Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Boxing Day Edition

Today is Boxing Day in most former British colonies and a few other places. Boxing Day is the day when servants and tradespeople would receive gifts from their employers, known as "Christmas boxes."

So happy Boxing Day, A Sea of Blue!

Tweet of the Morning:

Texas may have invented seven on seven football, but Miami invented gambling on seven on seven football.

— Mark Ennis (@Mengus22) December 26, 2013

Rings true to me.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

Kentucky basketball

• The Kentucky-Louisville rivalry brings passion, but also quite a bit more. The two school's partisans and recent success have fueled the rivalry to higher heights lately. This year, where the two teams are both national contenders, it will be an intense atmosphere.

• Does winning with freshmen look harder now because Calipari made it look so easy earlier? Well, I think that the relative lack of success compared to expectations is what drives this type of question. It's never "easy" to win with freshmen, just as it's never easy to win with experienced teams. You just have to teach experienced teams less, which usually makes them better early.

• Catching up with former Wildcat Perry Stevenson, who is now coaching at Lexington Christian Academy.

• As a frequent Waffle House customer, I endorse this picture.

• Louisville's Russ Smith has a history of big games in Rupp Arena. Well, perhaps he's due for a change.

• Does the dislike between Calipari and Pitino really make the rivalry hotter? Maybe a little, but in my view, it really isn't all that big a factor. What is a factor is the success the two teams have enjoyed over the last few seasons.

• Kyle Tucker talks about the Louisville-Kentucky game. I'm not surprised the players don't get it, you have to live through a couple of them. It also helps to be from around the Bluegrass, but we see so little of that nowadays from either squad, because frankly, Kentucky doesn't produce that many quality players anymore.

• Some Kentucky media members talk about who be the key player the game this weekend. I think the key player for Kentucky will be Julius Randle. When his offensive rating gets to about 120 or over, Kentucky seems unbeatable. For Louisville, it seems like Montrezl Harrell is the guy that they need to play well.

• Anthony Epps thinks Kentucky fans are making too bid a deal about body language. I agree.

Links posts

• The Secondary Break

• The Leach Report: Thursday Wildcat Links

College football

• The Autozone Liberty Bowl: Mississippi St. vs. Rice — game preview from For Whom the Cowbell Tolls.

• Poinsettia Bowl breakdown from Bill Connelly — Utah State vs. Northern Illinois. You'd have to be a serious football fan to care about this, but these are two good teams.

College basketball

• Rush The Court: Morning Five

• Iowa St. needs comeback from season low point production in the first half to clip Boise St.

• Recent off-the-court issues have taken a toll on Ol' Roy.

• 40-point games are up from last season already, could eclipse recent high in 2009.