Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Upset Edition

So you're saying there's a chance? Well, when even the Florida papers see the Kentucky-Florida game may not be what has become the traditional blowout, you have to take a little hope away.

Question for you to ponder: If UK upsets Florida, does it mean that Will Muschamp goes on the Ron Zook hot seat? I've been hearing the Zooker mentioned more and more lately.

Tweet of the Day:

#BBN, let's see how many birthday tweets we can send to one of our favorites, @MKG14. Happy birthday, Mike! Love you, kid.

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) September 26, 2013

Happy birthday, MKG. Many happy returns!

College basketball teams can begin to practice tomorrow!

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) September 26, 2013

You know that deep inside your Big Blue heart, you can't wait for tomorrow. Admit it.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Mark Stoops happy with Wednesday's practice. That seems to be more the rule than the exception, and perhaps we'll start to see some more results on the field soon. I also was pleased to hear that DeMarco Robinson is finally back practicing.

• CBS Sports previews Florida at Kentucky.

• 2014 UK target Braxton Berrios will announce his choice on Oct 12th. Kentucky seen as unlikely because of the number of wide receivers already taken for the 2014 class.

• So, Max Smith is looking good, but nobody at UK wants to talk about who will start? What is with this staff, they are the most tight-lipped I can ever recall?

Kentucky basketball

• Larry Vaught talks Kentucky basketball with Mike DeCourcy. I think DeCourcy is probably right when he says that how quickly Andrew Harrison gains control of the point guard position will dictate whether or not this team has a shot at an undefeated season. I don't really think a perfect season is likely, but Andrew Harrison will definitely be the key to unlocking the possibility of one.

• Kentucky is a top contender, and possibly the top contender for 2014 small forward Kelly Oubre.

• Calipari pushing very hard on Stanley Johnson. Johnson is Cal's top priority for next year, and it's pretty obvious.

• Calipari connects with the Big Blue Nation in good times and in bad. That's a wonderful quality, often under-appreciated, but the value of it is immeasurable in terms of goodwill.

Other Kentucky sports

• Wildcats swim team drops season opener to the Georgia Bulldogs.

Links posts

• The Leach Report — Thursday Wildcat Links

College football

• Declining student attendance at football games is examined in this WSJ piece at the University of Georgia, a place you would hardly expect declining football attendance. An interesting point made was about the cellular reception in the stadiums and gyms, which is always horrible. It's well-nigh impossible to get any kind of connection to share the experience. Also, the advent of HDTV is blamed.

  I'm not sure what it is, but cell phones are becoming the bane of society in many ways, and this may well be a manifestation of that addiction.

• I think most of the reforms advocated by the APU (All Players United) are realistic, reasonable and achievable. Despite the negative tone of the article, I think it is a matter of time before the NCAA implements most, if not all of them. They need to start by changing the governance model to allow BCS schools more power to set policy. This may seem like giving the powerful more power, but the ultimate outcome of failing to do so is seeing the large schools secede from the organization.

• Did you realize that Bear Bryant was almost the coach of Arkansas — twice? I didn't know that.

College basketball

• Andy Glockner of SI ranks the best current college basketball programs, 15-11. His 20-16 rankings are here, and I assume the rest are coming later.

• Yes, you knew all that talk about throwing Marshall Henderson off the Ole Miss Rebels basketball team was a bunch of baloney, didn't you? Sure, you did.

• Andy Katz's 3-point shot.

• The 2013-14 All-American All-Name teams. My fave: Wannah Bail (UCLA)

Other sports news

• John Wall thinks the Washington Wizards have the pieces to finally make the playoffs for the first time since 2008. If Wall stays healthy, I think he might be right.

• Nerlens Noel will not play until December. I think that's a very good idea — the longer that knee has to rehab, the more confident Noel will be in it. Hat tip: Aaron's blog.

Other news

• This illustrates two similarly outrageous things — an obsession by parents with the intelligence of their children, and a continuing desire be the educational establishment to avoid making anyone unhappy, even at the cost of useful information that could actually improve the educational experience.

  This "no losers" attitude is going to be the death of this country.