I’m still in the process of moving, but had to comment on the passing of longtime Kentucky basketball equipment manager “Mr. Wildcat” Bill Keightley.

I wanted to let my visitors know I will be taking a (hopefully) small hiatus. I’m in the process of moving and will need to get settled in etc. so I can resume posting as soon as possible.

Our basketball season may be over, but the recruiting season is beginning and will be heating up. It will be interesting to see how that stacks up for us. We already have DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller signed up and add to those the recently verballed Kevin Galloway. Hopefully we can add one or two of the big names (Namely: Verdell Jones and Scotty Hopson) out there. I believe we have one more spot open, maybe more. This will depend on any of the rumored transfers happening. Either way I look forward to adding some quality talent.

I will be back as soon as I can!

I couldn’t do a basic rundown for the show today. But here’s the audio download of the last Coach Billy Gillispie call-in radio show for this season.

Gone, But Not Forgotten. Thank you Joe and Ramel.

The ugly blah day after. Let’s take a look at what’s being said.

The up and down journey came to an end yesterday, but it wasn’t without a fight. Joe and Ramel carried this team and left it all out there until the very end.

I thought we gave a great effort, but Marquette made the plays when they needed. Our defense was solid most of the time, but we did allow too many drives to the basket and their rebounding also killed us. We also couldn’t match player for player out there with them. If we could of had Jodie and Patrick out there then things may of been different.

What can you not say about our seniors Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley? These guys just left it all out there. They weren’t going to go out without a fight.

This season we really got to see your heart, guts and determination. For anyone that had doubts, I think you two provided the answers.

I thank you two for everything and wish you all the success in future endeavors. You have represented this program well and will be missed.

This season may now be over, but the future looks bright for the Wildcats.

Let’s have a little fun and make some tourney predictions. I’ll break them down regionally, then continue on to the semifinals and final.

I don’t claim to foretell the future, so don’t take these picks literately.

East Region

First Round

• UNC over Mount St. Mary’s - You don’t really expect an upset..do you?
• Indiana over Arkansas - The Hoosiers have struggled of late, but I think they’ll pull this one out.
• George Mason over Notre Dame - No 12/5 upset last year, how about this year?
• Washington St. over Winthrop - The Cougars are too much.
• Oklahoma over St. Joseph’s - The Sooners will rebound from the blowout to Texas.
• Louisville over Boise State - Sounds like a football matchup. The Cardinals will be too much in the end.
• Butler over South Alabama - Could be an upset, but I’ll sticky with the Bulldogs.
• Tennessee over American - No way the Vols drop this one.

Second Round

• UNC over IU - Indiana’s journey will simply end here.
• Washington St. over George Mason - I just see the Cougars getting this one.
• Louisville over Oklahoma - Possibly an upset, but believe the Cardinals are better.
• Butler over Tennessee - An upset special. I think Butler will shine in this game and send the Vols home.

Regional Semifinal

• UNC over Washington St. - They may give them a game, but UNC prevails.
• Butler over Louisville - Poor shooting will do the Cardinals in.

Regional Final

• Butler over UNC - The Bulldogs are riding high and nip the Tar Heels.

Midwest Region

First Round

• Kansas over Portland St. - No upset here.
• Kent St. over UNLV - No particular reasoning.
• Clemson over Villanova - The Tigers have been playing well.
• Vanderbilt over Siena - SEC wins.
• Kansas St. over USC - Beasley, Mayo? Mayo, Beasley…take your pick.
• Wisconsin over Cal St. Fullerton - The Badgers are simply better.
• Davidson over Gonzaga - Who doesn’t like upsets?
• Georgetown over UMBC - Too much good size.

Second Round

• Kansas over Kent St - Too much Jayhawks.
• Clemson over Vanderbilt - The Commodores won’t have it.
• Wisconsin over Kansas St. - Beasley goes Pro.
• Davidson over Georgetown - What the Hell? Continue the streak.

Regional Semifinal

• Kansas over Clemson - On there way.
• Davidson over Wisconsin - The streak continues.

Regional Final

• Kansas over Davidson - The luck runs out.

South Region

First Round

• Memphis over UT-Arlington - No chance.
• Mississippi State over Oregon - It’s an SEC team.
• Michigan State over Temple - Hoot, Hoot
• Pittsburgh over Oral Roberts - The better team wins.
• Kentucky over Marquette - My Wildcats will prevail.
• Stanford over Cornell - Size wins.
• St. Mary’s over Miami (Fla.) - I like some upsets.
• Texas over Austin Peay - No Governing here.

Second Round

• Memphis over Mississippi State - The Tigers want to make a point.
• Pittsburgh over Michigan State - Pitt will be too much.
• Kentucky over Stanford - United We Stand.
• Texas over St. Mary’s - The slipper doesn’t fit.

Regional Semifinal

• Memphis over Pitt - The Tigers run up and down over the Panthers.
• Kentucky over Texas - The Wildcats surprise everyone to stifle away the win.

Regional Final

• Memphis over Kentucky - Would like to pick my ‘Cats here, but the fatigue will set in.

West Region

First Round

• UCLA over Mississippi Valley St. - The Bruins are too much.
• Texas A&M over BYU - Gillispie’s old team gets it done.
• Western KY over Drake - An upset that’s waiting to happen.
• UConn over San Diego - Better team wins.
• Baylor over Purdue - I just see another upset here.
• Xavier over Georgia - The SEC Tournament momentum doesn’t last.
• West Virginia over Arizona - Tricky game, wouldn’t be surprised at an upset.
• Duke over Belmont - Hate to pick them at anything, but I’ll be fair.

Second Round

• UCLA over Texas A&M - The Aggies can’t handle them.
• Western KY over UConn - Upset special.
• Xavier over Baylor - Just because.
• West Virginia over Duke - Surprise, surprise. The Blue Devils leave early.

Regional Semifinal

• UCLA over Western KY - The Hilltoppers head back home.
• Xavier over West Virginia - The Musketeers find a way to win.

Regional Final

• UCLA over Xavier - Won’t be able to stop them.

Final Four

Semifinals

• Kansas over Butler - The run of the Bulldogs will end here.
• Memphis over UCLA - An interesting game. A close one that goes down to the wire.

Final

• Kansas over Memphis - The Jayhawks get the monkey off their back and go all the way. (Final score: 85-77)

There you have the “Not so” perfect bracket.

The day is now upon us and it’s all about Kentucky baby!

KENTUCKY WILDCATS (18-12, 12-4 SEC) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (24-9, 11-7 Big East)
Date: Thursday, March 20 • 2:30 p.m. ET
Site: Honda Center - Anaheim, Calif.
TV: CBS Game Audio: [link] Live Stats: [link]

Hurdles

It was a down, but successful season. Thursday the new season begins.

Know you opponent

A fan’s perspective on the Kentucky Wildcats.

Under Pressure

Billy Gillispie adds to Arkansas’ pressure. Thinks the Hogs are good enough to win a NCAA Title.

Surgery or not?

Patrick Patterson, who’s been hard at work rehabbing will get a second opinion on his injured ankle.

Blame the fans?

Another misinformed person who blames the fans for this season’s performance.

No Worries

Kentucky is up to the task in taking down Marquette.

“We’ve faced a lot of great teams and we’ve had a lot of major undertakings and we haven’t backed down from any one of them yet.”

Slumping

As if we didn’t already know. ESPN’s Andy Katz with an article about how the officiating is slumping heading into the tournament.

Deserving?

John Clay believes the SEC deserves a break over the Atlanta mess.

Key Role

Guard play will be a key role in the Kentucky/Marquette matchup.

The Future

Getting a chance to play pickup games with UK players in the off-season was a primary reason for Kentucky recruit Dakotah Euton in transferring to Scott County.

Not Easy

It’s no easy task for CBS when it comes to broadcasting the NCAA tournament games.

“You want to take viewers to buzzer-beaters,” Aresco says. “But if you have on, say, Kentucky, you’d better not pull anybody out of the whole state of Kentucky.”

Isn’t that the truth?

Kentucky Wildcats

• Player’s injury, recovery gave coach new approach
• E-mailbag: Why a no-write on the no-call
• UK shut out of all-SEC team
• NCAA does Cats’ bidding
• Getting to Know Kentucky - By the Numbers
• UK’s Meeks will attempt return to practice
• SEC erred on the side of safety
• Gillespie, Truman may have something in common

NCAA Tournament

• Marquette faces challenge against Kentucky
• Gillispie, Other SEC Coaches High on Hogs’ Chances in NCAA Tournament
• Look out; Pitt could break your bracket
• Cats to dance on the West Coast
• UK-Marquette early thoughts
• Kentucky scouting report

Basic rundown and audio download of the Coach Billy Gillispie call-in radio show from earlier this evening.

Tom Leach opens with info on Kentucky’s upcoming NCAA Tourney game against Marquette.

#11 Kentucky will take on #6 Marquette at 2:30 pm EST on Thursday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.

The winner of that game will face the winner of the #3 Stanford Vs #14 Cornell matchup.

The waiting is over and Kentucky did make it into the NCAA Tournament with a seeding of 11. We will take on the 6 seed Marquette, a rematch from the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

This is the 17th Consecutive NCAA Bid for the ‘Cats

I guess the craziness of this game was only fitting for this occasion. Just when we thought we were going to win… bang…Georgia knocks down the 3.

I was very disappointed with the refs for not calling a foul as Ramel Bradley was clearly knocked down. If you’re supposed to call fouls, call them. What’s done is done so it’s a mute point now.

The whole team for the most part seemed tired and out of sync from the start.

I thought it was a very classy move on the Georgia player clapping his hands during Ramon Harris’ free throw shots. Way to go, you ought to be proud…NOT!

Anyway…

It was a tough game and congrats to Georgia. They now face another battle later today with Mississippi State. No matter who it was going to be, that team was going into tonight’s contest with the odds stacked against them.

We now await our NCAA Tournament fate which we will learn tomorrow shortly after 6 pm. At this point nothing  seems to be guaranteed for us. Before the game most pundits said we were in and now it’s up in the air.

I don’t know about you, but I just feel deflated right now.

Kentucky lost to Georgia 60-56 in OT. Joe Crawford led the Wildcats with 24 points and Ramel Bradley chipped in 12 points on 4-17 shooting.

Georgia will take on Mississippi State later today around 8:30-9 pm EST.

Recaps

• Georgia Upsets Kentucky in OT 60-56
• UK falls to Georgia 60-56
• Swansey’s three beats Cats

I stayed up late last night/this morning so I could report on new times being announced etc. But eventually I had to call it a night and get some rest in.

Times and the course of events have now came out. It’s not good for UK fans or any other fans for that matter.

Talk about an interesting end to the night. If you didn’t know by now. The Kentucky versus Georgia game was postponed due to more possible bad weather down in Atlanta. At this point, there is no official time to when this game will be played tomorrow. It’s likely the winner will end up having to play another game at some point also tomorrow.

The first round of SEC Tournament action has concluded. Georgia defeated Mississippi 97-95 in OT on a last second shot. This means that Kentucky will take on the Bulldogs later tonight at approximately 9:45 pm est.

Complete first round SEC Tournament scores

The SEC Tournament finally kicked off today!

We’ll find out our opponent (late) tonight. Gonna be a long day

Here are some of the latest headlines making the rounds in basketball land.

Game Watching

Billy Gillispie watched recruit Verdell Jones play last night. Jones finished with a game-high 16 points.

Meeks Update

Jodie Meeks could end up having surgery, but Kentucky has not lost hope he could play again at some point this post-season.

Irked

Joe Crawford was not happy about being named to the All-SEC second team.

“I think I could have been first team,” he said in a calm voice. “I think that adds a little motivation.”

5 minutes with…

The Chattanooga Times Free Press has a funny Q&A with Kentucky’s Joe Crawford.

Included…

Q. Every SEC player says that Ramel talks the most trash …
A. “That’s about right.”

Q. … so what’s the funniest thing you’ve heard him say?

A. “Besides constantly talking about New York? Let’s see (starts laughing), he did write ‘Smooth’ (Bradley’s nickname) on his graduation diploma.”

Q. Harshest criticism you’ve heard about yourself?

A. “There’s been a lot of things that have been tough on me. I guess the main one is that I’m a selfish player.”

Q. Who would be at your dream dinner party?

A. “Ashley Judd and Michael Jordan.”

Anti-Pearl

The Tennessee Vol’s Bruce Pearl’s sharing of the SEC Coach of the Year award with Kentucky’s Billy Gillispie shows that he’s despised among his peers.

CATLANTA

Kentucky hopes to bring back the excitement of “Catlanta“.

Aspirations

The newly verbally committed Kevin Galloway hopes to be playing in the NBA as soon as possible.

Odds

A Sea of Blue de-constructs the SEC tournament to see to probability of each team winning.

The 2008 SEC awards were announced today. Here’s how Kentucky faired in those.

Kentucky’s Billy Gillispie and Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl shared SEC Coach of the Year.

Patrick Patterson shared the SEC Freshman of the Year award with Florida’s Nick Calathes. (It’s good to see Patterson still get this despite the injury)

FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC
Ramel Bradley, Kentucky

SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC
Joe Crawford, Kentucky
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

SEC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

SEC ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Ramel Bradley, Kentucky

Great job by those guys! A nice well deserved showing.