THE VIEW OF THE MUSIC CITY WIN

Forgive me for the quality of the photo. It's from my phone!

Arguably the biggest win in the last 20 years of Kentucky football! Congrats to the Cats!

A small Music City Bowl preview

Well, I'll be traveling here soon, and probably won't be able to revisit the blog until after the Music City Bowl game tomorrow, so I thought I would go ahead and give you my very brief analysis. And let me do my analysis via betting trends.

The line on the game is Clemson favored by 9 1/2. However, the betting public is moving the line towards Kentucky. A quick stat that might tickle your fancy... The betting public is correct when moving the money line in KENTUCKY games 37.9% of the time over the past 3 seasons (11-18). THAT'S ASTOUNDING. That stat right there has got me very nervous about taking Kentucky.

As far as the over-under is concerned, consider this:
The betting public is correct when moving the total in KENTUCKY games 75% of the time over the past 3 seasons (15-5).

TAKE THE OVER at 57 1/2. It should be a high scoring affair.

Here's what I am doing. I'm doing a teaser, taking Clemson at 3 1/2, and taking the OVER at 51 1/2.

It seems like a nice bet to me, and here's why. When looking at bowl games, I look a LOT at coaching staffs and bowl history. How many times has your team going to a bowl in the recent past, and do you consider your coach (JUST YOUR COACH, not your team) better than the opposing coach?

My answers, Kentucky has been to no bowls in the last three years. Clemson has been to one. That's super-important. Clemson knows the month-long bowl routine. It's a lot. An awkward break from the norm at the beginning of December, with just lifting and conditioning. Then a couple weeks of practice, followed by a week of festivities that are WAY outside the norm in the host city.

That makes a difference come game time. An experience that may seem surreal to Kentucky's players has already been experienced by most of Clemson's players.

And when it comes to the better coach? The coach who I would rather have with a month to prepare? Sorry, I'm taking a Bowden.

So tease that Clemson number down, and tease the over down as well. Then, you'll be set.

If you are looking for a straight bet, take the over at 57 1/2. It's a lot of points, but with Kentucky's weak defense, and fairly-potent offense, I expect many points.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 9-3-1

CLEMSON (-6.5) vs. Georgia
NORTH CAROLINA STATE (-12.5) vs. East Carolina
UCLA (-12) vs. Washington State

Record going out: _____

THE HOLIDAY PHOTO

Nasty Nate came (uninvited) to our family Christmas Party. And we decided to take a picture to give to you all, our loyal listeners and blog readers. So from all of us, to all of you... Happy Holidays!


Big announcement concerning The Big EZ Show coming SOON!!!

Louisville bowl game exciting, for us at least

As my mini-vacation continues, I can't get away from my computer, and continue to just Google any and everything that comes to my mind. But I was using my always-trustworthy Google Reader today and for the first time in what seems like forever, CollegeFootballNews.com has released a couple of columns on some of the different bowls.

The Orange Bowl piece gets my attention right off the bat. I start reading and come to find that I get nothing but one single mention of the Cardinals OR the Demon Deacons in the first freaking FOUR PAINFULLY LONG paragraphs.

Is that pure accident, or is columnist Matt Zemek just plain bored with the matchup--just like others (like it or not) are nationwide--that he has to bring up old useless knowledge that may or may not be used in Orange Bowl-opoly.

In his defense, I choose to believe the latter. The Orange Bowl is exciting around here. But it plays third (not second) fiddle in North Carolina, and may get a little play in Miami.

Other than that, it's the diehards and the diehards only, that will be watching this game on Jan. 2.

See for yourself.

Happy Holidays from all of us at The Big EZ Show

Folks, I'm on a little 'vacation time' right now. Funny thing about vacation in this business. Number one... sports never stops. Literally. There's things that always happen during vacation. And you get a little pissed that you can't talk about them.

But I think I'll live.

For now, a little humor for you all. You may remember when ESPN aired Ron Burgandy's audition for SportsCenter. If you don't, here it is. Talk to you again soon.

Turmoil all around: Louisville hosts Miami

Happy Holidays to all of the loyal Big EZ fanbase (all six of you).

Miami comes in to Freedom Hall today, and no one knows what to expect from this Louisville team. But I know how I'm betting. Louisville has failed to cover a spread now since the Arizona game. And all of the games in between have been AT HOME!

So, until they show me different, I continue to bet against Louisville, even if they ARE playing a team who has lost to Buffalo, Cleveland State, and Binghamton.

At least they beat Georgia Tech. A signature win this year, which is one more than Louisville has in TWO non-conference seasons.

Also, I like Dayton today as well. Take them to the bank. My solid record is on the line baby.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 9-1-1

Miami (+9) vs. LOUISVILLE ** LOSS **
Dayton (+13) vs. PITTSBURGH ** LOSS **

Record going out: 9-3-1

When does Pitino take the blame?

Derrick Caracter was sent home today, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino announced at his regular day-before-a-game press conference.

Let me say this first: Caracter is partially to blame for all that has happened. There's no doubt about that.

But when will we point a finger at Rick Pitino?

Add Caracter to a list of players, seemingly growing by the year, that have been ousted by Pitino. Have all these players--including, but not limited to, Lorenzo Wade, Brandon Bender, Carlos Hurt, and others--been in the wrong every time? Doubtful.

There's one common thread with these many transfers and defections. Rick Pitino. See here and here just to name a few.

Yet, there are a loyal group of fans that continue to turn a blind eye to that one common thread. It's pathetic on one hand, but on the other hand, you've got to commend that kind of blind loyalty to Pitino by a solid group of backers, given the repetitiveness of these defections.

But it's a catch-22. Jurich won't get rid of Pitino. At least no time soon.

And why should he? Louisville, through the good times and bad, enjoys one very important title: Most profitable basketball program in America. And that is because of Pitino.

So let the transfers and 20-month mediocrity continue. And Jurich will continue to laugh all the way to the bank.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 7-1-1

KENTUCKY (-7.5) vs. Massachusetts ** WIN **
BUTLER (-10) vs. Evansville ** WIN **

Record going out: 9-1-1

A nice pic of Tara "The Animal" Conner, and EZ Money

I'll let our Miss USA party with me any time. That's all I have to say.

EZ MONDAY: College Hoops
Record going in: 6-1-1

UC Irvine (+17) vs. DEPAUL ** WIN **

Record going out: 7-1-1

Louisville a football school? It's now on ESPN.com

You know, anti-Louisville sports fans and even some Cards fans unhappy with the state of the basketball program have been known to come on my show and other talk radio shows and message boards saying "Well, I guess Louisville is a football school."

Well, it's not only being said locally/regionally now. It's being said on a national level. Doug Gottlieb, one of my favorite (along with Jay Bilas) and most knowledgable basketball analysts on ESPN, now says Louisville is a football school as well.

Now, I've always thought that the national guys didn't really 'know' as much as the local guys who cover these teams on a day-in, day-out basis. But what matters is that now this is becoming a story nationally. I mean, Gottlieb only wrote about 10 truths about the college season. And for Louisville to be spoken about as one of those 10. Hey, that's a message of how your program is being perceived these days.

Great article overall. Lots of good points.

Earl Clark leaving?

It's too soon to tell, but the first reports are out. To my show listeners looking for a link to the story just click here, and look at item number four!

What I did today...

Well, it's Sunday... the day after U of L-UK. An interesting day... lots of reading of different columns and such, from Rick Bozich to Eric Crawford to Mike Hutsell and then even got a link to an old column from Ralph WIley that was very interesting about Rick Pitino.

In the meantime, I sat on my lazy ass nearly all day, watched the Bears survive at home against freakin' Tampa Bay, witnessed Jeff Garcia (Philly's 'answer' post-Allen Iverson) put his Eagles on his back and defeat the NY Giants. Then, I saw a very good game between two college hoops teams that would probably give our local squads a good run for their money in Virginia Tech's close win at home against Wake Forest.

Now, I'm doing some serious channel-flipping between the following:

1. College hoops: Indiana vs. Southern Illinois... good game... lots of defense per Kelvin Sampson's usual. The Salukis are a really good team.

2. Sunday Night Football: Chiefs/Chargers

3. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation... without a doubt, one of my top 10 movies.

There will be a lot of U of L-UK talk tomorrow, so I want to save all of that stuff for tomorrow. I've got so much stuff to talk about on that game and the two teams, that if I don't get to it all, I will definitely post it here.

NEW POLL: A new edition to this puppy! We'll change up the poll as often as I can get around to it. Feel free to vote.

And more EZ Money to come this week. Get ready! Talk to you tomorrow at 11 AM. John Clay, Lexington Herald-Leader sports columnist, will be among the guests on Monday!

U of L-UK COURTSIDE

Here we go... let's start with my prediction. It's one of those games where you have to throw common sense out the window. That being said... no rhyme or reason to include this game in my EZ Money. Your guess is probably as good as me today.

Having said that, my prediction: UK 67, U of L 61

Now, onto the updating..

PREGAME

• What a great scene to start things off as Ky National Guard troops in Iraq were shown up on the jumbotron, and they could see us as well. All of the fans in the stands were very appreciative of our troops. It was quite a scene... very emotional.
• Starting lineups... don't tell anyone in here that this game is any 'different'.
• Something I've never noticed before. I'm near the UK bench, and Tubby shakes the hand of EVERY player both starting on the floor and starting on the bench. Adds to my respect of the man.

FIRST HALF

• 2-3 zone to start the game of Louisville. It's nice to see from Louisville. You forget how effective it was during the Final Four year of 2005.
• T-Will hits from outside early... good sign for U of L. U of L up 6-0.
• Huge foul call on Morris... two fouls for him. This obviously changes things big time!
• What a block for Ramel Bradley on the fast break by Andre McGee.
• Derrick Caracter enters at 13:33 for Louisville, and gets a huge applause.
• Tubby BEGGING for a trapping of Padgett, but too late again. Seven points for Padgett early. U of L 11-6.
• Fouls a problem early for U of L. At the 9:45 mark in the first half, both T-Will and Sosa. T-Will stays in for the moment.
• I think I'm the only guy who likes these "ugly" games. 13-9 Louisville, and a 30-second timeout by Pitino. Love the intensity thus far.
• TV Timeout at 7:32. U of L leads 16-12. The U of L football team is getting introduced, and a small speech from an Orange Bowl rep who says "I think some of you in this arena, may be going to the 'Music City Bowl' or something!" Huge applause from the crowd on that one. Even some UK fans got a laugh. Pretty funny.
• Cats take first lead right at the six-minute mark of the first half. Cats lead 17-16.
• TV Timeout at 3:39 in the first half... game being called very tight. Team fouls are 9 to 8 UK. Louisville leads 21-20. Tubby wants a better trap defense when the ball goes into the post on the Louisville end.
• Louisville has had some of their best ball movement of the year... really playing good. Open looks from the outside just aren't falling.

HALFTIME: UK 27, U of L 24 - Sidenote: UK has not lost a game this year when they have led at the half. (6-0)

SECOND HALF

• Sosa starts 2nd half... interesting.
• Randolph picks up foul # 3 with 19:26 in the second half. Tubby points to Wukash and yells "Get his ass out of there."
• Palacios is having to guard a guy much quicker than him on the perimeter. Ramel Bradley makes him pay. Cats up four early in the second half.
• Sosa decides he can score... he's got five points early here in the second half. Cats still up five with 16:05 to go in the game.
• Juan Palacios was on the receiving end of a breakaway and looked like he couldn't decide between a dunk and a layup on teh fast break. Missed the bunny, and Rick Pitino looked like he picked up a laptop AND a phone at the same time and slammed them down on press row next to Paul Rogers and the Louisville broadcast crew. I've never seen him that visibly upset.
• Jerry Mith's 3-pointer cuts it to two... 38-36 UK. Crowd on it's feet.
• If you are UK... you are content with playing zone until U of L can hit a couple more outside shots.
• Morris back in at 11:18. Padgett scores on him to tie it at 38.
• According to the hustle stats on the scoreboard here, Louisville is outrebounding UK at the 10-minute mark 33-25.
• Louisville is getting open looks here in the second half, but just can't knock them down.
• If UK wins, it's no secret that Jamal Meeks is your player of the game. His three free-throws make it a 49-41 UK lead.
• U of L having trouble with it's free throws again... still trail by 8 with five minutes to go.
• Shot clock was at 24 when UK got across the time line in a 49-45 game. Refs didn't catch it. TV timeout with 3:28 left.
• Starting to look eerily similar to the UK-IU game, where UK's opponent wins on the statsheet, but not on the scoreboard.
• Rick Pitino gives Caracter a lashing on the bench as U of L trails 57-49 with a minute and change to go.
• UK seals it with free throws. Give Kentucky credit. They've won games when they haven't looked that great. Griniding out victories. Back to the drawing board for RP.

UK @ U of L... the night before

I can't help but to think that Kentucky will win this game. And to be honest, I hate that. Not that I have anything against Kentucky, but the thing that I've enjoyed so much about this rivalry is that it seems like the team who isn't supposed to win, or is the underdog going in, usually WINS. That wasn't the case last year. But we've seen it in years before that.

Some keys to the game...

- Every game I've watched of the Wildcats this season, I always find myself telling the person next to me "They should just give the ball to Morris EVERYTIME." That should ring true TENFOLD tomorrow. No one on Louisville's roster can stop Randolph. Louisville will probably double down, but remember, Indiana did that as well, and Morris still had a fine game.

- Terrence Williams needs to figure out that driving to the hoop works ALWAYS, and not just when you are down by double digits. A complete game by T-Will will keep the Cards in it.

A prediction to come tomorrow, and the courtside blog will be in full effect.

Some final thoughts on U of L-UMass

I don't think I've received more e-mails over a Louisville basketball game in the one-year plus I've done talk radio in this town.

Some final thoughts...

• If the Louisville hoops team is 'young' AGAIN, then let's play the young guys a little more than six (Caracter) and 11 minutes (Clark, with eight points, and great outing I thought). The 'young' excuse is tough to use on Padgett, Palacios, Jenkins, and even T-Will. Sosa is the only inexperienced player that I saw get significant minutes. Granted, he did nothing special.


• Does anyone else think the everyone involved with the 'cupcake' non-conference scheduled should at least shoulder part of the blame?


• New A-10 standings: t1. UMass (1-0), t1. Dayton (1-0), 3. Louisville (1-2), 4. St. Joe's (0-1). Be pumped for the Big East.


• I can't help but to think that there is a lot more going on behind the scenes that we aren't seeing. It can't be ALL Pitino. He's not that bad. I guess what it boils down to is I've got too much repsect for the man to put all the blame on him.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 5-1-1

Chattanooga (+7) vs. CHARLESTON ** WIN **

Record going out: 6-1-1

Grey's Anatomy in Louisville

I've been meaning to post this for some time now, but after yet another Louisville game, I have decided this needed to be 'blogged'.

If you listen to the show, you know that I am a huge Grey's Anatomy fan (make fun if you want... best show on television). But anyway, Dr. Burke on Grey's Anatomy, a.k.a. Isaiah Washington, is the long lost twin of Louisville's Juan Palacios.

Louisville's Juan Palacios	Juan's twin, Dr. Burke off of Grey's Anatomy

U of L - UMass GAMENIGHT

A couple of observations from courtside:

• Billy Minardi Classic: A great idea to remember not only RP's brother-in-law and best friend, but to remember all the folks, and their families, who were affected directly by the events of 9-11.
• RP on the court during the pregame to talk about the Classic and personally thank the sponsors.
• Good applause during the starting lineups for Travis Ford, who for the record, IS SHORT. Wow, it's amazing how much of an imprint he put on the Kentucky program at his height. It really is.
• TIPOFF: On my radio show today, I did take Louisville (-6.5). In the early going, I'm not too confident.
• Earl Clark with early minutes. I really like when he is on the court. The guy just adds some serious athleticism to the lineup.
• Technical on Tiki Mayben, starting wingman for UMass. I think it's because he and Edgar Sosa are jabbing and the ref caught Mayben taunting. I'll try to ask official Curtis Shaw during a timeout.
• McGee enters at the 15:18 mark of the first half, no surprise to me, as RP has been known to play kids, at least in recent years, that may or may not be fully healed from their injuries.
• McGee out at 13:25. Sosa back in.
• This team is deadly from three... at least in the early going. What I am surprised with is by the number of OPEN LOOKS the Minutemen have gotten from beyond the arc thus far.
• Where has Caracter been?
• UMass leads by 10, 19-9, timeout Louisville at just under 12 minutes.
• During the timeout, I asked Curtis Shaw about the technical on UMass' Mayben. His response: "Cussing at a player... taunting."
• Caracter enters at the 11-minute mark.
• DC with an immediate impact with an and-1.
• ANOTHER THREE, and an open one, for UMass. 27-11.
• Caracter is the best player on the court... period. He needs to be able to finish, though.
• UMass is 7-9 from three, and UMass continues to balloon their lead, 34-17.
• I will say this, I thought U of L was one of the better run-and-gun teams in the country coming into tonight. The problem was that teams had been slowing them down into a half-court offense, which was tougher for them to run. After 15 minutes of play, I can already tell you, UMass is the most efficent run-and-gun team I've seen this year.
• Earl Clark has eight points now folks, including 4-of-4 from the line. Looks like he's starting to get some love from Pitino.
• The best thing for the Cards so far has been their free throw shooting. With 3:58 left in the first half, U of L is 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.
• Some serious noise from the crowd here at Freedom Hall as David Padgett's offensive rebound and putback cuts the lead to 12 at 37-25. Definitely the most electric the crowd has been here all season... which is what will happen to a crowd when you get a decent opponent in the Hall.
• UMass starting to get very sloppy with the ball... turning it over three straight times here with 2:15 remaining in the first half. They've gotten away from their offense that produced some open looks from three early.
• UMass without a field goal in the final 6:23 of the first half, but U of L unable to cut into the lead...
• HALFTIME: UMass 41, Louisville 26 - Scattered boos as the teams go to the locker room.

Second half thoughts...

• Scoreless three minutes in... still 41-26.
• U of L looks like a TOTALLY different team defensively in the second half, and they are beginning to reap the benefits. Now three point attempts by UMass are becoming contested shots, and they are able to rotate a little more efficiently OUT of a double team.
• A enthusiastic cheer as T-Will hits the first U of L free throw in their last six attempts.
• UMass finally scores a field goal at the 15:05 mark in the second half, which ends their field goal drought at a whopping 10:18.
• Caracter is 0-5 from the FT line. He continues to draw fouls, but needs to hit a free throw.
• U of L's zone defense is becoming effective as UMass has gone cold from three!
• T-Will decides he wants to take over, getting the last four points for the Cards to cut the lead to 10 at 45-35. The last time U of L had it as close as 10 was at 21-11 early in the first half.
• U of L starting to get it together offensively. CROWD IS ALIVE! This is what Freedom Hall should ALWAYS sound like. I love it! 47-41 UMass.
• Two differences in the second half for U of L... (1) U of L (especially T-Will) deciding to go to the hole and Louisville's defense is much more energetic. UMass still leads by 8, 49-41. T-Will at the line with 9:50 to go in the game.
• Sidenote: I continue to watch David Padgett play in person. It's got to be easier on the eyes to watch him play on TV. It's tough to watch him courtside. He looks like every step gives him pain.
• Right as I say that... Padgett connects on the spin move in the lane to cut the lead to 51-48.
• 51-48 UMass: Second half scoring... U of L 22, UMass 10.
• I COULD'VE SWORN, after Palacios shot to tie it at 53-53, Pitino looked down to Ford just to say "I still your teacher boy."
• UMass leads at the under-four timeout 55-53. Sidenote: U of L's only lead in the game to this point has been 9-8.
• Ford's team responds with four more points to go on a mini 6-0 run and lead 59-53. Timeout Louisville with 3:13 to go.
• Another UMass bucket and another Pitino timeout with 2:27.
• UMass gets a rebound off of a T-Will miss and Freeman gets fouled with 1:10 left. 64-58, and the crowd begins to head for the exits.
• My vote for Most Valuable Player of the Billy Minardi Classic went to T-Will because when my vote was being collected, it was a two-point game, and T-Will had taken over. He finished with 21 points, 17 of them in the second half.
• Inspired second half effort, but poor defense in the first half, and poor defense again late is what cost them. And their free throw shooting, after starting 10-of-12, didn't help either. They went 11-23 from that point on.
• Credit UMass. They were undoubtedly the better team tonight.
• FINAL SCORE - UMass 72, U of L 68
• Full analysis and your phone calls and e-mails tomorrow on The Big EZ Show on ESPN Louisville (1570-1600 AM) from 11-1.

BCS is the Playboy Mansion of college football... and U of L got invited

Were you ever that kid that got made fun of a lot in grade school, and maybe even in high school. Didn't get to hang out with the cool kids in school, and you were the guy everyone looked at when you showed up to a cool-people party when you weren't invited but somehow heard about it?

Luckily, I was never that kid. Well, maybe in grade school.

That's basically what you got with Louisville football. They used to be the nerdy guy. That 1-10 team, and even teams surrounding it... they were that pathetic nerd that you hoped would never show up at your party.

Louisville football was that nerd a while back. But over the last couple of years, these real cool guys, Tom Jurich and Bobby Petrino, come in and says 'hey I think you're cool'... come to a party with me.

And then the Louisville football, over time, becomes a little more popular. Then some other guys decide to jump in and go, hey I think you've got a good thing going with that guy, I'll hang out with you. Enter Brian Brohm, Michael Bush. They decide that nerd that was Louisville football, was cool. And then this nerd grabs a little more steam. And more fans start to get involved, because this nerd is becoming just a little bit more popular. Now, boy you are REALLY popular because you have an entourage. In this case, the fans and things of that nature are the entourage.

OK now, use that same analogy here. In the NATIONAL scope. You're that new guy. Now it's not the Brian Brohm's and the Michael Bush's that took a chance on you when they thought you were sort of a semi-nerd. Now, it's the BCS Committee who thinks you're the nerd. Like it or not, you're still that nerd.

You are there by default, well kind of. Yes, you deserve to be there. But you got the default invite. Right now, you're that guy at the office whose a real big nerd and no one likes, but you still got the invite to the company party because you are doing a real good job and you are a valued employee. Other people get invites to those parties because their cool. You're going by default.

Because if you don't win the Big East, sorry buddy, you're not in the BCS, because you aren't the cool schools like Notre Dame and LSU are. They go because they're cool. Not because they didn't anything spectacular at the office.

As popular as Louisville is in the regional landscape. Now you are getting invited to the big boy party nationwide. The BCS is like the Playboy Mansion of college football. You're that nerd all over again. Time to get on Hugh Hefner's good side.

And to become the real popular guy nationwide, you need to go support your nerd. Got to get everyone down there.

You have to go. If you can figure out a way. I mean, hop in a car. If you've ever even thought about a Louisville football game before, then you have to try to find a way to show up at that game. Jurich expects 40- to 50- thousand? Bring 55.

See the BCS (i.e. Hef) always has these parties, and they're usually all right around the New Year. You're getting invited to one of his parties. You've GOT to make a good impression.

Why does Notre Dame always get invited? Why do SEC teams who don't get the automatic invite still always get invited? They get invited because they bring fans... they help local economies. They're guaranteed to fill up the seats!

Louisville needs to OVERDO it, from an attendance standpoint, at the party.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record coming in: 4-1-1

Louisiana-Lafayette (+4.5) vs. NEW ORLEANS ** WIN **

Record going out: 5-1-1

Is the Grossman bashing really recessary?

When do we look at something and just decide, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The NFL is arguably the toughest league to win a championship. You have 11 players of offense, 11 players on defense, 11 players on special teams... all working in unison. It's a tough thing to accomplish.

So why, when a team is tied for the best record in the league after 14 weeks (11-2) do we still question the starting of a quarterback? Do we question Thomas Jones? Do we question Mushin Muhammed?

We don't.

Now granted, the quarterback position is unique. But that position doesn't have to be BRILLIANT when you have a defense like Chicago's.

Even after all of the times we've said "defense wins championships", we still question Chicago and their chances, just because they have Rex Grossman. Enough is enough already.

OK, now it's time once again for a little EZ Money.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
Record going in: 4-0-1

Central Florida (+4) vs. MINNESOTA ** LOSS **

Record going out: 4-1-1

One reason why Louisville is better than West Virginia

My Cardinal friends look no further than this link right here to be happy you are not involved with the Mountaineer program!

Just some other things I came across last night and today...

• Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr GUARANTEES a BCS playoff


• UK fans can breathe easy. Morris won't go to the NBA. At least not midseason.

But, with my limited time tonight, I DID want to give my EZ Money College Basketball Pick of the Night.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
W-L Record going in: 3-0-1

Mississippi State (+1.5) vs MIAMI (Fla.) ** WIN **

W-L Record going out: 4-0-1

Thoughts over the weekend...

Nothing spectacular here, just thought I'd throw together a couple of things that I was thinking about over this weekend:

1. Sorry, but I just don't think that Louisville basketball is all that great right now. Louisville is a VERY GOOD run and gun team. But all other teams are beginning to do are throw up a simple 2-3 zone against them, and all of the sudden, it becomes tough for Louisville to really manhandle the teams they are supposed to.

And try this on for size.

Is it possible that now we are in the second year of "cupcake" non-conference scheduling, that the team just maybe subconciously plays 'down' to their opponent? Because there has GOT to be a reason that teams like Ohio keep it close with Louisville. Louisville has WAY too much talent and athleticism for that to happen.

That being said, you've got to love what Derrick Caracter and Juan Palacios are doing for the Cards. Let's see our guards get the ball to them a little bit more. Most times, they are very successful against the kids guarding them. But let's see what they do against better competition.

We'll see what happens as the season progresses.

2. I didn't put two and two together.

As I watch this Dallas-New Orleans game (it's at halftime right now), I failed to remember that Sean Payton not only came from Dallas, but coached Tony Romo last year. That's got to be worth a couple of points to the Saints, right? Wish I would've known that before, because now I think the Cowboys are going to keep me from winning my five-team parlay!

3. So another sports movie (and basketball, no less) with Will Farrell. I'm in!

4. Not much else from me, because I want to get back to watching this Sunday Night Football game. One random thing... I get mesmerized by the shot clock at Freedom Hall sometimes. If you watch it intently for about two minutes, you'll catch it going haywire, or the shot clock operator is doing something weird... one of the two. The shot clock will sometimes just change from "5" to "35" during times in a game. I can't figure out why. And I feel like I'm crazy, so I don't share it with anyone on press row, but once again, I saw it tonight. Check it out, and see if I'm sane.

HOPE YOU LISTEN TOMORROW! Lots to talk about!

IU-UK Gameday Blog

I may update this post from time-to-time today. But really I'm just excited to be here. It's nice to see this game have a little "home-court advantage", regardless of which way that home court advantage goes. I've really got only one pick for EZ Monday today, and that is for this IU-UK game.

First off, I think the UNDER in this game is a LOCK. I see a very slow-paced game. We'll see how it turns out, but I see a lot of zone as well as both teams only have one real inside threat and both coaches will try to keep that player out of foul trouble early.

I see IU falling to a very bad start. They will trail by double digits in this game thanks to the home crowd of which IU players have never seen before. But IU will claw back late in the second half thanks to very good defense forcing UK to take some very ill-advised shots. IU may even come back and take the lead. I see this one going down to the wire, but UK holds on.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
W-L Record going in: 3-0

Indiana (+5) vs. KENTUCKY ** PUSH **

W-L Record going out: 3-0-1

Some first half thoughts:

• The defense from both teams is very solid. Ill-advised shots on both ends making it tough for either team to get anything going offensively.
• DJ White had a better first half than I expected.
• UK free throws are hurting them in the first half.
• If IU doesn't double Randolph than he will have 30 before the day is out.
• IU's open looks seem not to be falling.
• Good surge at the end of the first half for UK. Getting Stevenson involved may be the 2nd half key for the Cats.
• HALFTIME: UK 28, IU 26 (sidenote: UK is 5-0 when tied or leading at half... 0-3 when they trail)

Second half droppings:

• UK picking up their pace, to the pleasure of former UK standout Kenny "Sky" Walker sitting two seats down.
• DJ White is not going to be able to do it all by himself today for Indiana. A guard will need to get involved.
• Either team is two outside shots away from breaking the game open. Neither is shooting well from outside.
• IU's offensive rebounding has been very impressive in this game.
• Sheray Thomas gets booed when he comes into the game.
• Earl Calloway is the first guard for either team that decides that he can take over this game as he sparks a 6-0 run, scoring four of those points, giving IU the lead back at 39-36 with 12:38 remaining.
• Kentucky responds with an 9-0 run of their own to take a 45-36 lead.
• E-MAIL: Someone wrote and asked if I would tell them how many IU fans I can estimate being here. Let me tell you... it's not much. I'll say 1,000 at most.
• I never would've thought DJ White would win the battle underneath today, but he has.
• Morris should touch the ball inside each possession. It's a shame he isn't. That keeps Indiana in it.
• Indiana's defense is insane good, but their offense just can't match it this early in the season.... or so it seems.
• The hard work by both of these teams today is to be commended. It's not often you see a knock-down dragout like this one. I'm appreciative. The Cats earned this one!

QB Talk... AND EZ Money

As I will try to attempt to do three-four times a week on this blog, I'll try to show you a couple of the interesting things listeners have e-mailed or I've come across myself as I browse the good ol' World Wide Web, as well as give you the 'almost-famous' EZ Money, my picks for tonight's game.

I started my college basketball picks with Villanova (-1) over Oklahoma, and boy those Wildcats pulled through, so I'm 1-0.

It's interesting. Today, I got a lot of stuff on quarterbacks that are neither in college nor the NFL... at least not right now.

According to MySanAntonio.com, former Green Bay Packers star QB Bart Starr is getting threatened by an 81-year-old woman named Ruby. Problem is, I found nowhere in the article what exactly Mr. Starr did. Must have been bad, or maybe she's just trying to get money.

Then thanks to a listener (thank you James D. from St. Matthews), I give you future Louisville QB Matt Simms. Who won a state championship at his dad's old stomping grounds (Giants Stadium), and then after his teams 41-0 revenge win over St. Peter's (Simms' team was beat in the final last year by St. Peter's), Simms decided to let the fans of his fallen opponent know whats up!

I, for one, do not have too much of a problem with it. Evidently, Simms really got it handed to him by the fans at St. Peter's for a full year. Now, obviously, he'll have to show a little better judgment when he comes to Louisville. If Bobby Petrino saw this, he'd be running for days. But all in all, no biggie. In fact, I like the fire.

Prepare for a little IU/UK prediction tomorrow. Now, onto my picks for tonight in college basketball.

EZ MONEY: College Hoops
W-L Record going in: 1-0

NOTRE DAME (-1.5) over Alabama ** WIN **
Florida State (-9.5) over GEORGIA STATE ** WIN **

W-L Record going out: 3-0