Downey vs. Wall

As we celebrate the Cats #1 ranking today, take a minute to watch this week's segment of "This is Kentucky Basketball" featuring the Hoops for Haiti telethon.



As awesome as being ranked #1 is, the effort that this team gave to raise all that money is even more awesome. The more I watch this video, the more I love this team.

I am also pleased to announce that I was able to get 8 tickets to the ESPN College Gameday show. I logged on and tried to get tickets right at 10am, and of course, the server was down. At 10:12, I was able to get my tickets and the lower arena was ALREADY sold out. Big Blue Nation never ceases to amaze me. I wasn't sure if Rupp would be able to completely fill up or not, and there ARE still tickets left, but the fact that the whole lower arena was gone in 12 minutes tells me that it should be a packed house by the 13th. One thing is definitely certain: whatever the previous attendance of the show was, it's probably going to be about tripled at Rupp. I hope ESPN is prepared for this!

Note to Bobby Knight: I recommend you don't even show up. Knight wasn't in Clemson this weekend. Maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist, or maybe if he didn't show up to a couple of Gameday shows it wouldn't make him look like a coward when the only one he missed was in Rupp...

News and Notes

• Another Cat won SEC Freshman of the Week (I know- shocker, right?). This week it was Demarcus Cousins. UK has already set an all-time season record for 10 SEC weekly awards this season- and there's still 12 conference games left.
• Calipari became the first coach in history to coach three different schools to a #1 ranking.
• The Downey vs. Wall/Bledsoe matchup tomorrow night is one that we have waited for since the start of the season. This game features, in my opinion, the three best point guards in the nation...all on the court at the same time. It should be a very entertaining game and very tough atmosphere for the Cats on the road.
• Downey is averaging 35 ppg in SEC play and the Gamecocks are coming off a heartbreaking loss at Florida, but big man Dominique Archie will be sidelined. The Cats will need to push it down low. Downey could be good enough to contain UK's guards, but Patterson, Cousins, and Orton will need to have big games if the Cats want to improve to 20-0.
• Seth Davis picked the Cats to lose this game a month ago to be our first loss. Hopefully the Cats prove him wrong, again.

Kentucky Basketball raises over $1 Million for Haiti Earthquake relief

There have been many great moments in the first 18 games of John Calipari's first season at Kentucky. It has been a season full of highlight reels, book signings, S.I. cover shots, milestone victories, and John Wall dance videos posted all over YouTube. The remarkable comeback of Kentucky basketball has been a wild and fun ride since last April. This incredible run has included 18 wins in 18 tries and a #2 national ranking after missing the NCAA Tournament last March, but possibly no win was more meaningful than the battle that was won on Sunday. The victory that was won on Sunday wasn't in Rupp Arena, nor was it in a hostile environment on the road. It was won through the telephone lines all accross this great Commonwealth.

"There have been many days since I took this job that I have been humbled and honored to be your coach," Coach Calipari said. "But none moreso than Sunday when your outpouring of support for our brothers and sisters in Haiti was displayed in full sight of the nation."

Coach Calipari had this idea just a few days ago after the disaster in Haiti occured and has come up with over $1 million in 24 hours. The players, our great fans, Ashley Judd, Lebron James, and Tubby Smith- yes, TUBBY SMITH, amongst many others were influential in the success of "Hoops for Haiti". Thank you to everyone for the support of this great project. The Commonwealth was represented very well today and should be commended for their efforts.

Check out the following ESPN video:

Hoops for Haiti