Kentucky fans: Start packing your bags

It was just a little bit uncomfortable for him, but the Kentucky basketball fan on the other end of the line admitted to googling to see where the NCAA Final Four was going to be played next year. After years in hoop exile, fans of the Big Blue are excitedly following the twitters of John Calipari as his rebuilding pace of Wildcat basketball is making Nick Saban’s jump start of Crimson Tide football look slow by comparison. Calipari came in saying the program would need two years to regain the form “Rupp Retro’s” have been longing for. He was wrong. It has taken less than two months to move from middle of the pack SEC team to a 2000’s version of the Michigan Fab Five.

What the Wildcat staff has done in recruiting since their arrival in Lexington is nothing short of incredible. The freshman class is all in the top forty of Rivals top 150 list. Well, all but one. There is a junior college transfer that was not eligible for the rankings. Oh, and the 40th ranked player is quite a bit behind the rest of the incoming freshman, who are all in the top 30. As a class they bring in an eye popping per game average of 123 points. Here is a look at the nation’s top class:

John Wall is a genuine point guard who can go either direction with the ball, but his best gift is dishing the ball to his running mates. Wall is the top ranked player in the nation and brings a 21 point per game average to the floor.

The second rated player in the nation is DeMarcus Cousins. He is a real presence inside, but is able to step out and make shots from the perimeter. His 23 point per game average is complimented with 14 rebounds and 6 blocks in each contest.

In junior college Darnell Dodson average 16 points per game. He also brings three years of time in a Kentucky uniform with him.

Jon Hood is a 6’7” guard that drops in 29 points in a game. He needs to become a better defensive player, but is heady on the court. He was Mr. Basketball in Kentucky.

Last on the list is a holdover commitment from the Gillespie era. Eric Bledsoe has great instincts to go with his 20 points per game. He also knows how to share the ball with others. The proof is his 11.5 assists per game.

Couple this recruiting class with leadership from Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks (remember him) and you have the nucleus of what will be a basketball team that should make fans of Kentucky basketball not only start wondering where the Final Four is next year, but also start packing their bags. Your destination is Indianapolis by the way.

Gary Brown
gary@secmatchups.com

College football tradition

Arrowhead Stadium is considered unique when the Chiefs play. There is smoke wafting from the parking lot surrounding the stadium and some pretty tasty BBQ and other good eats to be found before the game. It is also not uncommon to hear people comment that the setting is “the closest thing to a college atmosphere as you will find in the NFL.” Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades though. College football is the best because wherever you go they offer up a special serving of tradition that the NFL just can’t match.

Quick, name me an NFL tradition that gives you goose bumps? There is no way you can say the traditional Thanksgiving Day games produce a strong emotional reaction, unless you find spending time with your family difficult, and if watching Detroit and Dallas play is your escape, then the problem with your family relations might just be you and not them. 

Ahhhh, but college football is a goose bump per minute producing parade of pomp, ceremony and tradition. Many a commentator has attempted to define the top traditions in college football, but that is the most subjective evaluation there can be. You can come closer to compiling a list of top running backs than defining the best traditions. When it comes to tradition, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and just imagine how much would be missing from the game if we did not have all of the great customs to participate in.

If you are in Death Valley how can you not be thrilled to see the Clemson Tigers come roaring down the hill as the cannon fires and the players all touch Howard’s Rock. How many times would you tell your friends, children and grand kids about the time you were chosen to “Dot the I” for the Buckeyes marching band? After all those years of losing to Auburn in the Iron Bowl Bama fans roared one of the most passionate “Rammers Jammers” ever after they defeated the team from the Loveliest Village on the Plains, where a big victory is just another reason to roll Toomer’s Corner.

Further west you better be able to move quickly to avoid the rush of Ralphie onto the field in advance of the Colorado Buffalos, and to this day my mother-in-law has a soft spot for the Oklahoma Sooners because she still remembers the day in 1993 when the Schooner toppled over sending the Ruf/Neks and their queen rolling across the field. Is there any more recognized symbol than the traditional “Hook ‘em Horns” hand sign?

Tradition is not something just for the biggest and best in college ball. Grambling’s band is an institution to itself.  When we say “the helmet” college fans think about Michigan, but the original design was given birth at Princeton, and did you know the largest trophy given in college football is exchanged between the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State University? It is a 7’6” tall carving of an Indian named Chief Caddo. Northwestern currently has the trophy.

Time and space will not allow here for all the great traditions, but who does not appreciate the painting of helmets, with gold flakes mixed in for luck, that occurs each game week in South Bend? Tailgating at Ole Miss in The Grove has given rise to an art form that is unmatched anywhere else in college football.  We have the Trojan band at USC and the annual battle between the Ducks and Beavers in Oregon.

Ahhhh, tradition. It is what makes college football the special game it is. You have to get goose bumps just thinking about it.

Gary Brown

gary@secmatchups.com