The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Rich Brooks Edition

As most everyone has heard by now, Rich Brooks has been voted Coach of the Year by CollegeFootballNews.com.  No, it's not the AP or SEC, but it's still an honor and I think Brooks deserves it, especially considering having to start a freshman at quarterback for most of the season.

In other news, Mike Miller of Beyond the Arc says he wouldn't be averse to expanding the NCAA tournament.  Personally, I am fairly agnostic about the idea, but I do wonder when we reach the point of too much of a good thing?  If we expand the tournament much more, we are going to be allowing teams in that don't even have a winning record or a conference championship, and at some point there will be diminishing returns.

Then again, all these bowls don't seem to be a problem in football, because if they didn't make money, they woudn't exist.  I suppose I could always just ignore the first round of the tournament and start watching from the second round on if they expand.

And for those of you who are wondering, the Austin Peay Governors at the Kentucky Wildcats will be shown in Louisville and a few other Kentucky markets on Insight channel 2.  That's good to know.

The rest of the news follows the jump.

• Santa Cat is Coming to Town | Coach Calipari
• Are Basketball Fans Obsessed with John Wall?
  Heh. Well, there you go.
• Anything but Gatorade: ALL -AUGHT KENTUCKY BASEKTBALL TEAMS?
  Looks like a pretty good list to me.
• UK Football Fan: Saturday Reset
  Locke exploring the NFL? Really?
• Pitt's perfect to add to Big Ten - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com
  Interesting. I would have been more inclined to Syracuse, but Pitt is closer to Big Ten country than the 'Cuse.
• Kentucky-Austin Peay basketball game will be on Insight Ch. 2 in Louisville. | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
  I guess I'll be able to watch the game after all.
• Rick Bozich | Some ratings are not kind to Louisville, Kentucky basketball | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal
  Pomeroy's numbers are not as bullish as I expected on Kentucky. The Wildcats are projected to lose six of 16 games in the Southeastern Conference, including two to Tennessee. No surprise that he picks the Vols to win the SEC East at 13-3.
  
  We discussed this yesterday. Those predictions will change pretty quickly if UK blows out a few foes here in the next several days, but it will take an undefeated non-conference season to really affect them -- which is certainly a very real possibility.
• TheTimesTribune.com, Corbin, KY - Lots of stuff to ramble about this week
  A lot of people are saying UK’s "Great Wall" is the best freshman point guard since the "Magic Man" was manning the position for Michigan State in the late 70s.
  
  So how does John Wall compare to Magic Johnson? Hmm. Interesting ...
• Rush The Court " Blog Archive " Morning Five: 12.16.09 Edition
  I sure would like to seen Brandon Knight in Blue and White. Hey, that rhymes ...
• One-and-done works for Calipari, Wall and UK | Vaught's Views
• Wildcat Blue In a Sea of Orange: A rivalry builds: Kentucky vs Kansas, Wall vs Henry, Calipari vs Self
• You Know It’s A Great Year When….. | BigBlueRules
  Heh.
• FeinsteinOnTheBrink: A little more on the ‘list’; Touching on the Roy Williams controversy
  Okay, let’s not make this into a big deal because it’s not. Did Roy overreact? Yes—even if some of his loyal supporters have jumped in claiming the fan in question was drunk, was rude, didn’t have a ticket (or should NOT have had a ticket) in that section, had used profanity prior to his crack AND was involved in the conspiracy to kidnap the Lindbergh baby. Deon Thompson, by the way, somehow shook off the ‘heckling,’ to make his free throw.
  
  Heh. Not a Feinstein lover at all, but I think he gets this right.
• Men’s Roundup - Scheyer Scores Career-High 36 as Duke Routs Gardner-Webb - NYTimes.com
  This is how you get to the top of Pomeroy's rankings.
• NCAA Basketball And CBS Headed For A Split? - SB Nation
• UK met all criteria for Jon Davis | Vaught's Views
• Some hoops nuggets
  From Jody Demling.
• Kentucky Sports Radio " Blog Archive " Steelers sign former Cat
  Congrats, Johnny!
• John Wall has our attention at Kentucky. Don't look away, writes Scoop Jackson - ESPN
  How does someone 6-foot-4, 185 pounds vanish, then reappear only after points are scored, assists are made with a smile on his face that could light up Manhattan?
  
  Hype? Yeah. But fun!

• Riek finally eligible, but will he play? - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
  Kentucky coach John Calipari said Wednesday he tried to see if the Wildcats could handle themselves without his tutelage in Tuesday’s practice. They failed.
  
  Well, that's not really a surprise.