Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Craig Naivar Edition

Craig Naivar is the new special teams coordinator for Kentucky, replacing Bradley Dale Peveto. I'm excited by this guy, even if his credentials are not as impressive as Peveto. I like having coaches with something to prove.

Tweet of the Morning

Obsessed with every Kentucky cheerleader

— Megan Kaiser (@_Meg4) March 7, 2014

Hey, we all are, Megan. How could you not be obsessed by a program so successful?

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Spring game ticket information.

• Florida preview from Wildcats Thunder.

• Craig Naivar is Kentucky's new special teams coordinator. He comes to UK from Texas State.

• Mark Stoops talks Craig Naivar.

Kentucky basketball

• The recent slump has hurt Kentucky's NCAA Tournament seeding. Well, duh, that kind of comes along with the whole concept of a "slump." The writer is completely correct that if UK is going to challenge for their 9th national title, they're going to have to win it the hard way.

• Rex Chapman has a new website.

• This week, the iPhone's Siri is a UK basketball fan. But not in a very positive way...

• Florida is savvy, and lucky, according to Jerry Tipton:

  Good fortune also helps. The Gators could have — maybe should have — lost at home to lowly Auburn. But with the game tied inside the final 30 seconds, Auburn inexplicably fouled Young, who made both free throws, and then threw away the inbounds (and the last chance to win).

  "That shows you how tough it is to go undefeated," Fogler said of Florida's escape. "Florida got lucky."

  Yeah, well, every good team gets lucky, probably more because they're good than anything else.

• Tickets to the Kentucky at Florida game are rather pricey on the secondary market.

• How many roster spots are available for 2014-15? Well, if we figure three leaving early and two graduating, that leaves five. If, say, James Young decides to stay, you're still sitting pretty.

• Calipari says he sees one thing, observers see another. Well, I'd rather take Coach Cal's word. He's the one coaching them.

• Here's one in your eye, Pat Forde, from you old newspaper. Forde's article of the other day essentially accused Calipari of dismissing Harrow from the team. Consider:

  He met with Calipari after the season. Yes, star freshmen Andrew and Aaron Harrison were on the way, but Harrow said Calipari never asked him to transfer. He simply told him to make the best decision for himself and his family.

  That decision was easy. Harrow wanted to be near his father. He transferred to Georgia State, and in July the NCAA granted him a family hardship waiver, allowing him to play for the Panthers immediately.

Other Kentucky sports

• Women's basketball is the #4 seed for the SEC tournament, plays tonight at 7:30 against either Florida or Mississippi St.

• The Bat Cats have won nine in a row, and face Ball State in their final game before conference play begins. First pitch is today at 4, Saturday at 2, and Sunday at 1 PM.

• Softball starts SEC play tonight against the Mississippi St. Bulldogs. They will play a full series starting tonight at 7, Saturday at 2, and a 2 PM Sunday finale.

Links posts

• The Secondary Break

• The Leach Report: Friday Wildcat Links

• John Clay's Big Blue Links

• John Clay's SEC Links

College football

• Johnny Manziel reportedly signs an endorsement deal with Nike.

• Is Michigan St. finally healthy? I hope so. They have been hyped all season, and injuries have really hampered them.

• Frank Martin earns a one-game suspension for "inappropriate verbal communication" with a player. I wonder what he said?

• Roll Bama Roll defends the concept behind the 10-second rule that was recently tabled, pointing out his issue is the prevention of substitutions, and suggests that "there is a very real danger of fatigue." That's the idea, isn't it?

College basketball

• A court-storming of one. This sort of thing has got to stop.

• Rush The Court: Morning Five

Other sports news

• The SEC plans to review its alcohol policy for off-campus games. Via Aaron's blog