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.

Cal does it again!

A week after making a definitive statement that he will be returning to Kentucky next season and "finishing what he started", and ending all reasonable speculation that he would take a job in the NBA and possibly coach Lebron James next season, Calipari has added another 5-star recruit in Terrence Jones and possibly has surpassed the massive recruiting class that he brought in a year ago in his first few months on the job. Last year's class was looked at as a "once in a generation" recruiting class, and perhaps even "the best ever". In just his 2nd year at Kentucky, Calipari might have done the unthinkable of actually surpassing the recruiting class that included John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Daniel Orton- whom all are expected to be drafted in the 1st round of the upcoming NBA Draft. The really scary part of all of this (for the rest of college basketball) is that next year's class looks to be even better. In the coming days, I'll take a look at the incoming 2010 class as well as the 2011 class and compare them both to last year's class that revitalized the Commonwealth to a 35-3 season in the extraordinary start to the John Calipari era.

Also, I've got to give much deserved "shout outs" to John Wall for his 3.5 Spring GPA and for learning his fate as a Washington Wizard, Rajon Rondo for continuing to lead his Boston Celtics as the MVP of this year's NBA playoffs so far, and the UK baseball team for SWEEPING defending National Champion LSU last weekend in what might have been enough to clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament!

(Photo courtesy of mostlyuclahoops.blogspot.com)

National Signing Day Recap

With the Cats playing against an LSU team tomorrow that is winless in the SEC, I think it's fair to say that the Cats should handle LSU tomorrow rather easily granted that Tasmin Mitchell doesn't go "Devan Downey" on us.

With that being said, it's time to talk some football. All off-season long, Mike Brown has kept us updated on Wildcat Wrap of the coaching carousal in college football. The biggest names taking over programs include Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, Lane Kiffin at USC, and Jimbo Fisher taking over for Bobby Bowden at Florida State. All of these coaches did very well on signing day, living up to their hype and huge contracts. The state of Kentucky has three new head coaches of their own in all three major college football programs and all are African American. Charlie Strong game to Louisville with the most hype, but could he deliver? Could Willie Taggard give the Hilltoppers any chance at all to finally win a game or two in D-1A (FBS) football? And could Joker Phillips continue the move upward for Kentucky football on National Signing Day?

Joker's first recruiting class as Head Coach of Kentucky was highlighted by a few surprising last second commitments. A few weeks ago, it wasn't looking very promising for the new coach- but he promised surprises, and he delivered. One of the biggest surprises was stealing Miami, FL Running Back, Brandon Gainer, away from Florida State and the Seminoles' new Head Coach, Jimbo Fisher. Gainer was also recruited unsuccessfully by new Louisville head coach, Charlie Strong. The Cats added another solid RB in Miles Simpson from Simon Kenton H.S. in Northern Kentucky. Simpson was also being recruited by Louisville and turned down a total of 11 schools including Cincinnati, Michigan, Nebraska, and Purdue.

The additions of both Gainer and Simpson at RB gives Kentucky's incoming backfield a ranking of 15th in the nation by Rivals.com. Both are SEC-caliber Running Backs that will more than adequately replace Derrick Locke as he graduates after the 2010 season. Look for one of these guys to also step up to be a 3rd down, short yardage option in their freshman seasons for the Cats. The Cats incoming linebackers are also ranked 3rd in the SEC only, behind only Auburn and Florida, and could see a lot of playing time as freshman. Other holes on defense should be filled by Junior College recruits such as DB Mychael Bailey from the Cats' recruiting pipeline from LaGrange, GA and South Carolina DL, Donte Rumph.

The highest ranked individual player for the Cats is TE Alex Smith from Cincinnati's Lakota West H.S. Smith is the 11th ranked TE in the country and will give the Cats an instant threat at the position that has been absent since the graduation of Jacob Tamme in 2007. He picked the Cats over the hometown Bearcats, Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. With two strong commitments from Greater Cincinnati, maybe last season's opener at Paul Brown Stadium paid off in Recruiting in the area the way that the Cats hoped that it would.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was taking away the #1 recruit in the state that appeared to be a "lock" for new Louisville coach, Charlie Strong. Louisville Central LB Tim Patterson was a self-proclaimed "life-long Louisville Cardinals fan" and the Cards were so confident that he would sign with them that it was reported in Louisville as a done deal less than 24 hours before Signing Day. Although Strong's first recruiting class at Louisville is better than it has been the last few years under Steve Kragthorpe, the hype over Strong's hiring didn't deliver the results that Card fans were hoping for in his first recruiting class as he was clearly out done by new Wildcats' coach, Joker Phillips. The basketball and football supremacy in the state is secure and unthreatened for the Big Blue Nation, at least in the near future..



This seems to be an example that supports the idea of naming a "Head Coach In-Waiting" as opposed to hiring out of the program and starting from scratch in recruiting. This class isn't by any means one of the best in the nation, nor in the conference, but Kentucky is taking more and more "baby steps" each year on the football field and also on the recruiting tails. The class as a whole is ranked around 10th out of 12 teams in the conference, which isn't bad considering that the Cats return A LOT of young talent from last year's team as it is- and 10th in the SEC is honestly sometimes good enough to be Top 15 or 20 in the entire country. Even with a new head coach, Kentucky continues to close the gap on the majority of the conference as this year's class looks to be about even with Bobby Petrino's class at Arkansas.

If the 2010 Cats can turn a few more notorious annual close losses into victories (Tennessee and South Carolina) and continue to make progress on the field in Phillips' first year as head coach, then recruiting will continue to improve. This staff has proven that they can compete with Top 40 recruiting classes that rank high in speed, length and athleticism (which is what this class is made of). If the Cats can close out on the close games this year and they bring the program to the next level that it is capable of this season, Top 20 recruiting classes will come to Lexington under Joker Phillips. If this staff is competitive with Top 40 classes, they can win (and win big) with Top 20 (middle of the pack SEC) Recruiting Classes. The Cats are slowly, but steadily, rising.

And in case you were wondering, WKU new head coach, Willie Taggart, has recruited the #1 ranked recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference, a very impressive feat for a first year coach taking over a team that was winless in their first two seasons of D-1A (FBS) football. The Cats have a 4 year series scheduled with the Hilltoppers, playing two games in Nashville and two in Lexington.

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!

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...