The right to choose Anthony Davis was won last night by the New Orleans Hornets. Adam Zagoria noted the karma angle about that in his blog today, and I do think that is intriguing. But it is the latest in a long line of conspiracy theories that the draft was rigged that is getting all the headlines:

The reaction of several league executives was part disgust, part resignation on Wednesday night. So many had predicted this happening, so many suspected that somehow, someway, the Hornets would walk away with Davis. That's the worst part for the NBA; these aren't the railings from the guy sitting at the corner tavern, but the belief of those working within the machinery that something undue happened here, that they suspect it happens all the time under Stern.

So it WAS David Stern behind the grassy knoll. Well, this happens every single year, and yet not a shred of proof has ever emerged of any wrongdoing. That's what makes conspiracy theories so great -- no proof needed.

The Tweet of the Morning comes from Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal:

Scott Van Pelt calls NBA lottery "Anthony Davis Sweepstakes" on ESPN. Pause to consider: Cleveland State was his only suitor two years ago.

— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) May 31, 2012

Heh. Good point. That just makes his whole story that much more amazing. Your quickies follow the jump.

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Tonight on ESPN, the 2012 NBA Draft Lottery will be held, and NBA commissioner David Stern will announce which teams will pick players in what order in the 2012 NBA Draft. From NBA.com:

This year will mark the ninth time in the event's 28-year history that it is conducted in New York City and first since May 23, 1993, when the drawing was held at the Sheraton New York. The inaugural lottery was held on May 12, 1985 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, but since 1994, the event had been held at the NBA Entertainment Studios in Secaucus, N.J. however the league's facilities in New Jersey no longer house a television studio.

The link above also provides a list of the teams in the lottery, and their chances for being drawn on the first ball. The Charlotte Bobcats have a 25% chance of being drawn, the Washington Wizards about a 20% chance, and so on down to the Houston Rockets, who have a 0.5% chance of coming out first.

Rob Dauster at MSNBC:

According to Dustin Dopirak of the Bloomington Herald Times, who obtained letters sent between Indiana athletic director Fred Glass and Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart, Indiana reopened negotiations with Kentucky on May 10th.

The offer?

Two games in Lucas Oil Stadium, followed by a game at Rupp and THEN a game at Assembly Hall. In 2015-2016.

So what's the catch? Well, the catch is that both games are in Indiana, and none in Kentucky.

If I were Calipari, I'd take it. But notably, I am not Calipari.

Look, Lucas Oil Stadium might as well be half in and half out of Kentucky. The flood of UK fans to that nearby site to see this game would be staggering. I'm not sure that Indiana fans could match it, but they might -- if anyone can, it would be them. Myself, I wouldn't miss it for the world if it was held on a Monday night the day before the Rapture. Indy is a great town when it's not overrun by the Indiana Hoosiers lunatic fringe wanting to storm every court in sight.

The game then returns first to Rupp, then to Bloomington. After that, presumably, there would have to be a negotiation.

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A little modesty from this unassuming young man is just what you would expect. Here is his interview with ESPN's Andy Katz just up on ESPN.com:

It's easy to appreciate Anthony Davis. He might be the most modest and unassuming lead-pipe-cinch #1 to come along in a long, long time. But there is almost universal agreement that whichever NBA team's ping-pong ball gets drawn out first tonight, the player who's name David Stern will announce first will be that of Anthony Davis.

For most folks, the drama lies in the next four or five picks. We think we know Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will be in there somewhere, as likely will Thomas Robinson and Andre Drummond. Bradley Beal also figures to be in the top five somewhere, and many have he and MKG fighting it out for #2. That order will probably be determined as much by the needs of the team drafting as anything else, as positions 2-5 are anything but clear.

Tonight is the NBA Draft Lottery. You know you will be watching to see who draws the lucky first ball and gets the right to draft Anthony Davis. So tell your wife to DVR American Idol and tune in to ESPN tonight at 8:00 and see the drama begin. Yes, of course A Sea of Blue will have an open thread.

Speaking of Anthony Davis, today's Tweet of the Morning features a Mike DeCourcy smackdown of an apparent Indiana fan trying to rag out Davis:

"@iujeff: @tsnmike @nfltalentstaff predict that Davis is a bust....see Cousins" DeMarcus averaged 18/11 second year. That's a bust?

— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) May 30, 2012

Heh. Dude is entitled to his own opinions, I guess, but not his own facts. Your quickies follow the jump.

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According to this report on CBS, the SEC is going to announce the following:

When the Southeastern Conference's new football schedule begins in 2013, it will consist of six divisional games, one permanent cross division rival and another game against a rotating cross division team.

SEC consultant Larry Templeton told the Birmingham News Saturday the league would go with a 6-1-1 scheduling model.

For Kentucky, I have to wonder who the "permanent rival" in the West would be. I assume it would be Mississippi St. Bulldogs at this point, but I really have no idea. It's pretty arbitrary, since as far as I can tell, there is no genuine rivalry between UK and any of the SEC West, although we have had some pretty intense basketball games with the Bulldogs.

Plus, hey, its 'Dogs vs. 'Cats. That's a traditional rivalry, right?

T. Kyle King of Dawg Sports suggested exactly this model back in February. I wonder if Mike Slive is a Dawg Sports fan?

Let's hear your thoughts about this, Big Blue Nation.

Last week, John Calipari came out with an article on his website discussing how he views scheduling. I hadn't had a chance to comment on this yet, but I do now. Here goes.

Calipari leads off with this:

When we schedule, I want to create experiences, not just games. The thing about Kentucky basketball is it’s passed down from father to son. I want to schedule events that grandfathers and grandsons will be talking about 25 years from now.

I know what the coach is talking about here, but I have to say that to me, this whole "experiences" concept is something he could have done without. It comes off as fake to me, and I have something very recent with which to compare it -- the New Orleans Final Four.

If there were ever such a thing as an "experience," that was it, but I don't think that it needs to be puffed up by marketing talk. It was four three great basketball games in a great city. There was also a whole event surrounding it, with lots of comings and goings, famous people, an ancient and famous U.S. city (to the extent any U.S. city can be called "ancient"), and all the trappings of a great event. I'll remember it forever, but I'll never refer to it as an "experience" except in the most generic macro sense. It was four great ball games in a great city. That's what it was.

None of the games currently under discussion could even hold a candle to that Final Four. UK played Louisville and Kansas, one our arch-foe and the other one of the few programs considered to be a peer of Kentucky. The only thing that could beat that is some combination of Louisville, Indiana, Duke, or North Carolina. In other words, making a greater "experience" than the last Final Four is only marginally possible, and highly subjective.

My point here is that labeling these early-season games as "experiences" is pure, transparent puffery. But then again, Coach Cal is an expert at this sort of thing -- perhaps my opinion is in the minority. If he thinks it will help to call them "experiences," well, I guess that's fine, even it if it provokes a wry face from me.

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Returning to a "normal" but short routine for the rest of this week will be nice, but on Friday I make my annual trip to coastal South Carolina to enjoy some sun, golf, and surf.

Today's Tweet of the Morning actually happened back on May 26th, but it deserves its place here even three days hence:

I've been watching "A conversation with Calipari" for the last hour, and I think he might be the most charismatic person on earth.

— Shane Ryan (@TobaccoRdBlues) May 27, 2012

If you haven't seen that special, you must. Shane is right.

Speaking of Calipari, let's start with the article that inspired the title of this post. Here is Coach Cal's letter to Kyle Wiltjer, which might set the new modern record for the use of exclamation points in one place.

Your quickies follow the jump.

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Today is Memorial Day, the day we remember the American men and women who gave their lives in defense of our country. Every one of these people stood athwart the paths of those enemies who would have harmed this country or its people, and offered up their most precious possession -- their lives -- in our defense.

In their honor, I offer "How Sleep the Brave" by William Collins:

How sleep the brave, who sink to rest
By all their country's wishes blest!
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold,
Returns to deck their hallow'd mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.

By fairy hands their knell is rung;
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
There Honour comes, a pilgrim grey,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay;
And Freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell, a weeping hermit, there!

Our prayers go out to those who have lost love ones in defense of our freedom. May God hold them in the palm of His hand, and comfort them.

Your Quickies follow the jump.

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Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the official begging of summer, and the day we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country.

Today's Linkapalooza has stuff from Terrence Jones and Archie Goodwin, as well as some speculation about Anthony Davis, plus a lot more.

UK basketball notebook: Davis possesses rare talent, NBA scout says // Kentucky.com

■ When asked if the Coalition's statement on UK basketball generated feedback, Nichols said, "Oh yeah. We're getting some significant (feedback) from your state."

Heh. I'm sure, and I doubt if much of it is positive.

Bullitt East's Derek Willis not down after tumbling in national rankings // The Courier-Journal

Willis admitted he hasn’t played well this spring. In early April he went to Germany to play with a Team USA squad and said the travel and other events took their toll.

It will be interesting to see if Willis regains his form. In any case, though, he has to know that he will likely be a bench player for UK for his first year or so.

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The Kentucky Wildcats went down to the Mississippi St. Bulldogs 2-1 in Hoover, Alabama this afternoon in the SEC baseball tournament semifinal. The Wildcats were trying to reach the SEC tournament final for the first time since it has been in Hoover, but they fail in a tightly-contested game.

Kentucky played well, but they just could not put together enough hits in succession to get any runs across. Kentucky managed eight hits in the game, but stranded runners on base inning after inning, particularly in the later innings. It was an incredibly frustrating game for Kentucky, including stranding the tying run at third in the ninth with the leadoff batter and Freshman of the Year, Austin Cousino, at the plate, when Cousino popped out to shortstop to end the game. Corey Littrell is charged with the loss, the win probably goes to Nick Routt who worked 3.1 innings for the Bulldogs.

Three times in the last three innings, the Wildcats had the tying run in scoring position, but simply couldn't plate a run. Credit MSU's pitching staff, who really got the job done and now have played five straight days to get into the final. Despite the victory on Thursday, it seems that John Cohen still owns Gary Henderson from a coaching standpoint. A frustrating loss for Kentucky, but they will almost certainly host a regional, although they will equally certainly not receive a national seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.

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Today at noon (1:00 PM EDT) in Hoover, Alabama, the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Mississippi St. Bulldogs in the first semifinal game of the 2012 SEC Tournament. This is a very big game, because the loser of this one is out, and the winner goes on to meet the winner of the Florida Gators, who ousted then national champ South Carolina Gamecocks yesterday, and the Vanderbilt Commodores, who defeated Florida Thursday but, like UK-MSU, must face the Gators again today.

Related: SEC Game Radio Broadcast

I'll be posting some of the game, but not the early part as I am going out for lunch. When I return, I'll be more or less live-blogging the game by listening to the radio broadcast. For those of you reading from work, you can check in here for updates.

It's very exciting to me to imagine the Wildcats making it all the way to the tournament final and winning the SEC Tournament. The very best thing about this year's team is their youth, and most of the top talent on this roster will be returning for at least two more years. Coach Henderson now has a real chance to build UK into a long-term powerhouse and complete the job that John Cohen started before he left to coach his alma mater, Mississippi St.

Related: UK Athletics Live Blog

Beating Cohen's Dawgs again today would be sweet.

Today, the big news is the SEC Baseball Tournament which begins at noon today with the Kentucky Wildcats facing off against the Mississippi St. Bulldogs, who defeated #1 seed LSU yesterday. The winner of this game goes to the SEC Final, and the loser goes home.

Our Tweet of the Morning comes from UK signee Alex Poythress:

Graduation today!!

— Alex Poythress (@AlexTheGreat22) May 26, 2012

Congratulations, Alex, we can't wait to see you in Blue and White.

Your quickies follow the jump.

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There are some things that are just so timely and so sweet that you can't get enough. Kentucky.com is reporting that the men's basketball team had a spring semester GPA of 3.12. This comes directly on the heels of a complaint by the Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics that:

The sort of players he referred to will probably need to attend classes to stay eligible their first semester of their freshman year, but, if they intend to turn pro, would have no need to attend classes in the spring because their intention is to leave the university once drafted. Any pretext of such UK (or any other university’s) basketball players as student-athletes is gone it seems.

And today, John Calipari said this:

"We had a (3.12) GPA as a team for this term with five players who are leaving early, so all this stuff bitter old men say that they don't go to class, it's not true."

How does that knife feel, bitter old men, now that Calipari not only stuck it to you, but is slowly twisting it in deeper? Just askin' -- looks painful to me.

Bob Knight, your office on line 1.

The other day I wrote about the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics' unethical call for a boycott of the Kentucky Wildcats because of some comments made by coach John Calipari. Subsequently, there have been several media and blogger comments about the matter, and I want to highlight some of those.

First up is Rob Dauster of Ballin' is a Habit and NBC's CollegeBasketballTalk.

Honestly, I don’t have a huge problem with this kind of scheduling. Obviously, holding the best college basketball games of the season in on-campus venues is ideal. The environment is better and, frankly, college basketball just feels right when it is played at Rupp or Assembly Hall or Cameron Indoor Stadium. But there is a method to Cal’s madness, one that I have a hard time disagreeing with. The NCAA tournament is played on neutral courts. The Final Four is played in a football stadium. Getting used to playing in those environs, especially for a team that will perpetually be filled with freshmen, is a smart move for a coach trying to win a national title.

He’s also not the first coach to figure this out.

Personally, I’d rather the game be played on a neutral court than not played at all.

You hear that, Tom Crean?

The reason I started with this one is because it's fairly clear that Dauster gets it in several important ways. First, he declined to address the substance of their remarks, deferring to a colleague whom I'll get to in a minute. Second, he recognizes the value, at least theoretically, of Calipari's desire to expose his young players to an NCAA Tournament-like setting before the actual tournament begins.

Third, he alludes to the fact that other coaches, for example, Mike Krzyzewski, figured this out a long time ago. Finally, he acknowledges that Calipari and Crean are equally responsible for the ending of the UK-Indiana Hoosiers series. As a Kentucky partisan, I blame IU more, but if I were being totally honest with myself, I would blame them both about equally.

Keep in mind that the ending of the IU series, according to the COIA statement, is the event that precipitated their comment.

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There is a ton of news out there today, much of it focused on the 2013 recruiting class that is now heating up big time. For Kentucky, absent a surprise, 2012 is complete and we'll most likely compete with the team we have in place.

Today's Tweet of the Morning come from ESPN's Fran Fraschilla:

Talked with John Calipari over weekend about Baylor game in Cowboys Stadium. Wonder if Julius Randle knows that. Lol

— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) May 25, 2012

No doubt he does know. Coach Cal also knows the Harrison twins are from Richmond, which is just down by Houston. Killing three birds with one stone - priceless.

Your quickies are after the jump, and there are very many.

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Congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats, who defeated the Mississippi St. Bulldogs today in Hoover, Alabama, by a final tally of 5-1. Kentucky now moves to 2-0 in the SEC tournament, and draws the bye into Saturday where they will face the winner of the LSU Tigers, who eliminated the Mississippi Rebels today, and MSU, who was handed their first loss today by the Wildcats in the tournament.

Related: Box score

This same MSU team took the broom to the Wildcats last weekend in Starkville, and I reckon the Bat Cats didn't take to kindly to that rude treatment. Kentucky really brought the lumber today as they consistently hit Bulldog pitching, and unlike last weekend, was sure-handed in the field. Their line was 5 runs on 12 hits, and unlike their last meeting with the Dawgs, zero errors.

There were no real heroes in this game, it was a complete team effort from start to finish. The 'Cats were sharp offensively and defensively. Jerad Grundy pitched a quality game with six full innings and only 1 run allowed, including nine strikeouts and one inning, I believe it was the third or fourth, where he struck out the side.

Alex Phillips was razor sharp in his three innings of relief, allowing not a single hit from the same Bulldog batsmen who shelled Wildcats pitching last Saturday for 11 runs on 14 hits. Most of the commentariat blamed that loss on three Wildcats errors, but 14 hits tells the tale to me.

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Today at 1:30 in Hoover, Alabama, the Kentucky Wildcats will take on the Mississippi St. Bulldogs in the second round of the 2012 SEC baseball tournament.

UKAthletics.com has a live blog of the game up which you can watch if you like, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

If Kentucky wins this game, they will move on to play either the LSU Tigers or the Mississippi St. Bulldogs (I assume LSU will hang on to the 9-2 lead over the Mississippi Rebels they have as of this writing).

As an adjunct to this thread, I also want to note that UK freshman A.J. Reed has been named a finalist for the Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, which is an honor afforded to pitchers who also have a significant offensive impact for their respective teams:

The award, named for the Washington State star who achieved success as both a first baseman and a right-handed pitcher, will be presented as part of the annual College Baseball Night of Champions on June 30 in Lubbock, Texas. The event features the presentation of numerous awards and the induction ceremony for this year’s Hall of Fame class.

Congrats to A.J., and go, 'Cats!

There is so much Sturm und Drang on the Internet today about Kentucky's schedule, especially in the context of the COIA statement yesterday, that it will get a lot of time in Quickies as well as a whole additional post planned for later today. We also have SEC Baseball Tournament news (the Kentucky Wildcats take on the red-hot Mississippi St. Bulldogs at 1:30 today in Hoover, Alabama) along with some media looks at Kentucky's place among the basketball elite next year.

Our Tweet of the Morning comes courtesy of Jay Bilas:

Digger falls for this one every time. twitter.com/JayBilas/statu…

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) May 24, 2012

Your Quickies follow the jump.

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That, at least, is the way I read this:

We call on all those who support the collegiate model of athletics to speak out against this further move to professionalize college sports, and – most importantly – to decline to participate in such a separation of competitions from campuses. Even a "non-traditional" sports program needs opponents to play.

Okay, who is the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA hereafter)? It is a group of currently 59 FBS schools, including most of the Southeastern Conference, but notably, not UK. In fact, UK is one of only three SEC schools who are not members of the COIA, the other two being LSU and Florida. Their raison d'être appears to be a noble one, spelled out in their charter, the most basic tenet of which says this:

The Coalition. The Coalition On Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) is a group advocating for reform in intercollegiate athletics, created by and representative of faculty senate leaders at Bowl Championship Series conference schools.

The reform they advocate is essentially the recommendations of the Knight Commission.

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Sorry for the lateness of the Quickies today, I had a radio show appearance, a workout, and some other things that put me a bit behind the power curve.

Today, Quickies reveals that Anthony Davis' unibrow is not by any means unique, Louisville is manufacturing scholarships out of thin air, and more former football players are pointing out the faults of the UK program. But first, our Tweet of the Day:

NBA's Stern: "I think we're going to have about 10 teams losing money this year...We're trending in the right direction." SBD story coming.

— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) May 23, 2012

Only David Stern could call 10 teams losing money as a positive trend. Your quickies follow the jump.

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When we think back to the nasty brawl between the Xavier Musketeers and Cincinnati Bearcats last year, this seems both inevitable and wise, according to The Dagger:

For at least the next two seasons, the site of the game will be off campus at the U.S. Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Tuesday. Both sides will reevaluate the behavior of the players and fans after that two-year trial period and decide whether the series should continue.

This is exactly what should have happened to the Kentucky Wildcats and Indiana Hoosiers game, and for the same reason. No, the two teams didn't throw punches and behaved very much with class, but the Indiana fans were way too stirred up about that game, and I think the UK-IU series had just gotten a little too hot among the fans to continue home and home. I think this should be the default position of every rivalry where a lot of ugliness happens, either on the floor or in the bleachers.

Despite their mutual detestation, the Louisville and Kentucky game has never, or at least not in my memory, gotten as ugly as IU did this year when Kentucky came to town. There is no doubt that taking this year off is not a the worst thing, and if it turns into a couple of years, it will still be okay.

By moving the game to neutral sites, you encourage better sportsmanship, and what I consider a better environment. I'd cop to going back and forth between neutral and home-and-home on a rotating 2-year basis, because I think it helps give the bad blood a chance to mellow a bit, and prevents the catastrophic levels of unsportsmanlike conduct that can happen when the rivalry burns too hot at a home arena.

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This is an open game thread for the Mississippi Rebels at Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC Baseball Tournament that begins today in Hoover, Alabama. The Wildcats and Rebels are both on 4-game losing streaks so something has got to give for one of these two teams. More details here via UKAthletics.com

Game time: 10:30 EDT
Location: Hoover, Alabama

Less than an hour before @UKBaseball opens the postseason in the SEC Tournament against Ole Miss. twitter.com/UKAthleticsNew…

— Kentucky Athletics(@UKAthleticsNews) May 22, 2012

UK is hosting a live blog of the game here, so you can keep up with it at work (when your boss isn't looking, of course). You can also follow the live stats at this link from the SECDigitalNetwork.

RELATED: Post at Red Cup Rebellion

Kentucky dug itself a hole with their late-season swoon. Even picking up one of the three games it lost to Mississippi St. last weekend would have put UK in a top seed, but now they have to settle for the fourth seed and a fairly tough path to the SEC Tournament championship. If the 'Cats get past Ole Miss, they could face tournament #1 seed LSU in their second game on Thursday -- at least I think I got that right. The bracket, in any case, is here.

The SEC is now in serious talks to create a cable channel, presumably in the style of the Big Ten Network. Obviously, that would be a big deal, and many will wonder, "What took so long?" I have no idea.

Today's Tweet of the Morning comes courtesy of none other than Nerlens Noel, offered in the style of a Jay Bilas "I gotta go to work" tweet:

Scary movie be screamin' when i ryhme. Ima 'king' u can ask 'steven' if im lyin. I gtta get #9.

— Nerlens Noel (@NerlensNoel3) May 22, 2012

There isn't a single member of the Big Blue Nation who won't appreciate that. Your quickies follow the jump.

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I thought we'd take a look at the potential starters for 2012-13, starting with Kyle Wiltjer. We all know that Wiltjer got some playing time last year, but mostly as a guy who came in to stretch out the defense and give a brief rest to one of the starters. Late in the year, Wiltjer became so deadly from three that he was more of a psychological weapon for Kentucky, a mismatch that forced one of the big players away from the basket to try to guard him in the pick and pop.

They tried, but almost universally did not succeed. Game after game, Wiltjer would come in for a few minutes and stick a three, either on a pick and pop or just being left open or guarded by a smaller guy. It was eerie, and in the second half of the season, Wiltjer shot over 50% from the arc. He didn't come in to do major damage offensively, but more to break a team's spirit when the UK offense was struggling, or to just twist the blade that the Wildcats had already sunk into the foe.

The problems in Wiltjer's game are well-known and straightforward, as are his strengths. Wiltjer is among the best three-point shooters at his size that I have ever seen. His stroke is as near flawless as you will ever see in a player his size. He has a fine touch and a good feel for the perimeter game. Next year, this ability will enable him to force bigs away from the basket, as he is much too tall for most perimeter players to handle, and has a very high, quick release on his jump shot.

But last year, Wiltjer had trouble guarding his position, and was ineffective in any part of the game other than the pick and pop. His post ups were weak, his famous hook shots ineffective. He struggled to rebound and was mainly a liability in any part of the game not involving a 3-point shot.

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Sad news in the world of entertainment last night as Robin Gibb, one of the founding members of the Bee Gees, passed away at 62 years young. I cut a lot of rug as a youth to the Brothers Gibb.

In Kentucky Wildcats news, baseball coach Gary Henderson was named the SEC Coach of the Year this year, and a well deserved honor.

All that and more after the jump.

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Every year for the last four years, Scott of the excellent IU blog CrimsonCast and I have gotten together to do a podcast about the Kentucky Wildcats vs. Indiana Hoosiers basketball game. This week, we did what may be our last podcast for a while lamenting the series going on hiatus. It's a pretty wide-ranging discussion of the topic, and I hope you enjoy it.

I think the consensus between us was regret. Obviously, as homers, we pretty much supported the position of our respective schools, and that should come as a surprise to nobody. For my part, I do wish the series would continue. I have stated my preference for neutral arenas, but I would certainly have embraced some kind of compromise if it had been offered by either side. For whatever reason, though, I think it was pretty clear that both IU and UK were okay with ending the long-running series for 2012-13 for a number of good reasons.

We have rehashed this quite a bit here, and other news outlets and blogs have lamented the ending of the series as a loss for college basketball. Frankly, and without being disrespectful to those without a rooting interest, I could care less about the supposed hit to the college game. I find that argument without merit.

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This big Kentucky sports weekend wasn't exactly a disaster, but it could have gone better. The Bat Cats got swept by Mississippi St., sending them down to the 4th seed in the SEC Tournament, where they will start off facing #9 seed Ole Miss. UK Softball beat Valparaiso, but then were eliminated from the NCAA Softball tournament by the home-standing Louisville Cardinals.

On the bright side, I had the winner in the Preakness Stakes, and I get to go to the track again today!

Here's today's Tweet of the Morning:

Wow- we raised a record 1.6 million net without including the mega 500 K donation! Jimmy V is dancing baby! @jksports@espngreeny #DVGALA

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) May 20, 2012

Congratulations to Dicke V and his gala for raising all this money for the V Foundation. Well done, sir.

Quickies follow the jump.

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If Kentucky can get past the Valparaiso Crusaders tonight (game began at 5:20), they will survive to advance and face the Louisville Cardinals in an elimination game later on tonight. Louisville lost to the Michigan Wolverines today, who also beat Kentucky.

Here is the softball bracket for your reference. If Kentucky manages to eliminate Valpo and Louisville, they must win two games against the Wolverines to advance to the super-regional.

As of this writing, the Bat Cats are down to the Mississippi St. Bulldogs 9-2 after 5 innings of play. The LSU Tigers defeated South Carolina today 3-2, so if Kentucky comes back to win this game against MSU, they will be tied for first in the SEC. If they lose, they will wind up third, and in that case, they will not get the first-round bye in the SEC tournament. Only the top 2 seeds get a bye.

Right now, it is looking bleak for the Bat Cats for a 1 or 2 seed. For the UK softball team, they have a tough row to hoe. This is not shaping up to be a great weekend for UK sports, especially since the tennis team's national title hopes went down the tubes yesterday in a Sweet Sixteen loss. The Bat Cats will certainly get an at-large bid into the NCAA baseball tournament, but their chances for a national seed are looking bleak at the moment.