For the first week of the season, all SEC teams in action play other SEC teams.  There are five games on tap including the Cats and Cocks.  How many jokes will we hear this week involving cocks?  Seroiusly, probably enough to start a drinking game. 

SOUTH CAROLINA @ KENTUCKY  12:30 pm  RAYCOM

Oh well, I guess everybody loves when USCjr comes to town because they can openly make jokes about cocks and no one cares.  I just hope this week that everyone is in a good mood after the game as well.  I look for the Cats to prove once again that they are superior on the defensive side.  USCjr’s offense hasn’t been much to talk about this year but like the Cats, they have relied heavily on their defense.  Remeber last year’s contest when a couple of turnovers cost the Cats the game.  If those same mistakes can be avoided, look for the Cats to finally send the Old Ball Coach home crying.  If it happens, Spurrier’s seat may become a little warm considering  he has yet to have a good season in Columbia.  PREDICTION: KENTUCKY 20, USCjr 6.

LSU @ FLORIDA  8:00  CBS
The Tigers go into “The Swamp” fresh off of a bye week while Florida basically had a bye week even though they did travel to Fayetteville for a scrimmage with the Hogs.  After their 38-7 win, they flew back home and began preparations for LSU.  If Tim Tebow keeps his word, it was probably one of the toughest practice weeks the Gaotrs have had yet.  I think after this showdown, there will be one less unbeaten team in the SEC.  PREDICTION: FLORIDA 24, LSU 21

TENNESSEE @ GEORGIA  3:30  CBS

The first half of the SEC doubleheader on CBS takes us to Athens where the Dawgs host the Vols.  As much as it will kill Billy Bob and Bertha, Fat Phil will still be leading the Vols out of the locker room for yet another week.  I think that if the Vols don’t perform well and keep it close, someone may be out of a job next week, and I’m not talking about any coordinators.  Two blowout losses to SEC East opponents would not be taken well in Knoxville.  I just hope that if they do get rid of Fulmer this year, it is done before the end of the year instead of at the end of the season because teams tend to play differently for their coach when they know it’s his last game.  Yeah, we get them in their last game of the year.  Here’s to hoping Georgia can get it done this week.  PREDICTION: GEORGIA 35, TENNESSEE 13

VANDERBILT @ MISSISSIPPI STATE  1:30

After their victory over Auburn, Vandy travels to Starkville to take on the mighty cowbell backed Bulldogs.  Vandy looks to get to 6-0 for the first time in 80 years and extend their SEC winning streak to the longest in school history (3?).  It’s unknown which quarterback the Dores will use.  Starter Chris Nickson injured his shoulder last week and his status for this week is unknown.  If needed, MacKenzie Adams is more than qualified to step in and lead the team to victory.  Mississippi St has lost three in a row and looks to spoil Vandy’s cinderella season.  PREDICTION: VANDERBILT 21, MISSISSIPPI STATE 14

ARKANSAS @ AUBURN  3:00

A week before coming to Lexington, Arkansas travels to Auburn to battle with the Tigers.  Arkansas got blown out by Florida at home last week and Auburn lost to Vanderbilt for the first time ending a 13-game winning streak against the Dores.  Auburn fired it’s offensive coordinator earlier this week and really have no identity on offense.  Although I don’t think Arkansas will win, I think it will be a close game because of Auburn’s lack of offense.  PREDICTION: AUBURN 10, ARKANSAS 6

Alabama and Ole MIss have the week off.  Bama is still #2 in the national rankings after their win over the Cats last weekend while Ole Miss is regrouping after the letdown they suffered against South Carolina last week.

This is a great week of SEC football coming up. It might be the best total package weekend in the SEC this year. Four games stand out.

Florida @ Tennessee

I know the games are always close at Knoxville, but have you seen Tennessee this year? They played like absolute garbage against UCLA and didn’t look that much better when they beat UAB last week. I still don’t have the kind of trust in Jonathan Crompton to convince myself that Tennessee will keep this one close. On the other hand, Florida has done everything a championship contender is supposed to do in the first three weeks of this young season. I think I saw on ESPN that they were outscoring opponents 65-3 in the first three quarters of the game. That is scary precision, folks. I like Florida to roll in this one, let’s say 49-17.

Alabama @ Arkansas

This will tell us something about both teams. Is Alabama for real, or did they just catch fire against Clemson and their games against Tulane and WKU indicative of how they will play the rest of the season? Is Arkansas as bad as they have looked in 4th quarter comeback wins against Western Illinois and UL-Monroe? I’d say that yes, Alabama is for real, and yes, Arkansas is that bad. The Razorbacks are just missing the kind of talent all around that is necessary to achieve any kind of success this year, and I think the Crimson Tide will win comfortably. I think we’ll go with 38-14 in this one.

Vanderbilt @ Mississippi

The two most underrated teams in the conference square off in Oxford Saturday. Vanderbilt has been great on defense this season, just like they have been throughout the Bobby Johnson era. Ole Miss showed the world just how good Houston Nutt is when they were a blown pass interference call away from beating Wake Forest, the best team in the ACC. Jevan Sneed is the best quarterback you haven’t seen so far this season. I might be inclined to call this one a must win for Vandy because of their struggles against Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. They play a few more OOC games, so in order for them to get that sixth win, they’ll have to take this one. I think the Rebels win a very close defensive slugfest. Let’s call it 14-10.

LSU @ Auburn

Now we’re talking the good stuff. I had Auburn winning the West and eventually the entire conference this year, but I didn’t plan on them benching their quarterback after only one week. Chris Todd did not fare very well in that offensive explosion in the land of the cowbells, and the more I watch LSU, the more I think they can win this thing again. Charles Scott has been the best offensive player in the conference up to this point, and if something happens to him, no SEC team has a deeper pool of runners than LSU. I’ll say this: If LSU wins this game, they will go on to win the national championship again. However, you can’t just waltz into Jordan-Hare and expect to beat Tommy Tuberville in a big game. I think the War Eagle Tigers will beat the Bayou Bengal Tigers in a classic. Auburn wins, 24-21.

In other news, I think Georgia will make like a Mountain West team and destroy Arizona State in the desert.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and watch me be completely wrong on all of these picks except Alabama/Arkansas.

With UK having an off week, it’s time to tackle some things about that good old Southeastern Conference that just may or may not be true. Feel free to add anything you want in the comments.

Myth No. 1: Vanderbilt is good enough to go bowling
Let’s be for real here guys. The ‘Dores give up 350/yards a game, worse in the SEC. They’re highest profile win is a 1-2 South Carolina team that lives off it’s coaches name. Maybe Vandy can go bowling, but let’s wait until they get blown out by Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and maybe UK. Also, Ole Miss will probably beat them this week.

Myth No. 2: Auburn’s offense is good enough to help them win the SEC West
Here’s the thing, when you score only three points in a game, you don’t have an offense. When you score three points and still win, you have one helluva defense, but no offense. And Auburn isn’t winning the SEC West. It’s going to be either LSU again or a surging Alabama.

Myth No. 3: Tennessee/Mississippi State are darkhorse candidates to win their divisions
Well, the Dawgs have lost to Lousiana Tech and sit at a pretty 1-2. They can’t score and their defense isn’t that tough either. Tennessee got whooped by UCLA who got killed, and I mean killed, by BYU. Plus they play Florida this weekend, and it’s going to be ugly. No way either of these teams finish better than fourth in their division.

When we signed up to do this SEC Power Poll thing, they hide a secret line in the contract that said once a week we must write a post, answering select questions while sitting at a roundtable. Just kidding. But this is the SEC power poll roundtable and you can find the original post and links to our members over at Garnet and Black Attack

1. Pretend for a minute that Vanderbilt wasn’t 2-0, then answer this question: What has been the most surprising thing in the SEC so far this season?

How bad South Carolina, Arkansas and Mississippi State have been. Seriously guys? We knew Arkansas would suffer after losing everyone. And I never believed the Croom train was that serious, but some did. And South Carolina makes the list because they are about to be 0-2 in the SEC. All three of these guys are dragged their butts across the floor and it’s embrassing the SEC.

2. Conference action has either just begun for most teams, or will Sept. 20. (The exception is Kentucky, which I believe plays I-AA teams until mid-November.) From what you’ve seen so far, how will your team fare in your division? If it’s not going to win, which team will?

UK is going to finish third in the SEC East. I know, I’m crazy right? Well sorry, I’m not. Florida and Georgia will fight for the top crown and the invite to Atlanta. But you can’t look me straight in the face and say with any certainty that other historical precedent, that UK can’t beat Tennessee, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. History is meant to be re-written. If you must have an SEC East winner, it’s Florida.

3. Which SEC player that few of us are paying attention to is poised to have a breakout season? Try to choose someone not on your team.

Mark Ingram, freshman running back for Alabama. In his first year, he already has a 5.6 yard per carry average. He tore up Clemson for just under 100 yards. He was effective against Tulane. You want to know why John Parker Wilson looks good? Because this dude can run.

4. Both Arkansas and LSU have had games delayed because of hurricanes. If you could choose a game on your team’s current schedule to get postponed because of inclement weather, which game would you choose and why?

Alabama. UK is going to have a huge head going into Tuscaloosa, having a 4-0 record and possibly a Top 25 ranking. The defense will think it’s amazing. That isn’t going to fly down ‘Bama, at all. UK needs to have a game where they wake up, where they are scared crapless before they go to Alabama. Otherwise, this is going to be ugly.

5. So, the Large Haldron Collider hasn’t destroyed the Earth — so far, anyway. But had the world ended Wednesday morning, which SEC game would you have most regretted missing? Assuming, of course, you had been around to regret it. (Head…hurts…)

Florida vs. Georgia. The Cocktail party will be huge this year. A national championship, a conference championship and pride are on the line. Last year’s game put Georgia on their current path to the NC this year. If Florida wins, it’ll knock UGA out and let Tebow and Co. take their place.

Last week the league as a whole went 10-2 against non-conference opponents with Tennessee and Mississippi State suffering the only two losses. Thanks guys! Last night we got our first glimpse of league action with South Carolina visited Vanderbilt and left with a 24-17 defeat at the hands of the Commodores. On Saturday, the rest of the league continues with out-of-conference opponents.

We told you before we are very thankful to be invited to be part of the SEC Power Poll. And even more thankful to be able to air our comments and ballot here. So this is what was just turned in. You get the first look! In reverse order.

12. Mississippi State
Anyone who put Croom higher thsn 10 in a ranking of SEC coaches should publicily apologize. Those who believed the Bulldogs were anything but a one-year wonder, please excuse yourselves. We’ll wait.

11. Arkansas
Petrino comes deathly close to hell, but the Razorbacks still pull out a comeback win over Western Ill. Will fight MSU for the most crappy team this year.

10. Tennessee
Hang it up Fulmer. Claw-fense my butt. How about a defense that has 4 INTs in the first half and a team that can’t score on those mistakes. You’re awful. Say hello to fifth place in the SEC for us.

9. Vanderbilt
Gets lucky since three other teams played bad.

8. Ole Miss
See: Vanderbilt. Real test comes this week.

7. Kentucky
Did you see that defense? Did you see the awful play of four of UK’s conference opponents? Looking good for the Cats.

6. South Carolina
Maybe Spurrier has something brewing in Columbia. Finally.

5. Alabama
Saban has a growing monster in Tuscaloosa.

4. Auburn
Still waiting to see if they can rise up and take the SEC West

3. LSU
Their handling of App State proved they weren’t ready to hand over the SEC to anyone else.

2. Georgia.
Playing Georgia Southern means nothing except you get to stay where I think you should be.

1. Florida
If those freshmen speedsters continue to play well = championship.

I am a Kentucky fan first, but an SEC fan second. One of the perks of playing football in the SEC is that you don’t have to beef up your OOC schedule with tough games because you play a vicious eight-game gauntlet that is almost always good enough to tilt the BCS standings in your favor. However, in the past few years, the SEC schools have been playing top competition before the conference slate begins. As a person who wants to see the SEC make the best bowls possible, I am against this. The SEC is tough enough as it is. Why schedule one of these teams (especially on the road) when the schedule in conference play is difficult enough that no additional risks are needed?

Mississippi State has played West Virginia. Georgia has played Oklahoma State is will play Arizona State in Tempe. Tennessee did a home-and-home with California and will play UCLA in Los Angeles. Alabama played Florida State in Jacksonville and will play Clemson in Jacksonville this season. LSU did a home-and-home with Virginia Tech. Vanderbilt went to Michigan. Auburn did a home-and-home with USC near the peak of the Trojans’ run, and last year they played Kansas State and South Florida. This year they play West Virginia in Morgantown. I don’t mind Arkansas vs. Texas, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Florida vs. Miami or Kentucky vs. Louisville because those are rivalries and nothing tops a college football rivalry. Still, I wanted to take a look at the marquee games SEC teams play out of conference in the first two months of the season.

September 1: #18 Tennessee @ UCLA

Why does Tennessee keep going to the West Coast? I know they’ve gotten some recruits from there (Casey Clausen comes to mind), but they rarely win the game. I’m going to put down the Pac-10 when I talk about Georgia vs. ASU, but I think UCLA might be a little better than people expect. I’m not saying they’ll win their conference (they won’t – USC will in a landslide), but Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow know offense, and that had been the Bruins’ weakest area. Also, I’m not sold on Tennessee. Jonathan Crompton is very green at QB, the running backs are powerful, but don’t have the blazing speed possessed by Georgia or LSU, and the defense is still suspect. I don’t think UCLA would beat Tennessee if they played at the end of the season (Tennessee always has a top-heavy schedule and closes out seasons well), but I like the Bruins in this one.

Prediction: UCLA 28, Tennessee 27

September 6: Miami @ #5 Florida

Florida is either going to go undefeated in the regular season, or they will have one loss against Georgia. People bring up how mediocre their defense was last season, but I’ll counter by bringing up how young that defense was last season. Tim Tebow is a pretty good football player, and they have a ridiculous amount of talent returning at the skill positions, even taking into account the injury to Cornelius Ingram. Randy Shannon will turn Miami back into “The U” by 2010, but his young Hurricanes won’t be ready to take a gameplan into the swamp and execute perfectly, which is what they’d have to do to win. Also, I don’t like betting against Urban Meyer.

Prediction: Florida 42, Miami 24

September 13: Arkansas @ #11 Texas

Arkansas is in a major rebuilding mode with the loss of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, plus having Casey Dick return at QB. Bobby Petrino will probably achieve success on the same level of Houston Nutt at Arkansas (which I’d kill for as a Kentucky fan), but not this season. Texas might be a tad underrated this season. Their talent level is always top notch, but I wonder if Mack Brown caught lightning in a bottle with Vince Young. This is the last game in this rivalry for several years, and I don’t see Texas losing.

Prediction: Texas 38, Arkansas 21

September 20: #1 Georgia @ #15 Arizona State

Arizona State is overrated because the Pac-10 is overrated. Every team besides USC has a great offense and a terrible defense. A lot of the people I’ve seen on TV have begun to hump on the “Georgia is overrated” bandwagon, but I disagree. If any team is capable of getting through that meat grinder of a schedule, it’s the Bulldogs, and it will start against Arizona State. I think Rudy Carpenter will rack up a lot of yards against Georgia, but I think Georgia has the kind of red zone defense that can take points off of the scoreboard, and Georgia will control the ball with the running game enough to win comfortably.

Prediction: Georgia 34, Arizona State 19

October 23: #10 Auburn @ #8 West Virginia

I really like Auburn to do big things this year. They looked like a totally different team as the big underdog against Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and with Tony Franklin calling the plays and Cody Burns at QB, the Tigers’ new spread offense should be lethal. Auburn people don’t like Tommy Tuberville, which is one of the biggest mysteries ever. Somebody exhume Robert Stack’s body so he can figure that one out. WVU will be awesome on offense with Pat White and Noel Devine, but I wonder if their blowout win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl might have been a bit of an illusion. Those guys rallied behind Bill Stewart as the interim coach, but can they carry that into this season? Morgantown is a tough place to win, but if Pittsburgh can do it on a night where WVU could have made the title game, Auburn can certainly do it. I think they will, in a wildly entertaining game.

Prediction: Auburn 34, West Virginia 31

And finally, there’s Louisville vs. Kentucky.

Yeah, that one will have to wait for another day. I don’t want to waste that one on Monday because I’ll be dead for the rest of the week.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, setting the DVR for 5:00 today. ESPN Classic is showing a replay of last year’s Kentucky vs. Louisville game. There will be good times tonight.

The pre-season is usually a bunch of crap. Lies are told, bold predictions made and most people have no idea what they are talking about. That’s why we’re here to seperate the cow from the bull****.

1. Louisville’s experience at quarterback will be enough for the team coast to a 6-6 or 7-5 season.

Verdict: Total bull. Listen here Louisville fans, have many teams have you seen with a good quarterback, and Cantwell is good but not great, will his team to victory? Sure, you have a 6′8 receiver who will be hung out to dry some many times he won’t have ribs. Your best returning WR has a bullet in his back. And you’re running game isn’t THAT great. Your defense won’t put you in the best field position. Sorry folks, this pre-season myth is bull.

2. Mississippi State is a dark horse candidate for the SEC West.

Verdict: TOTAL BULL. Listen, you guys did well last year, beat UK and went to a bowl game. Congrats. But you still have to play Auburn, LSU, and Alabama. Not to mention a stacked Ole Miss team with a better coach. Oh and UK wants revenge too. I like you Croom, but everyone crowning the Bulldogs needs to take a chill pill.

3. The SEC will be won by the East (Georgia or Florida) this year.

Verdict: Maybe bull. I mean, Percy Harvin hasn’t stepped on the field for Florida. Georgia has had injuries and off-season problems that might affect the team. If Auburn gets this spread offense down quickly watch out. If LSU finds a serviceable QB, watch out. Until Florida and Georgia get straight, I’m not so sure.

4. Spurrier will be done if South Carolina doesn’t seriously contend this year.

Verdict: Maybe true? But here’s the thing, Spurrier better quit now. He’s best QB has been suspended from the team before (Garcia) and while the defense is supposely stout, they said the same thing last year. Heck, UK might actually break their Spurrier winless streak, which should have been done last year. Columbia isn’t Gainesville, sorry OBC.

5. UK won’t have a winning season this year.

Verdict: TOTAL BULL. Four winnable non-conference games. The typical tussle and win over Vandy. A depleted Arkansas at home. Six easy wins boys. Throw in swinging something against Alabama (6-6 last year), South Carolina (6-6 last year), Mississippi State (7-5 last year) or Tennessee and looky here, a very attainable 7-5. What now, haters?

I love this game, and I also hate it. I did the Michigan State game from this season a few weeks ago, so let me try to fill in some gaps. The 2004 Wildcats were an experienced group of guys who meshed well, but they didn’t have a great bench. This translated into quick starts in games and slow finishes, hence the insane number of close games. Because of the experience advantage, Kentucky won almost every one of these close games, but they did fold down the stretch in their three losses coming into the Florida game – at home against Louisville and Georgia and at Vanderbilt. In fact, the Cats were just coming off of the Vanderbilt loss going into Gainesville to face a pumped up Florida team.

Florida, as usual under Billy Donovan, was immensely talented. They had three big scorers on their team. David Lee currently starts at power forward for my beloved New York Knicks, and he’s one of the rare Florida players that I actually liked when he was at Florida. The other two scorers, Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson, were epic tools in the same way that “Stairway to Heaven” is an epic song. Donovan brought in Christian Drejer from Denmark, who was supposed to be one of the best Euro players to ever play college ball (I heard somebody who was sober compare him to Magic Johnson), but he just wasn’t. Dude had serious confidence issues at this point in his career – think Derrick Jasper in his freshman year, only he took fewer shots. There were also two players you might know – Chris Richard and Lee Humphrey – from their national championship runs. Florida was 4-3 in the conference heading into this game and was just terrible in those three losses, but given Kentucky’s play against Vanderbilt, the Gators were probably the favorites on their home court. From the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL, our announcers are Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale. Because this game took place on the same day as the Bob Knight “salad bar incident,” they don’t talk much about the game.

Kentucky exposed Florida’s complete lack of discipline on defense early into the contest. The guards were able to work it inside to Chuck Hayes and Erik Daniels for easy scores. Kelenna Azubuike went down the lane uncontested for a nasty tomahawk jam, though that was the last good thing Kaz would do until the final minute. There was a long dry spell for Kentucky because Daniels, Gerald Fitch and Cliff Hawkins went to the bench for a reason I can’t understand. Once Fitch and Hawk came back, the Cats went on a nice little run. A three by Hawkins made it 15-7. This was a low scoring game, but I think it was more a case of great defense than bad offense. Kentucky played great defense all the time, but Florida had brief spurts of pure suck on D, which resulted in most of the Kentucky points. A three by Fitch put a stop to a Florida run, and the good guys led 24-15. Florida came back with threes. Contested threes by Walsh and Roberson cut the lead to six, as the only thing keeping Florida from taking the lead in the first half was the awesome post play of Erik Daniels. Fitch hit a tough three, but Roberson beat the first half buzzer with an even tougher three from NBA range, and the good guys had their lead cut to 33-29 at halftime. I said going into halftime that we were in trouble.

The two teams traded baskets early in the second half with Kentucky maintaining the four-point advantage over Florida. With Kentucky leading 39-33, Florida went on a huge run. Walsh beat the shot clock with a tough runner in the lane. Humphrey hit a tough three from the elbow. Lee posted up Daniels and scored. Lee hit a FT. Roberson stole it and scored. Richard made a FT. Finally Walsh beat the shot clock with a three to end the 14-0 run. Antwain Barbour cooled the run with a steal and slam, then Azubuike made to FTs to make it 47-43. Florida answered back with another run. Roberson drove down the lane with a nice spin move for a score – not quite Ron Mercer against St. Joe’s, but still very nice. Then Drejer made a three (!) and the Gators had their biggest lead of the game. After a jump hook by Daniels, Drejer hit another three (!!), and the lead reached double digits. I will readily admit that I have up on my team after the second three by Drejer. I left the TV on because I like to have my TV on while I try to go to sleep, but I thought Florida would pull away and win by about 90. Adrian Moss tipped in a Drejer miss to give Florida an 11-point lead, and UK was dead in the water. Kentucky had several chances to cut into the lead, but they couldn’t hit a FT at gunpoint. To their credit, they were still drawing the fouls, which were piling up for Florida.

With Florida leading 59-48, Kentucky made its push at the six-minute mark. Hayes found Barbour on a cut for an easy score, then after Drejer missed a front end, Chuck made two from the line and it was 59-52. Hawkins stripped Walsh and made two free throws. I should note that most of the big run for Florida happened with Hawk on the bench. His +/- had to be off the charts. After FTs by Drejer, Fitch, Roberson, Daniels and Walsh, Florida led 65-57. The shots by Walsh were the last points of the game for Florida. A melee under the basket led to an open look for Azubuike, and he connected, cutting the lead to five. Daniels went to the line and made two, making it 65-62. On the next Florida possession, Vitale opened his mouth: “Get it into Drejer’s hands, he’s an excellent passer.” Christian tried to dump it inside to Lee, but the pass went wide left. It was so bad, you’d have thought he was aiming for Erin Andrews and the rest of the Florida dance team.

Smith called a timeout, and Hayes drew a foul. His shots cut the lead to one, and as Kentucky trapped Florida on the inbound, Vitale spoke again: “Drejer’s the guy you want with the ball here.” As a UK fan, I definitely agree with Dick on this one, as Drejer threw it away again, this time directly into the welcoming arms of Cliff Hawkins, who laid it up and in to give UK a 66-65 lead. Hayes blocked Roberson on the next Florida possession, then Roberson committed a stupid foul of impatience on Hawkins. Hawk made one of two, and Florida could hold for a last shot. Roberson jacked up a long three with seven seconds left, which didn’t have a chance of going in. Florida fouled Hawkins after the rebound, and he once again made one of two. With UK leading 68-65, Florida had a chance to go the length of the court in 3.4 seconds. They got it to Walsh at midcourt, but Hawkins and Azubuike forced him to step on the sideline. A young lady in the Florida student section let out a scream comparable to the one from Return of the Jedi when the rancor ate that pig guy. They used this clip on the Lee Cruise Show for 2-3 months afterwards. The good guys triumphed over evil once again, 68-65.

I said that I loved and hated this game at the same time. It’s obvious why I love it. I love comebacks, and I love it even more when rivals choke. So why do I hate it? Kentucky faced Florida two more times in 2004, and dominated each game. It was part of an 8-game win streak Tubby Smith had over Billy Donovan. Donovan realized the major flaws in his system: His teams were weak on defense, and his players, as talented as they were, were softer than pillows. By making key hires in his staff and following it with the Noah/Green/Horford/Brewer recruiting class, he fixed those problems almost instantly, and now every game with Florida is an absolute war. The Gators did win seven straight over UK until the emotional senior Day win this year. I’d like to think that a class like Florida’s 2004 class is lightning in a bottle when it comes to being perfect fits and foils for each other, but you just never know.

Shortly after this game, Christian Drejer left Florida and returned to Europe, never to be heard from again.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, reminding you to pour one out toni
gh
t – one for you, one for your homies and one for Christian Drejer.

After the Tennessee game, out heroes exacted some revenge on Georgia with an 80-59 win in Lexington. This set up a huge rematch with Florida on Senior Night. I may have glossed over this earlier, but Kentucky had lost to Florida in January in what I like to call the ugliest basketball game ever played. Yes, I watched the Gardner-Webb game in its entirety, but at least one team played well in that one. The first UK/UF game was a giant piece of garbage. Florida carried the momentum of that win into a tie for the division lead and an eventual 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Unlike the good Florida teams of Billy Donovan, Lon Kruger had assembled a group of Gators that was actually likable. The backcourt was outstanding, though both Craig Brown and Dan Cross were UK killers throughout their entire careers. The forwards, Jason Anderson and Brian Thompson, were undersized and athletic, a matchup problem if Rod Rhodes ever got into foul trouble. The big men were perennial All A-Hole member Andrew DeClercq and the ever-popular Dametri Hill. As you may know, Hill earned the nickname “Da Meat Hook” because of his jump hook, and because he was 6’7” (pushing it) and 280 pounds (pushing it in the other direction). Florida was a force in 1994, and they brought it in this game. From Rupp Arena in Lexington, our announcers are Tom Hammond and BARRY BOOKER, in all caps because I think he’s great.

It was sad to see Rodney Dent in his uniform on the sideline (the only time he wore the uniform after the injury) because UK could have avoided losing all but one of the games they lost without him. Kentucky has come out flat on every Senior Day of my lifetime as a fan except 1996 and 2003. 1994 was one of the worst ones. Florida took advantage of their superior size and worked it inside for a couple of easy scores by DeClercq and Thompson. When Kentucky doubled Florida in the post, their bigs kicked it out to their dangerous guards. Cross made an 18-footer and a three, then Hill knocked down a Meat Hook and it was 11-3 Florida at the first timeout. A short jumper by Hill brought the lead to double digits. Jared Prickett missed a couple easy ones, to the surprise of nobody. Thompson connected on a contested baseline shot for UF to make it 15-3. Rick Pitino benched the starters, and it paid off immediately. Senior Jeff Brassow forced a turnover, then senior Gimel Martinez hit a three. After a sequence of bad calls that all went Florida’s way, Brown pulled up and nailed a three with a hand in his face, increasing the lead to 20-6. BARRY BOOKER is astounded at the hot shooting by Florida. Also, his natural speaking voice is one that sounds drunk. Another difficult shot by Brown kept the lead at 14, as the Gators were shooting 90% from the field, most of them on tough shots.

Florida continued the hot shooting throughout the half. A tough three by the Finnish Martti Kuisma made it 25-10. Every time Kentucky looked like they had some extra energy, Florida took the wind out of their sails with a ridiculous shot. Besides the tough shots, the usually tight Rupp rims were especially generous for Florida, as they seemed to get more shooters’ rolls than I’ve ever seen at a UK home game. Another garbage call drew the 3rd foul of the half on Rod Rhodes, who was doing everything he could to get the offense going, bless his heart. The tide turned when Florida’s Greg Williams drove to the rack and got swatted by Martinez. It was also a hard foul. Both teams exchanged some pleasantries, and the UK bench got called for a technical foul. After the FTs and a basket by Thompson, Florida was shooting 13-16 and was up 33-14. Much like the Tennessee game, the run happened instantly. Walter McCarty ruined 34 seconds of great Florida defense with a huge three. The press began to force loads of turnovers, as Tony Delk scored five quick points, then Travis Ford found my boy Andre Riddick on a breakaway for two. Prickett tipped in his own miss, then scored again after Riddick stole the inbounds pass. Just like that, the lead was down to nine. Florida would score whenever they beat the press, but that didn’t happen very much during this run. A Ford three made it 41-33. The halftime score was 44-34, but it was a huge testament to Kentucky’s intestinal fortitude to withstand the initial storm. When you have a 31-point comeback on your resume, ten points is nothing.

Kentucky began the second half with the same intensity they used to close the first half. Prickett crashed the boards something fierce, something he did quite often in 1994. A Prickett putback and Ford three cut the lead in half within the first minute of the half. Another easy basket by Prickett made it 44-41, but Craig Brown answered back with yet another tough three. Florida was still hitting the tough shots, but the percentage was significantly lower in this half. Both teams turned up the intensity after the initial timeout by Florida at 44-41, as the lead stayed in the 5-8-point range. After a jump hook by Prickett, Rhodes stole the inbounding pass and burned Florida with a sweet move that you’d see on the And1 tour. Another steal and score for Prickett cut the lead to a point, but Florida threw over the press to find Thompson, who scored and drew a foul. With Travis Ford on the bench with four fouls, Anthony Epps once again provided the spark as he hit a three from the corner and drew a foul. FTs by Cross and a layup by Brown made it 63-57.

Kentucky caught a huge break when Rhodes drew the fifth foul on DeClercq, who had destroyed UK with 20 rebounds in Gainesville. Delk scored inside, then Rhodes made FTs, and the lead was 63-62. Rhodes played really well in the second half, drawing fouls and getting to the line. With the Gators leading 66-64, Ford found himself open from the corner and knocked down a three. Kentucky forced a turnover and Rhodes scored again on another sweet move of contortion. Another three by Ford, this one from NBA range, made it 72-68 Kentucky. Consecutive scores by Tony Buckets made it 76-70. With UK up 77-72, the Cats fouled Brown on a three. Brown made all three to cut it to a single possession. Florida fouled Martinez, who hit two clutch shots from the line. Florida cut it back to two with 6.5 seconds to go, then immediately fouled Rod Rhodes. Rhodes only made one of two, leaving the door open for Florida. Rhodes missing the second shot was a blessing disguise, as Florida couldn’t call timeout and set up a play. Cross missed the desperation three, and the good guys won yet again, 80-77. I think it’s the best Senior Day game of all time.

I’ll close out 1994 with a memorable game from the SEC Tournament.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and it’s last call for BARRY BOOKER.