Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Welcome to 2014 Edition

Welcome to the first Quickies of the New Year. I hope you all had a very happy New Years Day and a contented holiday season. Now that we've welcomed in 2014, let's all get ready for a great year.

Tweet of the Morning:

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Heh.

  Best Bourbon Street random sighting so far - Mark Stoops.

  — D.C. Reeves (@_DCReeves) January 2, 2014

• Why 2015 will be the Year of the Cat in football. Let's just see if we can win a game or two in the SEC first, I say.

Kentucky basketball

• Was Louisville the best win Calipari has had in Rupp Arena? No, I'd say the UNC game in 2011 was. Yes, this one was bigger in that losing it would have meant more to Kentucky's season this year than back in 2011, so I suppose you could look at it that way. But to me, that UNC win was huge. It cemented the Wildcats as the presumptive favorite, and made their path to a #1 seed much, much easier.

  But if you said it was a pick 'em between those two games, I wouldn't disagree.

• Marcus Lee and Derek Willis are important for the future of Kentucky, and I expect them to see more playing time in the SEC portion of the season.

• NBC's New Years Resolutions for Kentucky. I wonder if these guys saw the Louisville game; Randle doesn't have to post up, he can get the ball on the perimeter and attack the rim. That's how he was most successful against the Cardinals.

  Yes, Kentucky will get him the ball in the post — and on the wing, and at the top of the key, and everywhere else. Randle's skill goes far beyond his burly strength down low, he is almost too quick to guard on the outside as well, and he will use that ability to slash to the basket

• I had to laugh at this. Yes, Kentucky will not have a cakewalk through the SEC, but they are clearly the best team in the SEC right now. No, UK's not a lead-pipe cinch, but I think they are a solid favorite.

• The obligatory poor free-throw shooting/Kyle Macy article.

• Kentucky could wind up being great in March, according to Mike DeCourcy. I think that's right.

Other Kentucky sports

• Women's basketball opens SEC play on the road at Alabama today at 3:00 PM.

Links posts

• The Leach Report: Thursday Wildcat Links

College football

• Teddy Bridgewater to enter the NFL Draft. The sun rose again today. Comparing those two statements, one was only slightly more inevitable than the other. More here from Card Chronicle.

• Jadeveon Clowney. Second verse, same as the first.

• South Carolina Gamecocks capture the Capital One Bowl vs. Wisconsin. Man, Bruce Ellington looked like a superstar in that game, and so did Connor Shaw.

• Michigan St.'s huge win over Stanford in the Rose Bowl gets Mark Dantonio a new contract. This guy is an underrated football coach, no doubt about it.

• Johnny Manziel is amazing. That's all you can say.

College basketball

• Oklahoma St.'s Michael Cobbins goes down with an Achilles tendon tear. We offer our best wishes for a quick recovery.

• Ken Pomeroy's conference simulations, part 1 and part 2. I assume the SEC will be included in part 3.

Interesting contrarian pick for the Big 12; Iowa St. Coincidentally (perhaps), Iowa is the contrarian pick in the B1G.

Other sports news

• Terrence Jones continues to impress the Rockets. He is now averaging 10 and 7 for Houston. Via Aaron's blog.

• DeAndre Liggins sighting. He'll be back in the NBA pretty soon, I think, if he keeps performing.

• John Wall and the Wizards are back at .500, but he feels like the team has let go of the reigns a few times and surrendered games they should have won. No doubt true, John, but you can't get those back. Just try to do better. Hat tip: Aaron's blog.