Kentucky Wildcats Quickies: The Night Before Christmas Edition

It's the night before Christmas, Big Blue Nation. On behalf of myself and everyone at A Sea of Blue, I wish you the most peaceful and merry Christmas. May all your visions of sugar-plums, particularly the big one of a victory over Louisville on Saturday, become reality. And may you, your family and friends enjoy the blessings of this most wondrous of times.

Tweet of the Morning:

Been doing some last minute Christmas shopping at Fayette Mall. I'm not alone. Just passed Mark Stoops & 2 sons. Great men think alike.

— Oscar Combs (@wildcatnews) December 24, 2013

I'm heading out for some last-minute shopping myself.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Mark Stoops sends out a Christmas card to the Big Blue Nation.

• I missed this earlier, but it's still worth reading. How Nick Saban built a bond with the Stoops family.

• Matt Elam earns second-team All-American honors from USA Today. This is a very impressive honor. Via Ben Roberts

• Who would have thought Elijah Sindelar would top Drew Barker for the Courier-Journal's all-state football team? Hat tip: NextCats

Kentucky basketball

• Willie Cauley-Stein is showing a bit of leadership off the floor:

  "We’ve got to be committed to keep the workout (plan) that (the coaches) give us," he said Saturday after UK beat Belmont. "If not, you’re going to struggle when you get back. It’s a rough two days (before a big game) if you don’t do anything while you are home. It’s vital (to stay in shape). You have to be mentally prepared and do exactly (what the coaches tell you to do) before you leave."

  He's right. The break is both a blessing and a curse.

• Kentucky recruit Luke Kennard leads his team to a win.

• Julius Randle tops this week's Freshman Mount Rushmore.

• Louisville fans grasping at straws for bulletin board material. It's kind of cute, really.

• Could it be a good thing that Kentucky's players don't "get" the UK-UL rivalry? Rex Chapman might not agree.

• Ira Combs weekly column.

• Mark Maloney says it's size versus quicks in the Kentucky-Louisville game. If Kentucky can keep Louisville off the defensive boards and keep from fouling Russ Smith too much, they stand an excellent chance of upsetting Louisville.

• Aaron Harrison named SEC Freshman of the Week. Congratulations, and well deserved.

• Kentucky's attention turns to Louisville. This game will be all about effort, as Calipari suggests. If Kentucky gives as much as Louisville, they should win. If they don't ...

• Neither Louisville nor Kentucky has a strong conference slate to fall back on if they lose Saturday's game, particularly Louisville.

  The long and short of it is this: There is a very real chance that Saturday's game could wind up making a 1-3 line difference when the time comes to seed both Louisville and Kentucky for the NCAA Tournament.

  I think that's right. This is a much bigger game for all kinds of reasons than it normally is, and I think Mike hits the high points.

Other Kentucky sports

• UK baseball's A.J. Reed named pre-season All-American (third team) by Louisville Slugger and Collegiate Baseball.

Links posts

• John Clay's Big Blue Links

• The Leach Report: Tuesday Wildcat Links

College football

• Army hires Georgia Southern coach Jeff Monken. Looks like more of a lateral move to me. #GoNavy.

• Modern Hate — behind the scenes of four of college football's rivalries. I totally don't get Louisville-Cincinnati in this. It's actually pretty weak if you ask me. So is Tennessee-Vanderbilt. Yes, both are rivalries, but you hardly think of them in the same breath as the other two, Clemson-South Carolina and Mississippi-Mississippi St. Those last two are real, honest-to-God rivalries. The other two? They are sort-of rivalries.

• Mack Brown forced out at Texas, according to this report.

• Auburn's surprise SEC title run was right in front of us the whole time, says Jason Kirk. If that triangle thing is the black magic behind their success, everyone else should just give up. Only Gus Malzahn can decipher that cryptic piece of insanity.

College basketball

• College basketball week in review.

• College basketball power rankings. I think Villanova is underrated here.

• Southern Illinois loves Barry Hinson, he of the epic rant the other day.

Other sports news

• John Wall is getting defensive — in a good way. He completely dominated Jordan Crawford the other night.

• The Big Cuz gives back. Man, I just love Santa Cuz. He really does a great job with that, and is a genuine character off the court. It never ceases to amaze me how completely bipolar he is when it comes to his persona on and off the basketball court.

• This is awesome.

• Another videobomb.  I just luv this coach.  Happy Hoopsidays, BBN !