SEC Basketball

1. Michigan beat Florida 79-59 on Sunday. Florida G Kenny Boynton: “They were the better team.”

2. Boynton and seniors Eric Murphy and Mike Rosario had an emotional ending to their careers.

3. It was apparent early that Florida had no answers for Michigan, which jumped out to a 13-0 lead.

4. One scholarship has opened up in Lexington: point guard Ryan Harrow is transferring from Kentucky.

5. Meanwhile, Wildcats forward Kyle Wiltjer tweeted Sunday to say he is staying in Lexington.

SEC Football

6. From Sunday: Arkansas coach Bret Bielema bragged on his Big Ten record compared to Nick Saban’s record.

7. Alabama is back from spring break and preparing for 11 practices in the next 20 days.

8. Auburn’s coaching staff is working on rebuilding the mental strength of its quarterbacks.

9. Ole Miss will return to the practice field tonight. The return of linebacker D.T. Shackelford is a big storyline.

10. Here’s an updated (and projected) depth chart for Georgia’s defense.

11. New Tennessee coach Butch Jones is “making the right moves,” writes David Climer.

12. Tennessee’s offense is adjusting to a quicker pace as spring practice resumes this week.

Extras

13. A love story you will want to read involving Mal Moore, who passed away on Saturday. By Don Kausler Jr.

14. It’s been one year to the day since Bobby Petrino had his motorcycle accident.

15. Louisville guard Kevin Ware had successful surgery Sunday night to repair the open fracture of his right tibia.

16. What’s the first thing Ware told his mother after the injury? “Calm down, mom. I’m OK.”

17. Here’s an early preview of the upcoming Final Four in Atlanta.

18. Texas is working this offseason to return to competing with the nation’s elite programs.

SEC Basketball

1. Florida will play Northwestern State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

2. Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson on other SEC coaches: “They’re losers.”

3. The Rebels will have a tough challenge when they play No. 5 seed Wisconsin.

4. Missouri coach Frank Haith on returning to the NCAA tournament: “I never take it for granted.”

5. SEC basketball this season was worse than previous thought, writes David Climer.

6. Kentucky went from being the 2012 story of the NCAA tournament to an NIT No. 1 seed.

7. The Wildcats lost too many road games to get into the NCAA tournament.

8. Tennessee is a No. 2 seed in the NIT after missing out on the NCAA tournament.

9. Alabama received a No. 1 seed in the NIT. The Crimson Tide will open against Northeastern.

10. There will be “increased pressure” for the Vols to reach the NCAA tournament next year, writes Mike Strange.

11. Maybe the SEC can “exact payback” during the football season, writes Mark Wiedmer.

12. Arkansas didn’t receive an invitation to the NIT. Its season ends with a 19-13 record.

13. LSU was left out of the NIT, too. Tigers coach Johnny Jones: “It’s just disappointing.”

SEC Football

14. Alabama is ready to move past its offseason troubles that included four players being kicked off the team.

15. Here’s a look at Auburn’s H-backs and tight ends as the Tigers prepare for spring practice.

Extras

16. The SEC was represented on the NCAA tournament snub list.

17. Here is the full NCAA tournament schedule with TV listings.

18. The NCAA released the official 1-68 seed list for the tournament.

19. Eamonn Brennan of ESPN.com has his own rankings for all 68 teams.

20. Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com believes Florida will reach the Final Four.

21. Always an entertaining read: “Forde Minutes” to get you ready for the Big Dance.

1. Georgia got a little creative with its recruitment of Savannah, Ga., DE Milan Richard.

2. Florida cornerback signee Vernon Hargreaves III could make an early impact.

3. Which Ole Miss signee could make a quick impact this fall? Here are a few possibilities.

4. A Tennessee kicker commitment is considering a preferred walk-on offer from Ohio State.

5. Tennessee coach Butch Jones will face challenges in recruiting, writes David Climer.

6. Checkout this feature on hoops phenom Andrew Wiggins, known as “The Canadian Jordan.”

Florida 31 – Vanderbilt 17

1. Jeff Driskel broke Tim Tebow’s single-game rushing record by a quarterback at Florida with 177 yards.

2. Florida overcame several injuries to beat Vanderbilt.

3. The Gators are winning games this season that they were losing a year ago.

4. Vanderbilt must be kicking itself over mistakes it made against Florida, writes David Climer.

Arkansas 49 – Kentucky 7

5. Arkansas dominated Kentucky in a game shorted by the weather.

6. Freshman Jonathan Williams backed up a prediction that he would score against Kentucky.

7. Arkansas is showing improvement with back-to-back wins in the SEC.

8. Kentucky is winless in the SEC with a 1-6 record. How can Joker Phillips survive this?

Longtime readers of this site know that we first mentioned the possibility that the league could still start its own network — despite its 2008 contracts with CBS and ESPN — a little more than two years ago.  Readers this week also know that the SEC is indeed engaged in talks with the four-letter network regarding some form of co-owned channel.

Revenue estimates for such a network have ranged anywhere from $500,000 million to $1 billion to even more depending on the source you read and the data they use.

David Climer of The Tennessean goes the simple route in explaining why an SEC Network should be worth more than the already highly successful Big Ten Network and the start-up Pac-12 Networks (there will be six channels focusing on two member schools each):

“Getting toeholds in Texas and Missouri pushes the total population in the SEC’s 11-state footprint to 91 million, according to the latest census figures. Compare this to the Big Ten (69.5 million) and the Pac-12 (62.8 million).

That means if Slive, who is in his 11th year as commissioner, can strike an agreement that would put the SEC Network into every cable and satellite subscriber’s house, it should eclipse the revenue of the Big Ten and Pac-12 TV deals.”

This is nothing new to our readers who’ve seen our “reason for expansion” pieces over the years.  It does, however, further explain why Missouri got an SEC invite over West Virginia, a fine athletic department that just happens to be located in a tiny state.  Many Mountaineer fans took it as an insult when we tried to explain that dynamic a year ago.

As expansion talk continues to roil, maybe it will become more and more clear to those few holdouts who don’t quite get it — television is driving this bus.

Content provided by Vanderbilt Sports Line.

Apparently Joe Biddle doesn’t read his own sports section, as he writes a column in today’s Tennessean trashing Vanderbilt football and calling it a dead-end job. Biddle argues that Vanderbilt is “in the wrong league for football,” and comes back to the familiar sportswriter troupe that Vanderbilt’s real problem is not having an “athletics director’s experience and contacts” to get the job done. Not surprisingly, I couldn’t disagree with Biddle more. Despite the cosmetic “title,” Vanderbilt has an athletic department, it just so happens that athletics at Vanderbilt is integrated in, not set apart from, the rest of the student population (imagine that).

Despite the Commodores’ 2 disappointing football seasons in a row (which proceeded their first bowl win since the Eisenhower administration), it is impossible to argue that Vanderbilt sports is not as strong or stronger now than they’ve ever been. David Williams hasn’t had to do a major national coaching search, because he’s been able to keep his quality coaches in Nashville. Essentially, Biddle is criticizing Williams for being an effective administrator. When you think about it, Biddle’s take actually makes sense given his treatment (or lack thereof) of Tennessee’s Athletic Director Mike Hamilton. Here’s a guy who, despite his “athletic director’s experience and contacts” went through 3 football coaches in 3 years while being publicly rejected by almost every candidate they targeted to fill that vacancy. Make no mistake about it Tennessee fans, Derek Dooley was not Tennessee’ first, second, or third choice. Yet somehow, because of his title, Hamilton gets a pass, and Williams gets scorned. Unlike last year’s Volunteer coaching search, Vanderbilt’s efforts are being done in a professional, quiet and methodical manner. There haven’t been any leaks, and no embarrassing public rejections. Maybe more schools should get rid of their athletic directors.

For some reason, I let Biddle get under my skin. I don’t really know why. I guess what I continue to take exception to, both from Biddle and the other Tennessean columnist David Climer, is the glee they seem to take in criticizing Vanderbilt. The lengths (uninformed at they might be) these columnists will go to slam the Commodores is astonishing (especially as compared to their treatment of the Volunteers, who are always on the ascendancy according to these scribes). Nashville is Vanderbilt’s home, yet the home-town paper’s columnists appear to relish when the team struggles. Do us all a favor Joe, head east to Knoxville, I’ll even throw in 5 bucks for gas.

Content provided by John Clay’s Sidelines.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Lexington Herald-Leader photo gallery from Saturday’s game.

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

• Missed chances lead Kentucky to fall to Tennessee for 26th straight year, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• My column saying the Cats flubbed a season for the taking.
• Tennessee’s hold on Kentucky remains unbreakable, writes Mark Story of the H-L.
• The Vols make it 26 and counting, writes Matt May of the Cats Pause.
• Goal-line fumble gave Tennessee new life, writes Michael Grant of the Courier-Journal.
• Tennessee again plays Orange crush with the Cats, writes Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Tom Leach says it was a case of lost opportunity for the Cats.
• Randall Cobb faces big decision on future, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• A familiar feeling for the Cats, writes Jeff Drummond of Big Blue 247.
• Might Danny Trevathan be thinking about the NFL? wonders Tailgate Review.

• Tennessee earns bowl eligibility with win over Cats, reports Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• David Climer of the Tennessean writes that UT’s November run is un-bowl-believable.
• Tennessee seniors load praise on Derek Dooley, writes Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Tennessee’s dominance over Kentucky is simply ingrained, blogs Chris Low of espn.com.
• Victoria Dunlap sits out after mild concussion, but UK women roll over Southern Miss, reports the AP.
• Jerry Tipton of the H-L writes that Terrence Jones finds Washington coach is not a sore loser.
• UT’s fake punt gamble brings big return, writes Patrick Brown of the News-Sentinel.
• Kentucky ends up beating itself, writes Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.
• Ryan Clark blogs for the Kentuckiy Enquirer that UK coach should take blame for Tennessee loss.
• Beautiful things come out of the dust for Tennessee, says Rocky Top Talk.
• Anyone can have a bad 26 years, writes Kentucky Sports Radio.
• For UK, there’s really nothing new under the sun, writes Glenn Logan of A Sea of Blue.
• Bleed Blue Kentucky recaps the Cats’ latest loss in Knoxville.

Content provided by Vanderbilt Sports Line.

The press conference announcing Coach Caldwell’s resignation is worthy a watch for all Commodore fans. The answers given by both Coach Caldwell and Vice Chancellor David Williams were frank, and it was obviously uncomfortable for both men. I’m sure Coach Caldwell would like to have more time, and I’m sure Vice Chancellor would have liked to have seen more progress. Unfortunately, neither was to be.

I think David Climer was right, Vanderbilt did the right thing by making this announcement prior to the game, as opposed to after it. Now, Coach Caldwell will get the “thank you” from the fans to which he is entitled. He inherited an incredibly difficult situation by taking over 7 weeks before the season began and did an admirable job. He never made excuses, either for the injuries that deleted his squad, or the hand he was dealt by being given the reins less than 2 months before the season was set to begin. Still, as Vice Chancellor Williams made clear, this decision was about the progress the program was making (or not making). After Vanderbilt’s 2008 Music City Bowl win, the team managed just 1 SEC win and no better than 5 wins (4 depending. What Coach Caldwell might have been able to do is, as he said “unknowable,” but the reality is this decision was not about him, but about the program and the direction it was going in. In the days ahead speculation will begin about who will replace Caldwell, and I’m sure the entire VSL Brain Trust (myself included) will weigh in with our views. In the meantime, Vanderbilt and Coach Caldwell have a game win before the season comes to a close. It would be a positive ending to an unfortunate season as both Robbie Caldwell and Vanderbilt look to move forward.