John Calipari was unimpressed by the effort the Kentucky Wildcats gave last night, particularly in the second half. He says the team is out of shape, and will go through 3 weeks of morning conditioning. Welcome to Camp Cal, boys! He's gonna make you strong!

Tweet of the Morning:

Northwestern with a huge road win at Baylor. Which means UK's streak was ended by a team that's lost to Colorado, CofC + N'western. Ouch.

— Luke Winn (@lukewinn) December 5, 2012

Ugh.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Kentucky may have some competition for Neal Brown // John Clay's Sidelines

Kentucky basketball

• UK basketball notes: 'Worst Kentucky team' not that bad after all // Basketball: Men | Kentucky.com
  The Samford coach shot his mouth off, and now he's trying to walk it back. Whatever. I don't buy his commentary, though, I think he meant it as a shot. Hope it was worth it.

• Calipari transcript: “Strap ‘em on boys” // John Clay's Sidelines
  This is a good idea for all sorts of reasons.

• Scout.com // Cats' ragged 2nd half rankles Cal
  Cal should be rankled. Getting half a game may be better than none, but no way should he accept it.

• UK coach John Calipari admits everyone got intoxicated by preseason hype and now Cats need to realize how much work lies ahead // vaughtsviews

  “I think we all got intoxicated, including me, about everything that was written and said about this team. I kept telling you, ‘We’re not that good.’ I’m looking, ‘Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we’re better than I think. Huh-uh,’” Kentucky coach John Calipari said after watching Samford shoot 58.6 percent from the field the second half.

  I think we all see the warts now.

• This is why John Calipari is making his team run // John Clay's Sidelines
  Just go straight to the far right PPP column -- that's points per possession. Tale of two halves.

• Cats don't run past Samford like Cal would like, so they'll run for next three weeks // CoachCal.com

• Video: An unhappy John Calipari after win over Samford // John Clay's Sidelines
  The video everybody's talking about.

Other UK sports

• Trio Named All-Region for Second-Straight Year // UKAthletics.com

Links posts

• Wakeup Call: Athletic director fired over gambling habit // CBSSports.com
• The Morning Mix // CollegeBasketballTalk
• Tom Leach // Wednesday Links

College football

• Louisville gaining confidence Charlie Strong will stay as coach // Yahoo! Sports
  I could personally care less whether he stays or goes. If he stays, the next time a good job comes open, we'll be doing this again. If anyone should be used to this sort of thing, it's Kentucky.

• Reports: UT has sights set on Charlie Strong; decision could come as early as Wednesday // GoVolsXtra
  What I'm wondering is, who is Plan B? Gundy? I guress...

• More mixed signals about Charlie Strong and Tennessee // John Clay's Sidelines

• Bret Bielema leaving Wisconsin for Arkansas: Into the madness // SBNation.com

  Arkansas has now hired Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema to coach their football team. That is as weird as it sounds in every respect: an SEC school grabbing a Big Ten coach with no experience in the conference relatively late in the hiring process just days after his team won a surprising Big Ten championship in an otherwise down year for their program. Prior to today, Bielema had not appeared in rumors surrounding the Arkansas coaching search, and he has no historical ties to the Razorbacks' football program.

  I thought it was weird when I heard it. I still think so.

College basketball

• Tubby Smith has depth to win in March // ESPN

  But this is not the same Smith. He is laid back and loose. He stomps less and claps more. He opens up the locker room to the media now. He tells funny stories, like the one about his growing mustache, which his wife, Donna, apparently hates.

  Heh. Good for Coach Smith. I wish him well.

Other sports news

• Hornets reportedly changing team name to New Orleans Pelicans // SBNation.com
  War damn peilican! Hey, I like pelicans.

Other news

• NY Post takes heat over haunting subway pic // WLKY Home
  Man's inhumanity to man made manifest.