The Vols followed up their NIT Season Tip-Off Championship by notching another win Tuesday, beating MTSU 86-56 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Freshman Tobias Harris led the team in scoring with 21.
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Brandon Knight scored 23 points and No. 10 Kentucky bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 91-57 win over Boston University on Tuesday night. Terrence Jones added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (5-1), who shot 59 percent from the field and overwhelmed the Terriers (4-4) over the final 20 minutes. Kentucky led by just seven points at halftime before opening the second half on an 18-3 run to break things open. John Holland led the Terriers with 20 points but Boston U. shot just 29 percent and had no answer after the Wildcats shook off a sluggish first half with perhaps their best basketball of the season.
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Andre Malone scored 17 points and Rob Chubb added 12 as the Auburn Tigers breezed past Division II Georgia Southwestern, 78-50, Tuesday at the Auburn Arena.
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Another cupcake comes to town for hopefully a thorough butt-whipping. They haven’t showed up on the road in their previous games so I’m expecting this to continue.
Season stats

Tim Williams and Martino Brock pull double digit PPG while Augustine Rubit cleans the boards at 7.4 RPG. The roster has exactly one guy over 6’6″ and that guy plays (Gowins)sparingly. They pretty much suck in every aspect of the game right now.

Stats:
- 37.4% FG
- 31% 3PT FG
- 62.7% FT
- -3.4 rebound margin
- -8 PPG scoring margin

Prediction: bloodshed… we should absolutely maul the Jags. We should beat them up inside, force a ton of turnovers, and run them to the ground. Bama by 32.

Game time is 12/1 around 8:30PM EST (7:30PM CST). Usual links.

Alabama Hoops Feed. FEED ME!

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One thing always accompanies the end of any regular season, and that’s rumors. Since Monday, the University of Miami has made it clearly known that MSU’s Dan Mullen and former NFL coach John Gruden are their 2 main targets, to replace the fired Randy Shannon.

Let me pause right there and say “Not gonna happen.” I’m well aware that Miami’s Football program is one of the top 20 of all-time in NCAA history. I know that the state of Florida is drenched with some of the best High School football that this fine country has to offer. I know that the ‘U’ has got a much bigger Athletic budget than what MSU could only dream about. And finally, I’m well aware that the Canes are famous for turning out NFL talent, and add every year to the meat market that pro scouts feast on. Ok, heck, I’ll even go as far as to throw in the beach, sandals, and everything else Miami in itself has to offer. But, still I say “Not gonna happen.”

Here’s why I feel the way I do…

(1) SEC is King: Even on years when the SEC fails to win the Nat’l Title, it’s still the best conference in College Football. The conference has claimed the Crown in 4 of the past 5 seasons. It has the highest attendance rates of any other conference, and dominates the NFL draft year in and year out. You play the best of the best every Saturday. The passion, tradition, and pageantry is unmatched. Because of that, why go elsewhere? Championships are without a doubt easier to achieve in another conference, but when you’ve coached among the best, anything else is a step down. Mullen is a coach who demands the best from his players and fanbase, so why would he require anything less than that from himself. Leaving the best in order to win among the mediocre, is not in the cards for Dan. And in his mind, it’s probably unacceptable to even consider, and lie to the standard he holds himself and team to. Anyway, who go anywhere else, when you are already in the best conference in football, not to mention arguably the best division in college football. Many may see that as a self-defeating argument, and a good basis for a good coach to leave a strong conference. Some have already said that State will always trail Bama and LSU in tradition and success, but one can only look to the 2009 and 2010 as reality check. Mullen took a team that finished with just 3 wins in ’08, to within inches of a Bowl bid in ’09. In 2010, Mullen responded by leading the Dawgs to an 8-4 regular season record, and a .500 mark in conference play. Dan will have MSU in Atlanta within 5 years.

(2) Building a Program Builds Pride: Let me ask you this, is there anything more rewarding in life…anything that builds more pride…or anything more gratifying then seeing the fruits of your labor? There’s nothing like seeing results, and knowing you had a hand in that product. Mullen is has put butts in the seats, breaking the season attendance record in consecutive years. When the seats are full, and continually full, that changes everything. Not only is it a display of faithfulness on behalf of the fans, or just evidence that you are doing something right, but so much more. Attendance equals atmosphere, money for the program, better facilities, etc. What’s amazing, is that since Mullen was hired, he has manufactured so much interest and excitement in the program, that he has yet to see Davis Wade Stadium empty. The Bulldog Club has members now, more than ever. He’s taught the MSU program and fans what it feels like to win and compete-week in and week out. Mullen is pulling in the best recruits in the State, and currently has MSU ranked #23 in National recruiting. He’s witnessed the hunger of 55-59,000 in the seats, and the demand that is on the horizon for expansion. I’m sure that Dan has seen the plans to do just just, and he can’t help but realize just what he is building in Starkville. He is making what used to be ‘future’ plans, an immediate reality. (Don’t fool yourself either, whether or not stadium expansion plans were apart of the university’s master plan, it would have never happened if not for success on the football field). It’s because of ALL this that I’ve mentioned, that Mullen won’t leave. Coaches are all about results, and being able to sit back and look at what they’ve built and accomplished. We are all capable of accomplishing amazing things in life, but rarely do we have the chance to effect the lives of 55-100,000 people on a given Saturday. Even though I would say that Mullen is more confident than arrogant, it can’t help but feed his or anyone else’s ego to an extent. Like I said, there’s pride in building something. And in building something it’s even harder to walk away. Dan Mullen is building at MSU, not just a winning program, but other elements that will be hard to walk away from one day.

In the midst of all this, MSU AD Scott Stricklin has already commented on the fact that the school is setting up Dan Mullen’s contract to carry over through 2014. “We’re going to be smart and aggressive in this process. The normal protocol for something like this and the way we’ve done it in the past is to rip up the old contract and sign a brand new four-year deal.” Mullen currently brings in  $1.2 Million a year, and is set to receive plenty of incentives due to the Dawgs’ upcoming Bowl appearance. As of Tuesday night, Mullen confirmed that he has NOT been contacted by anyone, even Miami. For more, here’s a link to a conversation between Mullen and the CL’s Rick Cleveland about staying in Starkville. Link

That’s my take, your thoughts?

Chris White Wins Conerly Trophy
Just days after the Bulldogs won the Egg Bowl, and the reputation of the best team in Mississippi, Senior LB Chris White won the honor of the being named the best football player in the State. White has had a stellar Senior season, racking up 105 Tkls, 6 Sacks, 15.5 Tkls for Loss, 2 INTs, and 1 Fumble Recovery. After making a name for himself in his Junior season at MSU, White improved even more in 2010. White increased in Tackles (+30) and Sacks (+5.5). Congrats Chris, you will be hard to replace. Link 

Bumphis Out
As many of yall know, leading Bulldog WR Chad Bumphis, will miss the Bowl Game with a broken clavicle. I wanted to know your opinion, as to whether or not you think the injury hurts or helps the Bulldogs more? Out for the Bowl, but that’s some major reps for a lot of our young WRs in practice and preparation.  Link

State Falls to FAU Owls
I guess we knew it was coming eventually, considering that Stansbury’s squad is low on talent and experience and having already had some close calls. I can’t wait til Sidney and Bost can play. For those of you who are new to the site, I cover basketball in-depth, but not til SEC play, or quality opponents show up on the schedule before conference play. Ravern Johnson finished with 18 pts, Kodi Augustus brought down 10 Rebs, and Riley Benock has 3 asst. Very bad shooting night for State, only nailing three 3-pointers. State missed 4 FT’s in the final minute, and a last minute tip-in for the win. Typical. 

_____News_____

aTm accepts Cotton Bowl invite. Link

Boise’s kicker is receiving death threats. Link

UT’s Bruce Pearl zingsLane Kiffin. Link

Gamecocks make History. Link

CL reports that Chick-Fil-A Bowl isn’t a done deal? Link

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Here we are Ladies and Gentlemen, the final week of the regular season. Remember it well. Pretty bad on average last week, as all but the Top 17 were under .500. Big congrats to BZACHARY, who’s 12-3 record was enough to catapult him from the mid 20′s to #10 in the overall. That’s not the biggest news in the standings, however…

That’s right, a tie! Even with an average picks week, ADD-Day couldn’t hold off LSU Chad and we now have a dead heat going into the final weekend, with everyone within the top ten still capable of pulling a late upset. A dismal year for your editorial staff as Kattgodfather (Pat from The Geaux Show) is the highest ranked at a mere 13th.

Big shockers are mainly local, with LSU and ULM letting us down. USC found new depths against Notre Dame and Vandy let us all down.

PodKATT’s Pick	Picks For		Matchup	Picks For		Home Spread	PodKATT’s Pick	PodKATT’s Points
	19 pick(s)	48%	vs 27 - 50	53%	21 pick(s)	-18.5
	23 pick(s)	59%	vs 28 - 27	41%	16 pick(s)	-4.5
	22 pick(s)	55%	vs 31 - 34	45%	18 pick(s)	+14.5		1
	17 pick(s)	43%	vs 7 - 31	58%	23 pick(s)	-2.5
	19 pick(s)	48%	vs 34 - 42	53%	21 pick(s)	-13.5		1
	16 pick(s)	40%	vs 14 - 24	60%	24 pick(s)	-3.5
	6 pick(s)	15%	vs 23 - 22	85%	34 pick(s)	-6.5
	32 pick(s)	80%	vs 23 - 31	20%	8 pick(s)	-3.5
	15 pick(s)	38%	vs 7 - 37	63%	25 pick(s)	-17.5		1
	35 pick(s)	88%	vs 31 - 23	13%	5 pick(s)	+2.5		1
	6 pick(s)	15%	vs 20 - 16	85%	34 pick(s)	-4.5
	13 pick(s)	33%	vs 47 - 41	68%	27 pick(s)	-2.5		1
	36 pick(s)	90%	vs 29 - 7	10%	4 pick(s)	+2.5		1
	30 pick(s)	79%	vs 24 - 17	21%	8 pick(s)	+3.5		1
	5 pick(s)	13%	vs 34 - 13	88%	35 pick(s)	-5.5

Not much choice this week, so the CUSA and MAC championships are on the board, along with all three parts of the Big East title. Zook vs Pat Hill for just sheer oddity.

Date	Away Team	Pick	Point Value	Pick	Home Team	Home Spread	Selection
Thu 12/02 08:00pm	Arizona St. (5-6)		1		(23)Arizona (7-4)	-6.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 04:00pm	(1)Auburn (12-0)		1		(19)South Carolina (9-3)	+5.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 08:00pm	Connecticut (7-4)		1		South Fla. (7-4)	-1.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 07:45pm	(21)Florida St. (9-3)		1		(15)Virginia Tech (10-2)	-4.5 Matchup
Fri 12/03 10:15pm	Illinois (6-5)		1		Fresno St. (7-4)	+6.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 08:00pm	(13)Nebraska (10-2)		1		(9)Oklahoma (10-2)	-4.5 Matchup
Fri 12/03 07:00pm	(25)Northern Ill. (10-2)		1		Miami (Ohio) (8-4)	+15.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 03:30pm	(2)Oregon (11-0)		1		Oregon St. (5-6)	+15.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 12:00pm	Pittsburgh (6-5)		1		Cincinnati (4-7)	+0.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 12:00pm	Rutgers (4-7)		1		(24)West Virginia (8-3)	-20.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 12:00pm	Southern Methodist (7-5)		1		UCF (9-3)	-9.5 Matchup
Sat 12/04 10:30pm	Southern California (7-5)		1		UCLA (4-7)	+7.5 Matchup

PICKS ARE DUE THURSDAY BEFORE KICKOFF!

Content provided by Garnet And Black Attack.

3. Spurrier’s Cards Are Close to the Vest

In our last three games, we’ve (1) run the ball all night against Florida, (2) feasted on a cupcake against Troy, and (3) gone vanilla in the second half against Clemson when it became apparent that Stephen Garcia was hurt and that the Tigers wouldn’t get back into the game if we didn’t help them. Spurrier has not had to dig deep into the playbook over this stretch. That means that Spurrier has the advantage of coming into this game without Auburn being aware of what we’ve been working on in practice lately. Hopefully, Spurrier will be able to spring some surprises on the Tigers. This could be especially important if we have to depart from our usual run-first attack.

2. Stephen Garcia’s Injury

Garcia got banged up (left, non-throwing shoulder and throwing thumb) against Clemson, and the word out of practice at the beginning of the week is that it’s a little worse than originally thought. The coaches, though, believe he’ll be ready to go at full speed. We better hope so, because…

1. Look for Us to Throw the Ball

Carolina has been most successful this year when it can get Marcus Lattimore churning out yardage on the ground. Unfortunately, very few teams have been able to run the ball well against Auburn’s talented defensive front. That includes the Gamecocks when we played Auburn early this year. Lattimore rushed for 33 yards and a 2.4 ypc average in that game, his worst and second-to-worst averages of the year in those respective categories. Oftentimes, this would mean that Carolina is doomed, as we’ve had little success in games where Lattimore hasn’t dominated. Luckily for us, as we learned last time around, you can throw the ball against Auburn. The Tigers rank 106th in the country in pass defense. (If you didn’t realize how good the Tigers offense is before now, that number should make you realize it; how else could a team with such a poor pass defense be contending for a national title?) Garcia, before the late-game fumbles, was having one of the best games of his career against the Tigers. The truth is that he’s probably going to have to be ready to do that again this week, only this time he’s going to have to finish the deal. I hope we find a way to get Lattimore more involved this time around, but the facts say that you’re not going to run against Auburn. Garcia and the receivers need to be ready to go.

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(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

A couple of team notes and then individual player notes after UK’s 91-57 bashing of Boston University:

PPP – Kentucky’s offense averaged 1.350 points per possession, best since last year’s club averaged 1.493 in a win over Hartford on Dec. 29, 2009. The Cats were coming off back-to-back games of less than a point per possession. UK averaged 0.927 against Washington and 0.993 against UConn.

Meanwhile, the defensive PPP was much better. The Cats held Boston to 0.837 PPP, compared to 1.253 for Connecticut in the Maui final loss.

THREES – The Cats made 10 of 16 three-pointers for 62.5 percent. That’s the best in any UK game since the Cats made nine of 13 for 69.2 percent against Drexel on Dec. 21 of last season. It’s the best in any game UK has taken 15-or-more three since the Billy Gillispie Era (error?) when the Cats made 12 of 19 for 63.2 at Tennessee on Jan. 13, 2009.

JOSH HARRELLSON — The senior center achieved his first career double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Harrellson went 6-of-7 from the floor, tying his career high of six field goals against Indiana on Dec. 13, 2008. He was six of 12 from the floor that game. Afterward, BU coach Patrick Chambers called Harrellson UK’s “mother-hen.” We figured that at times Cal may have used a similar term when referring to Harrellson.

TERRENCE JONES – Turned his fourth double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Had just four rebounds in 27 minutes in loss to UConn. In last two games, has made 13 of 23 shots. Has blocked at least one shot in all six games. Blocked one against the Terriers.

BRANDON KNIGHT – Bounced back with 23 points after just a six-point effort in loss to UConn. Produced a career-high six assists. After going 0-of-8 from three in Maui final, made four of six beyond the arc against the Terriers. Knight has logged 32-or-more minutes now in five of UK’s six games.

DARIUS MILLER — A non-factor with no points in just seven first-half minutes after picking up two fouls. Was replaced by Doron Lamb at start of second half. Did score eight points in second half, but played just 19 minutes overall. That’s the least amount of time he’s been on the floor since playing just 11 minutes in UK’s first-round NCAA thumping of East Tennessee State last season.

DORON LAMB – Assistant John Robic said after the game that Lamb showed he needs to be on the floor more. The freshman scored 13 points in 27 minutes. He also had a career-high five assists. Lamb has made seven of 14 shots over the last two games, including three of six from three-point range.

DEANDRE LIGGINS – The junior has made just five of 17 shots over his last two games. Liggins had four turnovers, compared to one assist. He did grab his first offensive rebound of the season.

ELOY VARGAS – Odd stat is that Vargas has had four rebounds in four of his six games. Had four against the Terriers. Did have a career-high six free throw attempts, making four. In fact, Vargas has made 8 of 10 free throws over the last two games. Has just one turnover in 85 minutes thus far this season.

JON HOOD — Scored two points in nine minutes. The sophomore has scored 10 points on the season. He did not take a three-pointer against BU, just the second time in six games that has happened. Hood has not had an assist or a turnover so far this season.

STACEY POOLE — Played four minutes, but has still yet to score this season. The freshman has taken just two shots, both in the game against Washington.

JARROD POLSON – The freshman from West Jessamine scored his first points as a Wildcat, making two free throws with 24 seconds remaining. Also had his first assist as a Cat. And turnover.

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Assistant coach John Robic subbed for head coach John Calipari after UK’s 91-57 win over Boston U.

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Boston University coach Patrick Chambers talks to the media after his team’s 91-57 loss at Kentucky.