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SEC Football Power Rankings in February, huh?

If you’re curious, ESPN.com’s Chris Lowe has Kentucky at No. 11 — in front of only Vanderbilt.

What we know: Rich Brooks has restored credibility back to Kentucky football.
What we don’t know: Is there life after Andre’ Woodson?
How the Wildcats can get to Atlanta: Buying a ticket would be their best bet.

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In his overview of Spring Football in the Conference, Lowe says the positions to watch at Kentucky are quarterback and wide receiver. I’d have to agree.

Well, the season could have come completely unraveled after Tuesday night’s debacle, but the Cats demonstrated their bouncebackability and gritted out a 67-63 win against the rejuvenated Louisiana State Tigers.

The win keeps alive our slim hopes of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and keeps the Cats in the driver’s seat for the East 2-seed in the SEC Tournament.

According to RealTimeRPI.com, the RPI is now up to 74.

Onward and upward!

Wow.

The play that really summed up the evening for me was when AJ Stewart blocked Andrew Ogilvy’s shot and the ball inexplicably went through the basket.

Silver lining: According to RealTimeRPI.com, we’re up to No. 82 in the RPI, despite playing the ugliest half of Kentucky basketball I’ve ever scene. [Caveat: I’m young enough to have no recollection of the 1984 Georgetown game.] Perhaps Jay Bilas had a point when he suggested scrapping that thing.

Chin up. Saturday’s game can’t come soon enough.

This has already been noted at A Sea of Blue and Kentucky Sports Radio, but I wanted to follow up on last week’s post in which I took issue with Jay Bilas’ February 2 comment that there was no way Kentucky could earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Candidly, I do this only to illustrate that I’m not a total homer: non-Blue-Goggle-wearing people now believe Kentucky can earn an at-large bid. Andy Glockner put the Wildcats on his Bubble Watch (as he said he would last week). And Courier-Journal columnist Rich Bozich wrote Sunday that an at-large bid was a possibility for the Cats.

Even Bilas now seems to agree. While he stopped well short of predicting the Cats would make the tournament, on February 9’s College Gameday he conceded that a Kentucky team that finished 12-4 in conference play would have to be considered for an at-large bid.

That said, I’m not near as confident as the KSR guys (see here and here) that the Cats will finish 12-4 in SEC play. They’re certainly capable (I’ve written as much). But we’re underdogs tonight against Vanderbilt and we’ll certainly be underdogs when we visit Tennessee. If we drop those two games, that leaves no margin for error. The home games against surging Arkansas and Florida are no gimmes, and neither is the trip to South Carolina. I won’t be surprised if we win all three of those games, but I won’t be surprised if we drop one either. Especially if you consider our depth — or lack there of — and the luck we’ve had with injuries this year. Not trying to be negative here; just pointing out that going 6-2 through the back-half of the SEC schedule is far from automatic. It goes without saying that a win tonight would be massive boost to the Cats’ tourney chances.

Onward and upward!

With football signing day having come and gone, I wanted to take a look at Kentucky’s last six recruiting classes to see how the members of those classes performed over the last two seasons — Kentucky’s most successful seasons in decades.

I chose to go all the way back to the 2002 class (Guy Morriss’ last class) because members of that class who redshirted were eligible during Kentucky’s 2006 season. (Plus, the furthest Rivals’* recruiting ranking archives go back is 2002, so that worked out well.)

First, a macro analysis (and I use that word loosely). I want to see where Kentucky’s last six classes rank, where Kentucky’s 2006 and 2007 opponents’ classes rank, and how Kentucky did against those opponents. [Hat tip to SMQ for the inspiration for this. If you want to see something like what’s below, but for all the Bowl Championship Series schools, by all means, click here.] Crappy Word tables and ‘analysis’ after the jump!

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I’m a couple of days late posting this, but — in case you missed it — Jay Bilas dismissed Kentucky’s chances of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament Saturday night on College Gameday.

The segment started with Digger Phelps big-upping the Cats and predicting they would have a strong finish to the season. Then it was Bilas’ turn to speak:

I don’t think there’s any way that Kentucky can get in unless they win their conference tournament. They’re ten and nine.

He went on to say that Kentucky simply played too poorly in the first half of the season to be considered for an at-large berth. (I would have transcribed all of it but I don’t have access to my DVR right now). He noted that the Selection Committee will not simply ignore the first half of the season, which is true I suppose, but plenty of teams have started well and not made the tournament. (Last year’s Clemson team springs to mind. And this year’s Ole Miss and Vanderbilt teams are certainly no locks to make the tournament despite each going undefeated in non-conference play.) The Selection Committee certainly rewards teams that finish strong more so than it does teams that start fast.

Overall, I don’t really have a beef with what Bilas said. After all, we do have some terrible losses, we are ten and nine, and our RPI is still in the hundreds. An at-large bid is unlikely. And that’s putting it nicely.

That said, I have a hard time believing an at-large bid is definitely out of our reach. And writing that doesn’t make me a total homer. Joe Lunardi seemingly agrees, as does Andy Glockner, who writes ESPN.com’s weekly College Basketball Bubble Watch (”Kentucky is starting to make some noise. We’ll check back on the Cats next week.” [Link]). And then there’s SI.com’s Luke Wynn, who — bizarrely — has Kentucky listed under “On the Cusp, Tier II” in his weekly power rankings. [Link] If you add up the teams in front of us, he’s got us at No. 33.

Suffice it to say, I think there are scenarios in which Kentucky can earn an at-large bid.

Eli gets his. Hey-yo Rick Bozich!

From December 5, 2006:

My guess is their reasoning had something to do with SEC tradition and the league’s record of producing quality NFL players. You know the names — quarterbacks who are turning the NFL upside down, like Rex Grossman, Eli Manning, Tim Couch, Eric Zeier and Heath Shuler.

PS. And what about Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart in Peyton’s booth?

Kentucky fans being Kentucky fans, we’ve been discussing the odds of the Wildcats making the NCAA tournament since the upset of Vanderbilt (home losses to Gardner-Webb and San Diego and zero road wins be damned). And now that the Cats have strung back-to-back wins together for the first time since November, non-Blue-Goggle-wearing observers are joining in.

In his chat on ESPN.com earlier today, certified Bracketologist Joe Lunardi had this to say about the Cats’ NCAA chances:

Kurt (Wilmington, NC): Joe, please tell me there is some hope for my Kentucky Wildcats. At 9-9, with 11 games to go before the SEC tourney, could the Wildcats sneak into the dance with a strong finish? They are finally getting healthy and are playing well right now. How would they have to finish to receive consideration? Hopefully their strong history plays a role in voters minds.

Joe Lunardi: (2:15 PM ET ) I suspect this will be an ongoing question as January churns toward March. My best guess is that Kentucky needs to post more than just a winning SEC record, but something in the 11- or 12-win range. The ‘Cats then need to avoid any kind of potential “bubble loss” in the conference tournament.

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I think 10-6 and a couple of wins in the SEC Tournament would be enough to get us in, but then again, I’m not an objective observer or a Bracketologist. And I do think 10-6 (and even 11-5) is doable. No tempering expectations for me, thank you. Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!

We’re a few days late on this, but — as promised — here are our thoughts on the University of Kentucky’s decision to name Joker Phillips as Rich Brooks’ eventual successor:

It’s a great move and an important move. It’s a great move because of the continuity it provides. (We certainly won’t claim to be the first to proclaim this.) It’s important because Phillips would be Kentucky’s first African American football coach and the Southeastern Conference’s second. (Again, we’re not breaking new ground by stating this.) (more…)

Per Chip Cosby of the Athens of the West’s leading newpaper, the Herald-Leader, our beloved Kentucky Wildcats are going all Florida State and Purdue on us and announcing today that Offensive Coordinator Joker Phillips will be Head Coach Rich Brooks’ eventual successor. 
 
We’re going out of town for the holiday weekend, but we promise eventual analysis. (We know you wait with baited breath.)  We’ll hazard a quick guess that Phillips must have gotten a pretty sweet offer over the last couple of weeks

According to SoccerAmerica, John Harkes will replace Eric Wynalda as the lead analyst for ESPN’s MLS telecasts:

Word is spreading at the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore, where the MLS SuperDraft will be staged Friday, that Harkes is replacing Eric Wynalda as lead analyst on MLS telecasts this season. Officially, Wynalda - who is in the third year of a five-year contract - will be assigned other events, but since his contract specifies he will work soccer events, ESPN may scramble to find enough non-MLS soccer events to fulfill his portfolio.

Wynalda angered ESPN executives last year when disparaging remarks he uttered to a group of fans in a bar about ESPN host Jim Rome were disseminated in a blog. He was suspended for a game, fined $5,000, and replaced by former women’s international Julie Foudy. For most subsequent MLS games he shared analyst duties with Tommy Smyth, the lead analyst for Champions League telecasts.

Harkes left his assistant coaching position with Red Bull New York two weeks ago. He has worked on soccer telecasts for the ESPN networks in the past, including the 2006 World Cup and Women’s College Cup, and for two seasons was Fox Soccer Channel’s studio analyst on “MLS Wrap.”

[Link].
 
We’re OK with this. Wynalda earned a lot of praise for his work as a studio analyst during ABC and ESPN’s coverage of the 2006 World Cup.  And he earned a lot of street cred when the infamous Fulham USA interview was posted.  (Although after his ESPN-forced apology, said street cred must be considerably discounted.)  But we’ve never much liked him as an in-game commentator. He’s simply too opinionated and doesn’t provide enough analysis for our liking. 
 
Then there’s this: 

According to sources, veteran soccer commentator JP Dellacamera has been offered the job as lead play-by-play announcer on soccer telecasts, including MLS. Dave O’Brien, who landed 2006 World Cup duties as a condition of signing a new contract three years ago, is overloaded with baseball assignments this year for the Red Sox and ESPN. 

Poor O’Brien endured a considerable amount of grief for his work as the lead anouncer during the 2006 World Cup.  We didn’t think he did too bad, and at least he called MLS games last year to get a better grasp of the game.  But it looks like that experiment has ended (say goodbye to baseball analogies!).  If he doesn’t want to call the games, that’s fine, but we hope ESPN doesn’t send him to South Africa in 2010 without further seasoning. But of course they will. 
 
Finally, this note:

[Tommy] Smyth will continue to do Champions League games on ESPN2 and other international games for ESPN International but is off regular duty on MLS telecasts. 

Another change we’re OK with.  Smyth added little if anything to MLS telecasts, except the routine reference to bulging the ol’ onion bag.

Excuse the lame Carlsberg parody (hey, Liverpool demolished Marseille today, and even though this is a college football post, we had to acknowledge it), but ESPN is reporting that Bobby Petrino has resigned his position as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and will fill the head coaching vacancy at Arkansas.

Considering the source, there’s every chance Bobby Petrino won’t be the next coach at Arkansas, but if he is, well, this is getting ridiculous.

Petrino would join a conference that has four national championship-winning coaches (Florida’s Urban Meyer, Alabama’s Nick Saban, Tennessee’s Phil Fulmer, and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier), a coach who’s led Auburn to an SEC championship and an undefeated season (Tommy Tuberville), and eight coaches who have won championships in BCS conferences (the five mentioned above, and Georgia’s Mark Richt, Louisiana State’s Les Miles — who could join the national championship-winning coaches in January, and Kentucky’s Rich Brooks).

Petrino would give the SEC nine coaches who have won a BCS league, with seven winning SEC championships, Petrino winning the Big East, and Brooks winning the Pac 10.  The next closest leagues are the Pac 10 and ACC, both have 5. (This list only includes active coaches.  For example Carr is not included because he is resigning.)

So, we say again, this is getting ridiculous.

The good news for Kentucky is that while we’ll have to face Arkansas next year, the Razorbacks will then fall off of the schedule (to be replaced by Auburn, we think, but that could be completely wrong). And by the time Arkansas rotates back on the schedule, Petrino will probably have moved on, as is his wont.

And the great news for SEC fans in general is that Arkansas’s ‘permanent’ SEC East opponent is none other than South Carolina. So college football’s offensive mastermind of the 1990s will face college football’s offensive mastermind of the 2000s (by the way, it’s probably hard for anyone to regret going to the University of Southern California, but do you think Mitch Mustain wishes he would have stuck it out at Arkansas? He’d be the next Brian Brohm). Given each coach’s tendency to run up the score and the fact that neither seems to care at all what anyone thinks about them, that should be an entertaining series of games.

[We know you’re curious: yes, we just checked a certain Courier-Journal columnist’s blog to see if he was shocked at the Petrino news, but, disappointingly, he’s yet to comment. We’re sure it will blow his mind.  If you want to check out the complete opposite view take a look at this column.]

In other SEC coaching news, former Kentucky offensive coordinator Tony Franklin is set to become the offensive coordinator at Auburn, which is quite an opportunity for the man who penned Fourth Down and Life To Go: Lessons Learned from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Experiences of Kentucky Football.

If you’ve read that book, you know that Franklin and his former boss Hal Mumme did not part ways amicably. Score one for Franklin in that feud.

Onward and upward!

We’re back in the saddle after three weeks off. After Mississippi State, Kentucky’s certainly no longer a unanimous top-15 team and Andre’ Woodson’s Heisman hopes are over. But the football Wildcats are still a top-25 team and still in the running for a New Year’s Day bowl. To the Update! (more…)

If you’re anything like us, you were bemused by the media hoopla surrounding Kentucky’s embarrassing loss to Gardner-Webb.

One national writer wrote it was the college basketball equivalent of Michigan/Appalachian State. The Louisville Courier-Journal seemed to agree.

We found this bizarre. An upset like Michigan/App State had simply never happened in college football. Something like Kentucky/Gardner-Webb happens every November. (Note we’re not arguing the loss wasn’t embarrassing for a program of Kentucky’s stature, we just think people went overboard with this. Maybe this is just because it was a really slow news night.) Just last November, you’ll recall, No. 3 Kansas lost at home to Oral Roberts. In 2004 eventual national champion North Carolina lost to Santa Clara. Then there’s the granddaddy of them all — the literal equivalent of Michigan/App State — No. 1 Virginia’s loss to Chaminade, then of the NAIA, in 1982.

And for further proof that something like Kentucky/Gardner-Webb happens every year, look no further than Mercer 96, Southern Cal 81. Mercer, like Gardner-Webb, plays in the much-maligned Atlantic Sun. Mercer, like Gardner-Webb, had a poor season last year. Mercer had an 8-10 conference record (Gardner-Webb was 7-11) and finished 13-17 overall (Gardner-Webb 9-21). The two schools split their games last season, each winning at home.

Southern Cal, although lacking Kentucky’s tradition, was ranked higher than Kentucky, expected to have a better season than Kentucky, and coming off a more successful season than Kentucky.

All of which begs the question: If we’re supposed to believe Kentucky/Gardner-Webb really is the basketball equivalent of Michigan/App State (and everyone not wearing Blue Goggles seems to think so), what is the football equivalent of Southern Cal/Mercer? For now we’re going with the NFL’s New England Patriots losing at home to Notre Dame, but we’ll need more time to think about it.

Onward and upward!

In what may become a regular feature (if work rears its ugly head it’ll probably disappear), Allenby For Heisman! hopes to take a weekly look at the University of Kentucky’s place in the world of college football.

After Kentucky’s loss to Florida, nobody is projecting the Cats for a Bowl Championship Series bowl berth. But most everyone still sees the Cats as a top-15 team who will play in a non-BCS New Year’s Day bowl. We’re guessing the win against LSU has much to do with that.

On the Heisman front, Andre’ Woodson didn’t do anything to hurt his Heisman chances. In fact, we’d be so bold to say he enhanced his chances in spite of the loss if not for the fact that Kentucky’s opponent Saturday featured a Heisman candidate of its own, Tim Tebow. Most people have Woodson pegged as a finalist, but we’d think if it comes down to he or Tebow, Tebow would have the advantage for besting Woodson head-to-head. (Plus, Tebow gets another national CBS game this weekend versus Georgia, and his Gators have the inside track to play in the Southeastern Conference championship game, which would put him the national spotlight the week before the vote.)

And with that unusually lengthy prologue out of the way, let’s get to the Update.

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