Why are we talking basketball recruiting in the middle of football season?  Well, because that's where the news is.  I don't make the news, I just report it.  We do have UK-Florida links as well, but basketball recruiting is heating up for UK, and we all know that basketball pays the bills around here, so ...

Anyway, the intro will be short to keep Ken's great work visible.  The news follows the jump.

Top Stories

• College basketball's top 10 power forwards - Mike DeCourcy - College Basketball - Sporting News
  1. Patrick Patterson, Kentucky. His confinement to the center position ended when John Calipari was hired as coach.
  
  Patterson #1? Sweet. I think he deserves it. [Note:  Broken link fixed]

• Brothers From Another Mother!: Insight to Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari's Thoughts
  Nice.

• Providence's Poole Jr. expected to choose Kentucky | Jacksonville.com
  Stacey Poole Jr., one of the top high school basketball players on the First Coast, is expected to verbally commit to Kentucky today.
  
  We'll see.

• John Calipari connects with true-blue Kentucky fans | tennessean.com | The Tennessean
  Interesting comments by Calipari vis-a-vis Bruce Pearl.

UK Basketball News

• ZAGSBLOG » Knight to UConn for Visit, May Decide Late
  Why do I think John Wall may have a major impact on Brandon Knight's decision?

• " BBL: Calipari big hit on trip to Nashville John Clay’s Sidelines
• The Daily Free Press - WHITROCK: Needing a Look in the Mirror
  Interesting commentary on the NCAA. Not sure I totally agree, but then again, I'm not sure I don't.

• Coach Cal in Tennessee talking about his new book
  Calipari speaks about how it has been going all around the Commonwealth on his book tour.

• Recruting analyst says Poole will be good fit at UK | Vaught's Views
  Poole is not as highly though of as many Calipari is recruiting, but he's still plenty good.

• Stacey Poole or Doron Lamb?
  Dustin Rumbaugh gives us the low-down

• John Clay: Bengals provide welcome distraction - SPORTS UPDATE - Kentucky.com
  Got no problem with John Calipari joining a country club. Do have a problem with UK paying the coach's country club initiation and fees, on top of his $32 million contract.
  
  Yeah, John speaks for me as well on this. I think Calipari would be well advised to take this in hand and make a gesture. He's not required to, or anything, but it would be good PR, and that's his specialty.

• Bluegrass State Basketball: Change of Plans for Ex-Cat Donald Williams

• Bluegrass State Basketball: Ironic Twist? NBA Teams to Gamble on Antoine Walker
  Interesting. Well, he is still young enough.

UK Football News

• Florida Gators QB Tim Tebow too nice to hit | Gainesville.com | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, FL
  C'mon, Ricky, give him the heater!

• Conner UK’s ‘Terminator’ | The Courier-Journal
  John Conner does a great job for Kentucky. I'm happy to see him get the ball a bit more.

• Tom Leach Productions
  Some new podcasts from Tom Leach

• Oddities Needed for a Wildcat Win " Over The Pylon
  Call me a pessimist. Call me a non-believer. Call me a Kentucky football fan since that encompasses the first two, but I simply cannot fathom how Kentucky pulls anything closely resembling an upset. The flu isn’t even close to the top of the list of things that would make me consider Kentucky capable of shocking the world. These however would:
  
  Heh.

• Lorenzo Bryant: UK did nothing wrong in recruitment of his son | Vaught's Views
  Sometimes you just lose recruiting battles. That's just the way it is.

Other UK Sports News

• None today
  

NCAA Sports News

• Tennessee's Tyler Smith talks about Twitter, his late father - Luke Winn - SI.com
  Interesting interview.

• Rush The Court " Blog Archive " More Bad Behavior: Binghamton Edition

Other News of Interest

• Gillispie offered plea bargain in DUI case | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
  Gillispie's lawyer called the plea offer, "reasonable." What does that mean in this context? I have no clue.

• The March to Madness: The World's Longest Trick Shot
  That's pretty amazing. I wonder how many tries it took to get it done?

The Daily Schadenfreude

• Could off-court issues sink Kansas?
  Mike Miller reports on some pretty surprising stuff happening over at KU. Kansas fans have been taking shots at UK pretty consistently lately. Looks like they should worry more about their own players than us, and that's Miller's conclusion as well.

• Kansas Basketball, Football Players Involved in Series of Brawls With Each Other - SB Nation
  Heh. More bad behavior.

• Intentional Foul " Do Jayhawks Fight Each Other?
  Yet more news from the Jayhawk players that make me throw up in my mouth a little. Not pretty stuff in Lawrence, these days.

• Prosecutors say Sypher’s previous lawyer worried about her mental state | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
  This is getting real ugly, fast. I am surprised by some of the motions of the prosecution, they smell ever so slightly of cheese.

• Feel Free to Hate this Guy
  Indeed. What an incredible douchebag.

• Those Arctic Winds Are Still Blowing … Albeit Silently Now
  Heh.  The Vol and Gator coaches are amusing me greatly.