The Big Blue Daily Mail Welcomes Arkansas Expats to SB Nation and Hopes for the Renewal of a Rivalry

I'm sure most of the readers of A Sea of Blue remember those halcyon days back in the early 1990's when Arkansas and Kentucky developed what was then the best rivalry UK has perhaps ever had in the SEC.  Rick Pitino and Nolan Richardson went after each other tooth and nail, as did the players, and treated fans of college basketball to some of the most epic games ever.  Every season since 1995 I have hoped for the resurgence of that rivalry, and even when both teams tumbled into the pit of irrelevance over the last few years, I was denied.

Even if the rivalry has not yet been renewed, the Razorbacks have finally made it to SB Nation's family of blogs in the form of Arkansas Expats.  If the name sounds somewhat familiar, it is because the bloggers that formed Razorback Expats are in charge of this shiny new home for Arkansas fans.  You may remember John and Stephen from frequent Q & A's we have had over the years with them here, and we at A Sea of Blue want to welcome them to their new digs.

And now, the news:

UK Basketball News

• More John Wall video from The Dagger

• Rod Strickland Talks Wall, Bledsoe; Joe Jackson ‘Wide Open’
  Rod Strickland talks about the possibility of Bledsoe and John Wall playing together.

• UK reports minor NCAA violation.
  Hopefully this will not result in disciplinary action by the NCAA. This kind of thing really seems like overkill to me, though. But the rules is the rules. I don't think he should have to suffer a suspension if he had nothing to do with the actual brochure that created the violation.

• Q&A: Jaylen Beckham
  The Lexington Catholic point guard wants to play at UK, but I don't know if he can get there under Coach Cal.

• Calipari visits Big Blue faithful in northern Kentucky.
  "What I have found out in a short period of time is the program is pretty important to the people of the Commonwealth – people that really care about this basketball program. We’ve got a lot to do to bring everybody back in and that’s what we’re trying to do." Gee, ya think?

• [UPDATE1]  The Miller Violation

  I totally agree with Chris Diggs on this.

UK Football News

• Talk UK Sports talks football
  Schedule toughness and offense are the two main obstacles he sees toward a fourth straight bowl. That's pretty much how I see it, too.

Other UK Sports News

• None today.
  

NCAA Sports News

• Will Joe Jackson Visit Duke?
  You never know.

• Things are not going great for Dominique Ferguson.
  Injuries, recruiting pressure and rumors have the summer off to a slow start for the former UK commit.

• Dominique Archie and Devan Downey return to lead the Gamecocks.
  South Carolina looks like an NCAA tournament team to me at this early point.

• Hoops on Campus - NY Daily News
  Dick "Hoops" Weiss looks at who would likely be in the draft if the one-and-done rule were gone. He also likes Michael Gilchrist, who UK is recruiting hard.

• [UPDATE1]  Sherman, set the WayBack Machine for 1981...

  I like it when a team comes back from a 21-7 deficit to score 70 points. In football.

• [UPDATE1]  Ten Questions for 2009 SEC football
• [UPDATE1]  Miles And Richt Sit On The SEC’s Hottest Seats

  Miles, maybe. Richt? I can't see it.

• [UPDATE1] NCAA Basketball: Preseason Top 25 (really, really early)
  No real surprises here.

   

Other News of Interest

• Andy Katz has the latest buzz in college and NBA basketball
  Understandably, most of the news is draft-related, but Lance Stephenson's window to get into a college seems to be rapidly closing.

The Daily Schadenfreude

• Is Harrison Barnes Backing Away From Duke?
  He seems to be backing away from everybody right now.