Kentucky Wildcats: Sunday Brunch -- Auburn Aftermath Edition

Kentucky's victory over the Auburn Tigers yesterday puts the Wildcats on a 5-game winning streak, longest of the year.

Tweet of the Morning:

On January 19 Louisville was #1. Since then, they're 3-4. They handled being ranked 1st about as well as they handle late game situations.

— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) February 10, 2013

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• How John Calipari helped UK football recruiting // College Blog - Yahoo! Sports
  Those of you who have been wanting Coach Cal to help out with football recruiting, well, here you go!

• UK football notebook: Lots of opportunity for incoming receivers in Kentucky's new offense | Football | Kentucky.com

  On [UK signee Jeff] Badet, a 6-foot, 170-pounder from Orlando who caught 63 passes for 881 yards and 10 touchdowns: "He can fly. If he takes the slant, watch out. He's got a lot of speed," Mainord said.

  Sounds like a winner to me. Via Mr. Hanky.

• Kentucky football star Donovan McCoy to concentrate on academics in college // MaxPreps
  You don't see this everyday. Via Mr. Hanky.

Kentucky basketball

• Nerlens Noel getting used to physical play from Kentucky opponents // vaughtsviews

  "We’re getting used to it now," Noel said. "Every team is going to come out (and play physical) with us and that’s going to be their game plan – try to get physical with us and try to beat us up inside and out but we’ve gotten used to it and use it to our advantage. We’re not a team that’s going to back down from that. We’re definitely used to it."

  It showed up yesterday, too. Nerlens was much more physical than he has been all year, and he only had 2 fouls.

• UK fans know the answer to this question // John Clay's Sidelines
  Is Calipari trying to become the Ghandi of college basketball?

• UK Basketball: Coach John Calipari hopes Archie Goodwin learns from bench time // Central Kentucky News
  It's not in the way you think,either.

• Archie Goodwin’s three-point drought // John Clay's Sidelines
  You can't be afraid to play. Archie is playing poorly right now because he is one-dimensional, and afraid to play.

• BOZICH: Calipari, UK Borrowing From Strong's Louisville Playbook // WDRB 41

  Trey Lyles of Indianapolis Tech attended the game. Lyles, a 6-foot-9 forward, is ranked the fifth best prospect nationally in the Class of 2014 by Scout.com.

  About the only useful information in this piece. Comparing Calipari to Charlie Strong is just an attempt to pump up Strong, and diminish Calipari.

• Tim Sullivan : A glimmer of hope in Kentucky basketball coach Calipari's experiment // The Courier-Journal

  Fifty fouls were called — a season high in UK’s 23rd game — and the play was so aggressive that two Auburn players fouled out and a third was ejected for excessive physicality. The gritty tone may have been exactly the kind of test the Wildcats needed preceding Tuesday’s trip to No. 2 Florida.

  I think this is right, although I still lament the rough play. But as a basketball lesson, I must agree that this game provided one, and Kentucky responded. They didn't respond perfectly, but they did respond.

Other UK sports

• Cats Battle Vanderbilt Sunday in National TV Showdown // UKAthletics.com

Links posts

• Tom Leach // Sunday Links
• Kentucky Sports Radio // Dickie V’s Sunday Morning Links

College football

• Commentary: Paterno legacy little changed by family's commissioned report // PennLive.com
  Interesting reading.

College basketball

• Report: James Southerland wins appeal, can play immediately // CBSSports.com

• In 5 OTs, Notre Dame outlasts Louisville in Game of Season - College Basketball - Andy Glockner - SI.com

  Why didn't Rick Pitino call a timeout to set up a game-winning possession on any of the first four chances Louisville had to win?

  I'm generally a proponent of not overcoaching and I think teams with a gifted penetrator have an advantage when they don't call timeout and allow a defense to set up, but at some point, didn't Pitino have to rein in Russ Smith? Or at least provide him with some structure? Russdiculousness can be a good thing, but tonight, it bled into the absurd as the same bad possession happened over and over. Smith played those final possessions like there were degree of difficulty points available, but the Russian judge (along with the Irish defenders) remained unimpressed.

  Did Pitino ever do anything like that at Kentucky? If so, I don't remember it.

• Night Court: Who becomes No. 1 on Monday? // CBSSports.com
  Does it really matter? Seriously, none of these teams seem worthy to me.

• Notre Dame Fighting beat Louisville Cardinals in magical marathon -- college basketball - ESPN

  In that final 50 seconds of regulation, Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant made one 3, and then another, and then another, each more difficult and well-guarded than the last.

  Another good take on the 5 OT Louisville affair.

• Louisville basketball reflects on Notre Dame loss // The Courier-Journal
  What can you say?

Other sports news

• A Leg Rebuilt, a Life Renewed for Jay Williams // NYTimes.com
  People say the Gray Lady is in decline, and that is so. But they still do some extraordinary journalism there, and this one is a perfect example. It's a long, read, but so very much worth the time invested.