Well, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, today is decision day for Damien Harris, the #1 running back in the nation. He will be choosing between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Ohio State is still technically on his list, but nobody expects him to go there.
Here are some of the media predictions, and they go both ways. Don’t ask me to predict, I have always been conflicted on this — my heart says Lexington but my head says Tuscaloosa. UK has limited history of winning this type of commitment, but they do have some in very similar situations.
Finally, I think the “Nick Saban gets them in the NFL” is overblown in reality, but might have an impact on Harris. Harris, assuming health, will play in the NFL no matter who he plays for in college. But Alabama might be able to get him drafted higher due to their profile. I’m not sold on that argument, though — if you’re good, you’re good.
The biggest reason that I’m not more confident for Kentucky is the change in offensive coordinators. That may be a factor we don’t fully appreciate, because Neal Brown was a Kentucky guy from way back, and that might matter. Also, the Alabama commitment to the run game (although it certainly wasn’t on display during the loss to Ohio State) has got to be a factor. Kentucky was very committed as well last year, but, as I said, new OC.
Gonna be a close one. Hang on to your butts…
Tweet of the Morning
Top 6 teams: wins over ranked opponents Wisconsin: 0 Virginia: 1 Louisville: 1 Arizona: 2 Duke: 2 Kentucky: 4 #CatFacts
— UK Cat Facts (@UK_CatFacts) January 9, 2015
How ironic that it was a team considered to be at best mid-pack in the SEC that gave them the most difficulty.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Bryan the Intern at KSR tries to give us some hope with the history UK has landing highly-ranked recruits.
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Land Grant Holy Land says Ohio State probably won’t be the destination for Damien Harris.
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Ben Roberts has the latest list of links and commentary about Harris.
Kentucky basketball
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In this CoachCal.com article, we may have found the reason Marcus Lee didn’t see more time:
"Marcus Lee is an energy guy," Calipari said. "If he starts the game and he’s not clapping, bouncing and showing an effervescence that he has, I’m not playing him. And I told him that. There’s no reason for him not to go in clapping, bouncing, blocking, running, flying, dunking. That’s who he is. If he’s not into that, then I’m not playing him. And he’s the greatest kid. It’s hard."
So it looks like a coaches decision for the ostensible purpose of motivation.
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Andrew Harrison says the Wildcats are “not really listening to the outside voices.” Good, they are nothing but trouble.
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Coach Cal’s press conference from yesterday:
Other Kentucky sports
- Hoops gets off to a strong start, routs the Auburn Tigers in Memorial. More here. Also, you can replay the action in the game thread Jords had up last night.
Links posts
College football
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SB Nation reports there are lots of ways the CFB Playoff championship game will be delivered. Pretty much any way you can imagine, and some that didn’t occur to me.
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Kenny Hill, former starter for Texas A&M, is apparently transferring to another school.
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The incredible rise of Oregon as a merchandising powerhouse. Two words: Phil Knight.
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Panic is not in Marcus Mariota’s DNA. I believe it, this kid is really good.
College basketball
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Wow. I turned this game off because I thought UCLA was folding like a paper airplane, but they rose up from a big deficit and smote the Standford Cardinal in double-overtime.
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Missouri upsets LSU in overtime in Columbia. And The Valley Shook sorts through the wreckage. Sam Snelling at Rock M Nation has the Mizzou point of view.
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Michigan State beats Iowa in Iowa City. Nice win for Sparty.
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Commodore Tom looks at basketball coaching hires in the SEC.
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Notre Dame is off to a fast start. They certainly are. Jerrian Grant is getting significant Player of the Year talk.
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Luke Winn has his typically interesting power rankings. The Kentucky and Duke stuff are especially fascinating.
Other sports news
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Derrick Coleman’s Super Bowl ring was apparently found by an agent.
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Heh. The Knicks are pretty bad, that’s for sure.
Other news
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Leading wounded veterans on epic climbs, including Mount Everest.
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SpaceX to try again early Saturday to launch rocket filled with supplies for the International Space Station.
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Interesting new tech device: The goTenna. I’m not sure I have enough need for this, but it is innovative.