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.

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 SEC went 7-1 in non-conference games. The lone loss came when Wake Forest kicked a field goal as time expired to beat Mississippi 30-28. Elsewhere, the only close game occurred in Little Rock where Arkansas trailed Louisiana Monroe for most of the game but managed to pull out a victory late in the game. This week, we get two more SEC matchups while the rest of the conference continues with out-of-conference opponents.

GAME OF THE WEEK

GEORGIA @ SOUTH CAROLINA 3:30 pm CBS
This was a tough choice but I guess I’ll go with the game that’s being nationally televised. Georgia visits South Carolina at 3:30 pm with live game coverage airing on CBS. The Dawgs pounded Central Michigan last week 56-17 but have lost two defensive players to season ending injuries in the first two weeks of the season. This will be the Dawgs first trip outside of Athens this year as they travel up the road to Columbia. South Carolina comes into this game off of a loss at Vanderbilt last Thursday night. The offense for the Cocks has yet to find it’s flow but the defense has picked up the slack for the most part. Who would have ever guessed a Spurrier team would be led by it’s defense.
PREDICTION: Georgia 38, USC 17

AUBURN @ MISSISSIPPI STATE 7 pm ESPN
This was the second best game of the week in my opinion. Auburn won it’s first two games fairly easily over Louisiana Monroe and Southern Miss, with the latter being a lot closer than the first. Mississippi State hasn’t had quite as easy of a first couple of weeks. They traveled to Louisiana Tech for their first game and came back with a loss 22-14. Last week they had a much easier game against SE Louisiana where they won 34-10. Last time I checked, Auburn is not in Louisiana which is not good news for MSU.
PREDICTION: AUBURN 34, MSU 7

UAB @ TENNESSEE 12:30 pm Raycom
The Vols return to action after a week to think about their loss at UCLA. Hopefully they worked on getting points off of turnovers a little in practice. They should cruise easily this week but I’ve seen stranger things happen. UAB has lost their first two games to Tulsa and Florida Atlantic. They apparently don’t have much of a defense because they allowed 45 and 49 points in their first two games. I look for Rocky Top to be played plenty of times this weekend.
PREDICTION: TENNESSEE 42, UAB 17

WESTERN KENTUCKY @ ALABAMA 7 pm
This games features the next two opponents for the Wildcats after this weekend. WKU comes to town in two weeks and UK travels to Tuscaloosa in three weeks. Western beat rival Eastern Kentucky last week pretty easily but I guarantee this week will be a little tougher. Alabama comes in 2-0 after wins over Clemson and Tulane. Last week’s game wasn’t as a strong of performance as the previous week’s but it got the job done. I think the Tide will move to 3-0 this week.
PREDICTION: ALABAMA 24, WKU 7

NORTH TEXAS @ LSU 8 pm
In this game, I look for LSU to score at least 49 points. If they don’t I will be a little surprised. This shouldn’t be much of a game but I guess after last year, nothing is a definite. I look for the Tigers to roll.
PREDICTION: LSU 56, NORTH TEXAS 10

RICE @ VANDERBILT 7 pm
Vanderbilt could quite possibly enter the rankings with a win on Saturday over Rice and some help from the teams in front of them. Of course, they would be behind UK if they do because I look for the Cats to be ranked by this time next week. After beating South Carolina last week, the Dores look to keep the momentum up as they play their last non-conference game before the heart of the league schedule begins. It should be a good one as Rice scores a ton of points and beat Memphis last week.
PREDICTION: VANDY 35, RICE 28

SAMFORD @ MISSISSIPPI 7 pm
In a game of who cares, I look for Ole Miss to get back to winning with an easy victory over Samford. Samford is 2-0 with victories over West Georgia and Faulkner but I think Ole Miss should be too strong for them.
PREDICTION: OLE MISS 34, SAMFORD 14

Arkansas was supposed to visit Texas in a matchup of old Southwest Conference rivals but Hurricane Ike has postponed that game until September 27. Nice job Ike!

Florida is off this week as they prepare for Tennessee next week.

That’s all for this week. I’m DJ and I think the Kentucky 6A 7th Region could compete in the Big East or ACC this year. With St X, Trinity, and Male, I think they could probably win several league games this year. GO CATS!!

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?

Before I start, I am once again ecstatic because of the recruiting of Rich Brooks and Joker Phillips. Morgan Newton committed to UK this morning, and hopefully you heard it first from me in my column on Sam Simpson. It’s a great day to be a Wildcat fan.

This will be my last 2004 game. After the emotional win over Florida, Kentucky went on a roll, losing only once for the rest of the regular season. That game was in Athens against probation-screwed Georgia in Dennis Felton’s rookie year with the Bulldogs. Georgia also won in Lexington early in the year, handing out half of Kentucky’s losses for the season. Felton employed the same grueling, physical style that led the Bulldogs to the 2008 SEC Tournament title, and this Kentucky team did not respond well to that style. At the time of this game, Felton was 3-0 against Kentucky because of a win in 2002 when he was with Western Kentucky.

Georgia had quick, physical guards and long forwards. Rashad Wright was essentially a cliff Hawkins clone, probably my favorite Georgia player ever. Levi Stukes was the sharpshooter who put Georgia in this quarterfinal. Georgia was expected to lose to Auburn and Kentucky was anticipating another tough game against the Tigers, but Stukes hit eight threes and propelled the Bulldogs to the victory. This game will also drive me crazy in the recap because Kentucky had Erik Daniels, Chuck Hayes and Sheray Thomas. Georgia had Chris Daniels and Jonas Hayes, and the year before, they also had Jarvis Hayes (went pro) and Steven Thomas (suspended). That’s just not right, and I felt sorry for any announcer whose audience was blind. From the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, our announcers are Tom Hammond and Larry Conley.

This game actually has a special place in my heart because it brings me back to some of the best times of my life – my senior year in high school, to be exact. In 2003, Kentucky played a Friday afternoon game against IUPUI, but the administration at Lincoln County High School chose to show the first serious of bombings of Operation Iraqi Freedom instead. I understand the significance, but I’d still rather watch a basketball game than a bunch of random things exploding. This time was different. This time they showed the game and we essentially got the afternoon off unless you had Spanish, in which case you were SOL.

Gerald Fitch started his first game since injuring his right index finger in the Florida game, and he helped get Kentucky off to a decent start (great compared to the first two starts against Georgia) with a big block, followed by a three. Cliff Hawkins made a Jack Givens shot (bank shot from the baseline) to give Kentucky an early 7-4 lead. Because of the suspension to Steve Thomas and the outburst by Stukes against Auburn, Georgia deviated from their usual offensive style and shot threes in bulk. Hawkins forced a five second violation on Wright (Hawk forced more five counts in a week than some teams do in a season), and then forced a shot clock violation. Both teams went on small runs, but I hesitate to even call them runs because the defense was so good. Wright had another five count later in the half, this time because of Fitch.

Kentucky went up 16-9, but an NBA three by Wright capped a 7-0 run for the Dawgs. Georgia was able to come back because of their ability to crash the offensive glass, and another contested three by Wright gave Georgia a 21-20 lead. The first half set the scene for the second half because defensive stalwarts Hawkins and Wright were looking for their shots. Wright won the Defensive Player of the Year award in the SEC in 2004, something I’m sure Hawk took personally. Hawk unleashed everything in his offensive arsenal at the Bulldogs, and his sudden burst of scoring put Kentucky up by six. Both teams got a score after that, and Kentucky led at the half, 32-27. I apologize for the lack of highlights, but this was one of the best defensive games I’ve ever seen, and because Dennis Felton was involved, there was no flow to the game. I promise you that the second half will make up for it.

The second half started with offense. Damien Wilkins (Dominique Wilkins’ nephew) made a 17-footer, but when Georgia pressed on the inbound, Kelenna Azubuike sprung free on the baseline for a powerful dunk. This was at the tail end of his “looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane” phase. Georgia had been able to beat Kentucky in the regular season by starting each second half well. It was Kentucky who came out with guns blazing on this day. Fitch tipped in a Hawkins miss, then hit a three from the corner to put Kentucky up by ten. In the AP English class at LCHS, we thought it was over and there was no reason to worry. In typical Dennis Felton fashion, the Bulldogs fought back. The key to the run was an ankle injury to Cliff Hawkins, but he quickly came back.

If not for the post play of Chuck Hayes, Georgia may have been able to take the lead. Luckily for Big Blue Nation, this was one of the rare days where Chuck was hitting everything around the rim due to Georgia’s lack of shot blocking. In fact, the strong play of Hayes helped push the lead back to ten. Another three by Hawkins put UK up by 11, the biggest lead of the game, but Wright responded in kind with a three of his own, then a hesitation layup that got Georgia to within six. A crazy spin move by Chris Daniels made it 49-45 halfway through the half. A three by Stukes made it a one-point game, but it was the only basket of the game for Levi. Fitch did a great job guarding him all game.

With Kentucky leading 50-48, Jonas Hayes drew a shooting foul. It was the first chance for Georgia to tie the game, but Hayes only made one of two. This was a classic series of plays where Georgia got close, but couldn’t get over the hump. Georgia had about a dozen chances to tie or take the lead, but they either missed the shot or turned it over. Finally, Wright got open and buried a three to tie the score at 52. At this point, I had to leave school a couple minutes early to get to Danville for an appointment. I felt terrible because I hate abandoning close games. I feel responsible if Kentucky loses a close game where I have to leave in the middle of it. So I got the rest from Tom Leach and Mike Pratt on the radio. I’m glad I now have the tape, because this final five minutes is amazing.

Jonas Hayes drew another shooting foul with a chance to give Georgia the lead, but he missed both free throws. The FT shooting for Georgia was just tragic. Kentucky missed a couple of easy ones, as it remained deadlocked at 52 with 3:30 to go. Fitch drew a foul and made both shots from the line. 54-52. A Wright miss led to a melee under the basket. Chuck Hayes emerged with the ball, and he found Erik Daniels breaking to the basket for a layup. 56-52. Georgia answered back with another LONG three by Rashad Wright. 56-55. Hawkins came back and hit a three from even farther out. 59-55. Both of the shots by Wright and Hawkins were contested. After Wright missed a three, Azubuike rebounded a Fitch miss, put it back in and drew the foul. 62-55. Wright missed on a drive to the rack, and just like the beginning of the half, Azubuike went baseline for jam, completely uncontested. 64-55. It was over. The final score was 69-60, but words alone cannot capture the drama of those last five minutes. It was an incredibly hard-fought game with amazing defense.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I’m ready for a quarterback controversy.

Lots on the plate, not a lot of time as I plan to head off to the Kentucky State Fair here in Louisville today. So we’ll make these quick.

First off, CBS looks to have made a mistake and released their tentative schedule for football this year. Although the station usually waits 10 days before a game to decide, in order to allow for changes during the season, it also looks like they do actually highlight some games on the calendar for the future. And UK is only highlighted twice.

10/04 – 2:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Florida @ Arkansas or Kentucky @ Alabama (CBS HD)
11/08 – 2:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Alabama @ LSU or Georgia @ Kentucky (CBS HD)

Looks like CBS expects UK to possibly be 4-0 going into Tuscaloosa. As for Georgia/UK, looks like CBS is buying into that being the Dawgs trap game. Either way, hope the Cats can get on national TV again.

Secondly, the real reason why practice was canceled Monday has arrived. ESPN’s Chris Low sat down with Rich Brooks and has a two part transcipt posted on his SEC blog on ESPN.com. Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

He also writes about Jeremy Jarmon. We wrote about Jarmon’s acting abilities back in the spring. Get with the program ESPN. Here’s the best part of all three interviews:

What’s your plan at quarterback right now?

RB: (Sophomore) Mike Hartline would start, and we would see how the game went. If we were not moving the ball, I might make a change to (true freshman) Randall Cobb just to see if I could shake things up. Hartline can run a little, but Cobb can run really well. There’s a possibility early on to have a change-of-pace deal at quarterback, but my biggest concern is getting our offensive line gelled in the next two weeks

Randall Cobb = the athletic ability of Curtis Pulley without the liability on and off the field. Yipee!

That’s all for you to chew on now, but later in the week we’ll bring you the ballots of our SEC Power Poll friends to see how much they dissed Rich Brooks. They better hope they didn’t!