Kentucky Wildcats Sunday Quickies: 12-0 Edition

Yesterday, the Kentucky Wildcats beat the UCLA Bruins like a rented mule to go 12-0. It goes without saying that the accolades have been rolling in, but there are still some non-believers out there.

Converting them will be fun.

Tweet of the Morning

8-JAN-1945 UK leads Ark State 41-6 at half. Rupp yells at J. Parkinson whose man scored 2 FG. "Get on him, he is running absolutely wild."

— bigbluehistory (@bigbluehistory) December 21, 2014

Heh.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Four Wildcats honored by Phil Steele as All-Americans.

Kentucky basketball

• UK 2015 power forward recruit Carlton Bragg put up some big numbers yesterday — 31 points big, along with 10 boards.

• Tyus Battle is liking Kentucky. I’m liking his game, but I see no left hand in his repertoire.

• What happens when Kentucky makes shots? Devastation. Kentucky is so big you have to force them to shoot from the perimeter, and when they make them, you have nowhere to hide.

  Kentucky is not actually unbeatable, but beating them is probably going to require help from Kentucky.

• Lots of hyperbole in the news today. Consider:

  If opponents are “licking their chops” for a shot at these Wildcats, as UK coach John Calipari said Thursday, they must savor the taste of their own blood.

  Heh. NIce.

• Kentucky could “redefine greatness.” Perhaps so, if we are talking about Ken Pomeroy’s stats. The Wildcats are well on their way to doing that, and it doesn’t look like the SEC is going to make that as difficult as they otherwise might.

• Consider:

  The rest was brutish, unmerciful and just completely absurd, this 83-44 victory that transcended all metaphors for demolition or involuntary surgeries. This was something far, far more terrifying, something we had not seen this insensate leviathan accomplish before: The Wildcats destroyed a team’s hope. That is a very hard thing to do against athletes conditioned to believe all things are possible at all times.

  UCLA was unprepared for the Wildcats, but in truth, there is no way to prepare for the size, quickness and skill, as well as the depth and constantly changing offensive style that is this Kentucky team. Other teams think they can, but they can’t, and games like this just make it harder.

• John Clay:

  Truth be told, the Bruins were beaten before the first TV timeout. You could just tell. (“They took our confidence,” admitted star guard Bryce Alford.) Kentucky was too tall, too athletic, too skilled. Multiply those by “two” platoons.

  Kentucky not only beat UCLA yesterday, but probably most of the remaining teams on their schedule. Nobody who sees that game will be unaffected, and in many cases, it will destroy their confidence before they even take the floor.

Other Kentucky sports

• Hoops plays Duke today at 3:00 PM in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

• Kyle Cody tabbed as a pre-season All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

Links posts

• John Clay’s Big Blue Links

• The Leach Report: Sunday Wildcat Links

College football

• Air Force wins — I kid you not — the Idaho Potato Bowl.

• Utah defeats Colorado State in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl.

College basketball

• Michigan falls yet again. Losing… is a disease, as contagious as …

• Montrezl Harrel’s ejection could lead to a suspension. Yes, but not for the Kentucky game, which is good.

Other sports news

• Julius Randle is off his crutches, trying to get his strength back. The good news is, he should be fully ready for next season. Hat tip: ukfastcat.

• Muhammad Ali was hospitalized yesterday with pneumonia. He is expected to be okay.

Other news

• A bracelet that projects a tablet Android device on your arm. Really cool, but the contrast is far too bad for my old eyes. Hat tip: Wild Weasel

• The 15 most affordable travel destinations for 2015. Louisville is on the list, but hardly the most affordable. So is Las Vegas.

  For foreign travel, check out this article. Portugal has long been on my list of places to visit.