed it up with an easy win over Louisiana Monroe before losing a close battle at home with Mississippi State, a game the Cats feel they let slip away. Now, the Cats are angry at themselves and wanting to get back on track, which is not good news for EKU. Their goal is to win out and finish 8-4 and play in a warm temperature bowl game for the first time since 1998 when Tim Couch led the Cats to the Outback Bowl against Penn State. They know that all their dreams and aspirations of playing on New Years Day will not be possible with a loss on Saturday. Coach Brooks has talked this week about taking it one game at a time the rest of the way. There is no margin of error, and with Georgia and Tennessee still on the schedule, losing to EKU would be a disaster.

For EKU, on the other hand, the game is all about pride. Eastern's roster includes 29 players from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, many of whom probably were snubbed by UK in the recruiting process. EKU's goal remains the same: win an OVC Championship. The UK game has absolutely no impact on the Colonels' goal of winning the OVC and getting a third straight automatic birth to the FCS Playoffs, however, it would absolutely make their season if they pulled off the upset in Commonwealth.

In the end, I see UK winning this game fairly easily but closer than the last two times the schools have met. UK needs this game more than EKU does as far as their post-season aspirations are concerned. Despite battling injuries and the flu bug this week, the Cats should have the proper focus after losing last week to avoid it getting too close as they will comfortably extend the 2nd longest non-conference winning streak in the nation. They know they need this game, and they'll take care of business as they make it to a fourth straight bowl win. Eastern will appreciate the experience, learn from it, move on, and hopefully win a third straight OVC Championship. That would be a win-win situation for an EKU Alum and lifelong Cats fan.

Computer Crashed!

I apologize for the lack of posts by myself the last few days, but we are experiencing technical difficulties at wildcatwrap.com with my laptop. Hopefully, IT Director Christian Cox can get on this immediately.

Anyway, here's my belated thoughts on the game Saturday. Make no mistake, it was a very big game and tough loss. If we had been able to come out with a win, we would likely have a 5 game winning streak going into the Georgia and Tennessee games and have a chance to play for a New Years Day Bowl Game. We still have a slim chance at that, but now we have a very little margin of error and will have to win at least one of those last two games. But consider this: Kentucky has an identical overall and conference record as Tennessee and has the same overall record as Georgia. Those last two games ARE very winnable games, and if the Cats won just one of them (or both) along with a 4th straight bowl win....would this season be a failure? My point is that there's still a lot to play for and it appears that Mike Hartline was actually the best choice all along at Quarterback and should be back for those last 2 games.

Don't get me wrong though, Morgan Newton will be a very good Quarterback in a few years and I'm very glad that he has been able to get some quality experience this year. He is a true freshman who looks at least on par with the level that Andre Woodson was playing as a redshirt freshman and sophomore. Woodson didn't blossom until his junior year which was his fourth year in the program, while Newton went to his high school prom 6 months ago.

I do, however, agree with Charlie on the strange play calling late in the game. How does Randall Cobb not touch the ball in any capacity in the 4th quarter while in the redzone twice? If you're going to run two straight quarterback drawls, than why run it with Morgan Newton instead of Randall Cobb? Cobb has the ability to win a Heisman Trophy in a few years if the coaching staff utilizes him to his full potential but they have not done that so far this season. In the Auburn game, the staff actually made ALL of the right moves. Using Fidler (more mature and experienced than Newton) and Cobb late in the game was brilliant and won the game for us. My question is, if it worked late against Auburn, why not do the same against Mississippi State? Or for that matter, why not use Cobb more often throughout the game in the Wildcat?

After the 2 point loss to South Carolina, Steve Spurrier made remarks about how he was glad they waited so long to put Cobb at quarterback. Cobb marched the Cats right down the field midway through the 4th quarter and there's no telling what he could have done under center all day long. Last season, Cobb played quarterback the entire game against a top 10 Georgia team and put over 30 points on the board. Until someone proves that they can stop him, we should utilize him the most we can without putting too bad of a beating on his 180 pound body.

But that is enough criticism for now. Next week the Cats face my alma mater, the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels, and then Vanderbilt. These are two games the Cats should win to improve to 6-4. Like I said earlier, there is still a chance to have a very good season this year and I'll wait until the season concludes to make judgements on the direction of the program. EKU is currently celebrating 100 years of football and we'll have a nice tribute to the EKU program later on in the week.

Tonight, the Cats hit the hardwood and face an opponent for the first time this season as exhibition play opens up without John Wall against Campbellsville at 7:00 in Rupp. Hopefully, I can get on a working computer again tonight and give you the official "Wildcat Wrap" of the very first exhibition game in the Calipari era.