Lots of big haps in the SEC yesterday, from cowbells to eliminating basketball divisions to Steve Spurrier grabbing the news cycle by the throat.  Strange days, indeed.

• TideSports.com - HURT: Coaches propose to pay players

  "A bunch of us coaches feel so strongly about it that we would be willing to pay for it. Seventy guys at 300 bucks a game, that's $21,000 a game. That's less than $300,000 a year. We can do that."

  How generous of you, Steve.  Can we count on you to kick in an exactly equivalent amount for non-revenue sports and women's sports to the extent required by Title IX?

  Didn't think so.

• Cowbells Are A Very Hot Topic At SEC Meetings; Compromise Is Close :: Saturday Down South

  Mullen even went on to say he compares losing the cowbell tradition to Toomer’s Corner being poisoned.

  Did they bring the Toomer's Corner oaks to the game and beat the opponent with the branches?  Didn't think so.

  Silly coaches.

• Kentucky Sports Online: SEC Basketball to be 12 Team League with NO Divisions
  Good.

• SEC: Spurrier’s pay-the-players idea spurs debate :: John Clay’s Sidelines

• SpaceShots: The Best New Photos of Our Universe - FoxNews.com
  This is good stuff, for astrophysics geeks like me.

• Chris Spielman: "I’ve heard through players, former players, that TP operated and was allowed to operate by his own set of rules."

  If you were the folks at Ohio State what would you do with Terrelle Pryor? Did he play his last game at Ohio State?

  "I think he’s played his last game. What would I do? I mean I would do a real investigation if it’s true. I don’t know if you guys have heard this. I’ve heard through players, former players, that TP operated and was allowed to operate by his own set of rules

  Is anyone surprised at this suggestion?

• Kanter Compared To A Hall Of Fame Player | LEX18.com | Lexington, Kentucky

  "He's got unbelievably soft hand. He caught everything. And he reminded me of a Moses Malone-type rebounder. I saw him go out of bounds on one side of the basket [to claim a rebound] and come back inbounds on the other. Moses was like that. This kid is just a high, high, high level, instinctive rebounder."

  This from Washington Assistant coach Raphael Chillous.

• AP writer wrong to blast Calipari for same wrongdoing as Tressel :: Vaught's Views
  Say it together with me; "Embrace the hate, Larry!"

• Barnette leaving Kentucky women’s basketball program :: Vaught's Views

• Ohio State coach Jim Tressel ran out of plausible deniability - College Football News | FOX Sports on MSN

  Forget that Calipari had to vacate two of his three trips to the Final Four because of a player receiving improper benefits and for another reportedly not taking his own SAT. But somehow the detail-oriented coach didn’t know about either and was never suspended by the NCAA. Really?

  Yes, really, Thayer.  Sometimes the people in charge cannot know about everything, a fact the NCAA explicitly recognized in Calipari's case, as well as many, many others throughout its history.  Unlike you, the NCAA requires some sort of defensible proof of wrongdoing before it makes accusations.

  In addition, your claim that Calipari is detail-oriented suffers from the fatal defect of being obviously and demonstrably false.  Calipari is a generalist, and never has been particularly sharp on details.  He is the kind of guy who can give approximate answers off the cuff, but not the kind of guy who knows every stat or chases every minor detail.  Those who know him, or who have observed him can tell you that.

  So your argument fails from a flawed premise, and in neither case did the NCAA find any cause to act against Calipari.  In the Tressel matter, what we have are at least three cases of the exact same behavior, and in all three Tressel was credibly accused by people in the know of looking the other way.  In the most recent case, he left a trail of emails that leave no doubt whatever, then admitted his deception.  Calipari was never credibly accused of that behavior either at Memphis or at UMass, and in the UMass case, the NCAA called him a victim of Camby rather than a bad actor.

  But hold on; the apologists for Tressel, Calhoun, Newton and Calipari always blame the NCAA for their woes. They’re quick to say college sports’ governing body operates an unfair system.

  Calipari has said this?  Where? 

  I'm sure your colleague Pete Thamel will appreciate your opinion, though, especially because it is so factually and logically flawed.  His writing is superior by comparison in that Thamel, at least, gets the facts mostly, if not completely right.  Hat tip:  Anthony Wireman.

• Kentucky Wildcats Basketball and Football news and rumors: SEC is top conference for basketball recruiting

  The SEC, thanks to Kentucky and it's top ranked recruiting class, have the top recruiting class as a conference.  Five SEC teams are ranked, with Alabama and Arkansas joining Kentucky in the top ten at 5th and 7th. Mississippi State (12th), Florida (24th), Georgia (25th) and Vanderbilt (29th) are also representing the SEC as ranked teams. 

  This is nice, for a change.

• Agent Expects Kanter to Go in Top 3 Picks :: ZagsBlog.com
• Knight to work out for Kings on Thursday — Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

• Calipari wants to find ways to make SEC better, put more teams in NCAA Tournament :: Vaught's Views
  Bravo!

• Rush The Court " Blog Archive " Ten Offseason Scribbles

  John Calipari made a prescient move last week by luring former NC State guard and ballyhooed recruit Ryan Harrow to Lexington. Most college freshmen often go through significant shooting struggles during their debut seasons and Harrow was no exception, but his bursting speed and ability to create were evident on more than one occasion during his only season in Raleigh. A kid with the abundance of talent Harrow possesses is absolutely worth the risk. Only multiplying the incentive for Calipari is the utter lack of ultra-talented point guards in the 2012 graduating class.

  Word.

• SEC coaches oppose signing cut | The Clarion-Ledger | clarionledger.com

  Oversigning has become a controversial issue in the SEC. Critics say it has led schools to "grayshirt" some prospects, making them delay their enrollment until January because there is no room on the roster. University of Florida President Bernie Machen called the tactic "morally reprehensible."

  I think Machen is right.  The SEC should overrule the coaches and ram it down their throats.

• Playboy Playmate Strips Rondo's Hopes
  Heh.

• John Clay: Eliminating divisions makes sense for SEC basketball | John Clay | Kentucky.com

  The schedule will stay the same, at least for now. That means still 16 games, and still home-and-homes with your former divisional foes. But the standings will be 1-12, with tourney seedings falling suit.

  Much better.

• Rodney Purvis Interview

• 'Roll Tide' takes on new meaning in Tuscaloosa - College football- NBC Sports
  Awesome. Sometimes, sports affiliation can become the fulcrum upon which good things happen.

• Kentucky's Eric Quiqley Named ITA Singles All-American
  Congrats to Eric Quigley.

• Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting - What we learned: L.A. EYBL