Some Kentucky fans never get tired of a pretty face, even if that face has the morals of Saruman the White.

Tweet of the Morning:

Pretty awesome that UK hoops raised this much $$ — and did this less than 48 hours before their first game cbsprt.co/YQDJUH

— Eye on College BBall (@EyeOnCBB) November 8, 2012

Pretty awesome, indeed.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• John Clay: Debunking five myths about Kentucky's football coaching search // Kentucky.com

  Here's how I shake out on Clay's "debunking":

  1- Agree.

  2- Disagree, we need fans in the stands first, foremost and always. Defense is much harder to develop than an offense that will take advantage of the skill positions we always seem to have a lot of.

  3 - Agree in part and dissent in part. I think it falls closer to the necessary side than the helpful one.

  4- Agree, but not with the reasoning. At this point, almost any head coach will energize the fan base. We are not Auburn.

  5- Agree.

• David Paschall: UK's Phillips continuing by request // timesfreepress.com
  I think it speaks volumes about the players that they wanted Phillips to finish.

• Who Should Be Kentucky's Next Football Coach // West Virginia Sports News, Scores and Coverage
  Some suggestions for coaches. The only name I have not seen is Matt Campbell of Toledo. His resume is a little thin for me, but he is a very good recruiter. Frank Solich is another name you don't see often, but he is a potential Rich Brooks, and that worked out okay. Doubt if he'd leave Ohio at this point in his career, though, but you never know.

• UK Football: Joker Phillips was worried he would be a distraction for UK seniors // centralkynews.com
  I appreciate the fact he was concerned about that, and that he listened to his players.

• So much for my suggestions about the wisdom of the Schnellenberger

• Another column I find unfortunate.
  I don't think Combs is right about Barnhart at all. I think having an AD with a strong moral compass is both important and praiseworthy. This column, in my view, is incredibly cynical and, to some extent, offensive. I like Ira Combs, but this isn't his best work.

• Bobby Petrino To Kentucky? Not So Fast // 1420 AM
  The conclusion of this is too right.

Kentucky basketball

• Kentucky telethon raises $500,000 for Hurricane Sandy relief // vaughtsviews
  Awesome.

• A year in residence can be tough // Everything Kentucky

• ‘Rebounding from Sandy’ telethon raises hundreds of thousands for relief effort // CoachCal.com
  This is great for the victims, and great for the University of Kentucky.

• John Calipari: the charitable villain? // CollegeBasketballTalk

  If you want to call John Calipari a glorified used car salesman, I probably wouldn’t disagree with you. If you wanted to say that the real purpose of the charitable ventures was to build up public support if he’s ever caught “cheating”, I’d call you a cynic, but probably not that far off.

  This paragraph is just unfortunate. Look, I understand cynicism, but this is more than that. Weak, Dauster.

• A three-spot from the Kentucky basketball media opp // John Clay's Sidelines
  Harrow is ill, Mays has been held out for his leg to heal. More on Calipari's media availably this morning.

Other UK sports

• Men's soccer wins the first game of the CUSA tournament // UKAthletics.com

• UK baseball opener at Ole Miss picked up by ESPNU // UKAthletics.com

  The Kentucky baseball series opener at Ole Miss has been selected as the ESPNU Thursday Night Southeastern Conference Game of the Week, now set for April 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET, at electric Swayze Field, it was announced by ESPN on Wednesday evening.

Links posts

• Tom Leach // Thursday Links
• John Clay's Big Blue Links // John Clay's Sidelines
• The Morning Mix // Troy Machir, CollegeBasketballTalk

College football

• Kent State climbs back to football glory // NBC Sports
  Can you believe we crushed this team?

• New rule expands opportunities for young coaches // College football- NBC Sports
  The new four graduate assistant rule could expand coaching opportunities. I think it's a good idea.

• USC manager fired for deflating balls in loss // NBC Sports
  Good grief.

College basketball

• Out of their league: Best non-conference games in 2012-13 // Sporting News
  Nothing new here, but DeCourcy is always worth a read.

• LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Harrell leads No. 2 Louisville over Bellarmine // Kentucky.com
  Shooting is why Kentucky will win out against Louisville this year.

• Guide to the 2012-13 college basketball season // SFGate
• Indiana tops SB Nation's preseason college basketball top 25 // SBNation.com
• Louisville experiences three trouble in win over Bellarmine // John Clay's Sidelines