DAMMIT.

From the hated Matt Jones:

ALABAMA, TENNESSEE, AND BASKETBALL

 

Kentucky and Vandy actually both play tonight, Vandy-Tennessee at 7 and Kentucky-Alabama at 9.  ESPN's actually been pushing the Vandy game quite a bit, which is good for the 'Dores.  

Tennessee at Vanderbilt, 7pm, ESPN

Vandy's still ranked, and somehow, Tennessee is ranked ahead of them.  The game is at Memorial.  Vandy's probably still stinging from that loss to Georgia.  Tennessee is bound to wear down from losing Tyler Smiff at some point, but bringing back a big man in Brian Williams (convenient timing) will do a lot to help them.  Wayne Chism can't do it all himself.  Ken Pomeroy says the 'Dores have a 62% chance of winning, and they're favored by 3, but it's going to be a really tough game especially if they shoot like they did on Saturday.  Again, as everyone's preached this year, a fast start and some early offense from Ogilvy would be nice.

Kentucky at Alabama Alabama at Kentucky, 9pm, ESPNU
Jay Williams is calling this game, and hopefully Chuck Bass Carter Blackburn is not, because he sucks. Bama has really struggled in its first season with Anthony Grant at the helm.  ASOB did a really nice Q&A with Roll Bama Roll, who are also our friends, so for some indepthness check that out.  You knew you weren't really getting that here, anyway.  Other blurbs of importance: "homecoming" for Bledsoe and Cousins, shut down Mikhail Torrance, Brock is the shooter, and Green is the rebounder.  It's a late game, and I might not make it all the way through.  We'll see.  It is away, but I don't think the Cats will have much trouble with the tide this year.  I do expect Grant to take care of business in the future though.

TEXAS'S UNIFORMS, GAME ARE UGLY

 

WTF.  HT: The Dagger.

Texas...really isn't all that good at basketball.  I thought Kentucky's attempts to run offense last year were bad, but Texas takes it to a new level.  That's a shame, because there are some really good athletes on that team, which probably explains their early-season success.  But they got killed by Kansas last night (and Baylor and others before) so I think Rick Barnes is to blame.  And Kansas, I guess.

This brings me to the new UT uniforms.  Hideous.  Duke's been wearing them all season and I hate them, too.  Duke and the uniforms, I mean.  Per The Dagger, they're supposedly called Nike HyperElite and are a lot lighter than normal uniforms, but whatever, they're ugly.  Texas probably has the best uniforms and color scheme in American sports and Nike just said "F that, let's put a bunch of crap on the back!"  And since UK is a Nike school, and Nike wants to sell this HyperElite crap, and because UK is really marketable these days, I guarantee that these new unis everyone says the Cats are getting this week look like this.  Vomit.

WALK OF SHAME: SUPER BEAUXL

 

I promise not to do the -eaux thing again for at least six months.

I'm tired and kind of sore from the weekend, so links it is:

• The Saints won the Super Bowl.  I assume you already knew that. [NOLA.com]
• This was probably the best commercial, but it didn't have much competition (except maybe from Betty White) [Spencer Hall]
• The weekend in Vandyland did not start out well as the Dores lost their linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator, Warren Belin, to Georgia. [M-V]
• I only caught about five minutes of the Vandy-Georgia game, and they were in the first half, and therefore excruciating.  The second half didn't go any better apparently. [Dore Posts]
• Kentucky pretty much crushed LSU, so it wasn't all beads and beignets in the Bayou this weekend. [ASOB]

That's all I've got this morning.  See you tomorrow.

A LITTLE MASCOT SODOMY TO START OFF YOUR WEEKEND

No real time to chat today, readers - the great court system of the Commonwealth of Kentucky waits for no man, unless that man's name is Rick Pitino. BOOM. Speaking of extramarital sex, check out this gem from our good friends Spencer Hall and LSU Freek:

So that's our good friend Buddy Bat of the Cincinnati Reds AAA affiliate Louisville Bats getting bent over in front of a bird on an indoor football field. Ricky P. says that's totally normal, nothing to see here, get on with your days, people. And move on we shall, because the Cats and Dores have some challenging (okay maybe not) games ahead of them this weekend.

Kentucky plays LSU at 4 p.m. on SEC Network. No real preview is necessary because, as we all know, LSU is horrible at basketball this year. Trent Johnson is a good coach, but he's got to land some good players in the next recruiting class or his steamboat will land at the bottom of Lake Pontchartrain in a hurry.

After the UK game, take in Vanderbilt at Georgia at 7 on FSN, won't you? This is actually a tough assignment for the Dores in my opinion, as UGA is the best they've been in a while (read: since Sundiata Gaines). Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie are dangerous, and if Cousins sort of got pushed around by the big guy, A.J.'s really got his work cut out for him. This is a crucial win if the Dores want to keep up their tournament stock and hold on to the 2 spot in the SEC East.

Finally, there's apparently some big conflagration down in Jimmy Buffett's sports palace in Miami between some uncouth Cajuns and some obese obnoxious types from Indiana. We all know how I feel about Indiana in general, so I'm pulling for a Saints victory, however improbable it may be. Have fun watching the game, watch out for random Tebow sightings, and I'll see you Monday.

THE AFTERMATH: NATIONAL SIGNING DAY

 

Is that Jay Cutler?  I don't know.

Well, it looks like Kentucky and Vandy are finished making bedroom eyes at young boys all around the nation for at least a little while: national signing day is over.  Depending on which recruiting service you depend on, Kentucky got the 49th or 46th best recruiting class in the country, which isn't bad, except it's still good for 11th in the SEC.  UofL is one slot ahead on Scout and two behind on Rivals.  HAHA, DIRTY BIRDS, WE GOT YOU BY AN AVERAGE OF 2.5 RECRUITING METRICS!  CARDINALS SUCK! CARDINALS SUCK!  Notable "gets" by Joker Phillips and company are RB Brandon Gainer, DE Tim Patterson from CENTRAL, TE Alex Smith, and Billy Badass P Joe Monsour.  Kentucky also stole RB Jerrell Priester from Vanderbilt's upturned snooty nose.

Vanderbilt got what some are calling their best class ever, which is odd given that the Dores only won two games last year.  Bobby Johnson's jokes must really translate well to young America.  As usual, Dimon is on top of all that, and VSL has been tweeting like a damn canary all day about recruits.  Vandy, ranked 53 on Scout and 53 on Rivals, picked up 4-star RB Rajaan Bennett (ANOTHER RB?), WR Jonathan Krause, FB Blake Gowder, and Original Gangsta Grant Ramsay.

Pretty good classes from both schools, really.  I was bellyaching about Kentucky's complete lack of commits last week, and probably for good reason, but this wasn't bad and hopefully they keep getting better.  Elsewhere in the SEC, Florida lied and cheated its way to 4 5-star recruits for the country's best class, Ole Miss took a big slide, and Team Turmoil Tennessee wound up in the middle of the pack. SEC! SEC!

MISSISSIPPI IS HARD TO SPELL. AND DEFEND, APPARENTLY.

 

Believe it or not, this guy is gangsta.

My quick thoughts on last night's game: Kentucky looked better offensively and rebounded well, but there were gaps where they played like crap.  They also, strangely, could not stop Ole Miss's transition game or their version of dribble drive, penetration offense.  It was a little ridiculous, really.  I don't really think the game was ever in doubt, a few blown leads aside.  Good win for the Cats.  

There are lots of other things going on today and wrapups from last night that are note-worthy, so I'll link you up:

• ESPN, whose website I almost never visit anymore, did something smart and signed on the guy who used to be lead writer at The Dagger, Eamonn Brennan, to be their NCAA blogger.  He's good, and he's got what I think is an accurate take on last night's game. [The Monolith]
• It's National Signing Day!  I was really excited about this last year, but I think it might be safe to say that Kentucky's 2010 class isn't going to be as wow.  I'll post more on this tomorrow if I can pull myself away from that 9th story window.  Meanwhile, keep up with Rob Gidel and not Matt Jones. [KSR]
• Vandy's 2010 football class might be pretty good. [Moral Victory]
• The Dores face a real challenge tonight against Mississippi State.  VSL gets you, ahem, "ready." [VSL]
• Here's a link that will spice up your day if you haven't heard about this already: the genius thinktank at the NCAA has apparently decided that ruining the current format of the Tournament is a great idea.  Discuss. [The Dagger]

Vandy plays MSU tonight at 8 eastern in Nashville on SEC Network, whatever that means.  Go Dores!