Looking back, there’s a lot more that needs to be said about Vegas. My excitement is at such a high that I might rehash some points from yesterday’s column, so don’t hold that against me.

According to Ken Pomeroy and his magical computer, Kentucky has the #11 defense in Division I. That isn’t too bad when you consider that the first two games were against the best offense in the country and the fastest offense in the country. It is so refreshing to see the Kentucky post players sagging off on opposing post players that can’t shoot after years of ball-line defense. Ball-line defense saw Randolph Morris get into foul trouble guarding Al Horford because he had to stay with Al when he had the ball at the three-point line, even though I never saw Al Horford make a three in his entire college career. Billy Gillispie’s defense sees Josh Harrellson sagging off on Kevin Jones of WVU, or Ramon Harris sagging off on Dominique Sutton of KSU, knowing that neither is likely to make an outside shot. The sagging in the WVU game was just smart coaching. Our guys dared Jones to chuck it, and he did – several times. He only hit one. The sagging kept the other teams from running backdoor cuts because there were 4-5 blue jerseys in the lane at all times.

The defensive stops at the end of games also warrant mentioning again. I’ve been a proponent of the offseason Boot Camp, and I also don’t have a problem with gameday practices, especially since it is generally accepted that those don’t go on throughout the whole season. During the last few years of the Smith administration, the team had gotten soft, and some of the losses during SEC play (in particular, the loss at Georgia in 2007) were the direct result of having dead legs. No shrink or strength coach could change the culture of the team. The guys just ran out of steam when it mattered the most. That didn’t happen in Vegas. In Vegas, it was Kansas State who had the dead legs. They rushed and jacked when they had a chance to tie or take the lead. Part of that falls on the coaches for not calming their guys down, and Frank Martin has never blown me away with his strategic planning, but it’s clear the good guys were fresher. Jodie Meeks was fresher against the KSU guards despite never coming out of the game. Those fresh legs enabled the Kentucky defenders to come up with steals in crunch time. In Vegas, it was West Virginia who had the dead legs. When Kentucky started making their run (which coincided with WVU implementing a 2-3 zone), did the Mountaineers get a single meaningful rebound? WVU got killed on the glass, despite having an edge in athleticism in the matchup where one of their guys was on Harrellson. Kentucky was tougher and fresher, and the defense down the stretch was the definitive proof.

If you’re reading this and you actually represented Big Blue Nation in Vegas, you’re awesome. K-State had a pretty good crowd, while most WVU fans were burning couches after the second consecutive loss in the Backyard Brawl. Go back to Yahoo and listen to the radio broadcasts. Those UK fans were LOUD, completely worthy of all caps. After the first TV timeout in the WVU game, the camera cut to Dave O’Brien and Steve Lavin before going to live action. That was also when DeAndre Liggins came into the game for the first time. A big group of Kentucky fans behind the announcers gave Liggins a standing ovation. This proves that Kentucky fans support their players above all else. Remember, we’re the same people who gave Joe Crawford a standing ovation after he actually left the team for a week in early 2005. It was an impressive showing by the fans in Vegas, reminiscent of your typical SEC Tournament enthusiasm.

Let’s go back to the zone for a bit. I’m staunchly anti-zone, even in a game like VMI where the man defense wasn’t getting it done. The pro-zone people will bring up how Louisville and Tennessee struggled against zones in their games yesterday, but that’s irrelevant to me. Let’s bring up the WVU game as the example. Bob Huggins always coaches tough, physical defense. It’s his specialty. You don’t see the zone very often from his teams, but it was the staple of John Beilein at WVU, so with the mix of Huggins and Beilein recruits, you can understand why they went with a zone in the second half when they were up by 12. By that point in the game, Gillispie had gone to his preferred lineup of Liggins, Meeks, Harrellson, Miller and Patterson. On the first possession against the zone, the Cats worked it around the perimeter and managed to find Patterson in great position for an easy score. After a defensive stop, they once again worked it around and made the WVU zone move a bit, which opened up Meeks for a three from the wing – BAM – seven-point game. Huggins went back to man defense after that. Coach Gillispie may not utilize a zone, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to design plays against it.

Obviously, there is still cause for concern. This will be a huge week (though not as big as the Vegas tournament) in telling how much the guys have matured. Lamar is a good trap game because of their tiny guards and their four starting seniors. Then there’s Miami with its awesome backcourt coming into town on Saturday. It is very possible that Kentucky could be riding a 12-game winning streak with a 12-2 record heading into the Louisville game.

Speaking of Louisville, they learned the same lesson that Kentucky learned back in November of 2001: When Western Kentucky plays one of the big Kentucky schools, they have a chip on their shoulder. This chip wasn’t big enough to prevent WKU from losing to Murray State by about 30, but it worked wonders against Louisville. The Cards forgot what their strengths were – interior strength and athleticism. Earl Clark and Terrence Williams are far better when they’re slashing than when they’re standing out on the perimeter jacking like Bill Laimbeer. And how can Jerry Smith, the one legitimately good shooter on that team, foul out of that game without taking a shot? The Louisville players forgot their roles on offense and committed frustration fouls on defense. The Toppers also owned the glass against their larger and more athletic opponents. However, you just know that this game will make Louisville that much more dangerous.

Tennessee looked like Tennessee last night against Gonzaga. After an un-Tennessee-like second half against Georgetown on Friday where the Vols showed poise and mental toughness in holding onto a lead against a well-coached team, they played in a compete panic against Gonzaga last night. They didn’t get back on defense. They didn’t get out on shooters. They rushed shots. Wayne Chism looked like last year’s Wayne Chism against Gonzaga after holding his own against Greg Monroe of Georgetown. And this is supposed to be the best team in the SEC? The SEC is so bad this year that there’s no way you can pick out a favorite based on November games. Every single team in that conference has enormous flaws, and the first team to fix those flaws will be the winner.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and it’s a bad day when you go to jail for shooting yourself in the leg.