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Wildcat Quickies: Helluva Week, Back to #1 Edition

UK basketball back at #1, UK Football back to winning, UK Hoops remains undefeated, Jeff Gordon's last ride, and more quickies for your Monday morning.

By Keith Garrett
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

It has been quite the week to be a member of Big Blue Nation as we head into the holiday season.

  • UK secures a seemingly out of the blue commitment from the very Shawn Kemp-esque Bam Adebayo.
  • The 'Cats handle the #5 Duke Blue Devils on the big stage, under the bright lights of Chicago.
  • The Nation's #1 shooting guard in America, Malik Monk, spurns Arkansas and signs with the 'Cats to finish up one of Cal's best classes ever.
  • Kentucky handles Wright State, as they should
  • Louisville loses to Pitt in Football, later Kentucky gets off the schneid with their 58-10 victory
  • North Carolina basketball loses and UK vaults to #1 in the country

Kentucky will have been ranked #1 in 20 of the last 22 polls, dating back to last season.  The fan hangover from last season is quickly coming to an end with every game we see these guys in action.  The outlook is only brighter with Cal hauling in  this class for next season as well.

TWEET(S) OF THE NIGHT

YOUR QUICKIES
  • Coach Stoops wants Saturday against Louisville to be electric:
"I hope it's electric next Saturday," Stoops said. "I appreciate the fans that were there today. I know it was a dismal day playing again at 7:30 again in bad weather most of the day and cold and greatly appreciate the fans that were there. And next week we need everybody in those seats and we need it filled and to come root for this team because we're going to put everything into it."
  • One of the big highlights of Saturday night's win over Charlotte was big man Jacob Hyde getting squarely involved in the running game.  Buzz Baker was on the call for the SEC network and dubbed the Jacob Hyde and JoJo Kemp duo as Dr. Jo Jo and Mr. Hyde.  On one of his blocks, I think Hyde murdered a guy:

The block made me immediately think of the "that escalated quickly" scene from Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy when Brick killed a guy and Ron tells him to lay low because he is probably wanted for murder, lol.

  • Speaking of the UK running game, they had a day on Saturday.  I get that it was against Charlotte, but the 'Cats had two players over 100 yards and freshman Shiehm King was 9 yards away from the century mark.  UK totaled 415 yards on the ground Saturday.  That put UK's season total ahead of any of the prior 4 years rushing totals.
  • Randall Cobb had 2 catches for 24 yards but one of them was a Touchdown
  • Stevie Johnson had 7 catches for 54 yards against Kansas City
  • Jacob Tamme had 1 catch for 16 yards vs. Indianapolis
  • Danny Trevathan had 7 tackles and one interception vs. Chicago
  • Wenyen Gabriel is primed for another jump in the rankings, only making Cal's class look even scarier.
  • Louisville has opened a 4-point favorite against UK this coming weekend.  I would say that is about right, but I still expect Kentucky to win the game and finish off the season right.  Stoops pulls it off the frustrations all go away and it is considered a successful season.  Just beat Petrino and all is right again.
  • While it is an unlikely scenario, the Wildcats could possibly still go to a bowl game even if they lose to UL Saturday and finish 5-7.  The easy version of how to explain it is that there are not going to be enough 6-win teams to field all the bowls.  Once those slots are filled, they will go to the 5-7 teams and I would say UK would be an attractive choice.  Would Kentucky deserve a bowl at 5-7, absolutely not.  But it would help having the extra practice and game for next season.
  • ESPN's C.L. Brown has a weekly column entitled 'On The Quad' where he discusses what is and what was in college basketball.  This week our man Tyler Ulis leads the headline '5-foot-9 and standing tall'
Ulis

  • Unless you are living under a rock, you know that Coach Cal has proclaimed that Isaiah Briscoe can be the best defensive guard in America.  As each passing Duke game goes by, that looks more and more accurate.  Briscoe was instrumental in holding Allen to 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 turnovers.  in Non-UK games he is scoring 23 more points, getting two more rebounds, and 2 more assists. Briscoe the Bulldog doing work.
  • Matthew Mitchell's Lady 'Cats took to the floor yesterday against Colorado.  Janee Thompson scored 17 points to go with 7 assists to lead the 'Cats to the victory 86-61.  Kentucky shot 49% from the floor and a whopping 61% from the three-point line.
  • The #19 Kentucky Volleyball team traveled to Baton Rouge to face LSU and swept the Tigers 3-0.  The 'Cats have two regular season games remaining against Georgia and Auburn before postseason play begins.
  • SB Nation created an award called the PIESMAN award, as a big man's award for 'linemen who do awesome, rare, un-lineman type things.' Cory Johnson already has an unheard of 80+ yard scoop and score and then there is the interception from Saturday night.  UK may not have a Heisman, but it is very possible they get a Piesman this year.
  • Cory also hates Louisville, even though he has only been here for one year, lol.

NON-UK QUICKIES
  • It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Les Miles is getting the boot from LSU this season.  It is amazing that it has come to this as I feel Miles is one of the top coaches in the game.  Only a Saban-esque hire would be an upgrade, I think.  The scuttlebutt is the Tigers donors are pushing for a Jimbo Fischer hire.
  • I commend those UK Fans that sat in the elements to watch the 58-10 win, but I have to say, it could have been worse; You could be in Soldier Field
bears


  • I am not one that would condone doing the wave at a football game, ever.  Semi-acceptable at a Baseball game as long as it is during a rather boring portion.  Having said that, Clemson did the waive with Cell Phone lights and it was pretty cool.


  • The Iron Bowl is coming up this week and it is always fun, no matter the records of both teams.  AL.com has put out a hype video as a preview to the game and it is one of the best hype videos I have ever seen. I was ready to run through a wall after this:


  • Moments after Ohio State fell to Michigan State, Junior Running Back Ezekiel Elliott put the coaching staff on blast and blamed the loss on them.  Fran Fraschilla of ESPN thinks Urban Meyer should bench Elliott against Michigan.  I think Fraschilla has a point, throwing your coaches under the bus and announcing you would be going pro is essentially giving up on the season, Meyer should oblige him.
  • Yesterday was the last ride of Jeff Gordon, Gordon has been one of the faces of NASCAR for decades and is calling it a career.  Gordon finished 6th in his swan song, he was someone who elevated his sport and should be revered as so.
  • Devin Booker has been limited so far this year in his role with the Kentucky, I mean Phoenix Suns.  That all changed last night as Devin got extended clock and boy did he make the most of it by scoring 15 points in 16 minutes.  In the same game Brandon Knight scored 19 to go with 7 assists, Eric Bledsoe scored 29 points to go with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.  Anthony Davis played spoiler for the Pelicans by scoring 32 points to go with 19 rebounds and 4 blocks.
RANDOM QUICKIES
  • I am not ashamed to admit that the show 'Wonder Woman' with Lynda Carter was a childhood favorite of mine.  I think it was actually my first crush also, lol.  A big screen adaptation is coming in 2017, starring Gal Gadot.   She tweeted out the first pictures of her as the character.
















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