Boring Ol' Smokey's Thursday Morning Wake Up

One cool thing about the SEC -- there are plenty of live mascots. Four dogs wear their schools colors for games -- Texas A&M, Georgia, Mississippi State, and the worst of the worst, Tennessee's Smokey. Bulldogs are funny, A&M's Collie is beautiful, but Rocky Top's boring coonhound represents his team perfectly. Rick Barnes is yawn-inducing, and his best player is a Punter. Tennessee is so boring they have to wear gaudy bright orange to force your eyes to pay attention. And if we're really being honest, at the end of the day they're just a women's basketball school.

Payback is a *****

Normally I wouldn't come out with my guns blazing against the opponent on a gameday, but I think we can all agree that Tennessee doesn't stand a chance tonight. The last time the two played, it was one of the worst losses in the history of the school, blowing a 21-point first half lead to lose by 7. If you take away that awful loss, Kentucky would be regarded as one of the hottest teams in college basketball, sitting pretty in the Top 10. Now, the Cats are rolling and ready to build momentum heading down the stretch in the SEC. Normally, we would call this a trap game, two days ahead of a trip to College Station for College Gameday, but with that awful earlier loss in mind (the last time the Cats took an L) this game has been marked on the Big Blue Calendar. To add a little historical perspective. If Kentucky loses, it would be the first time they've been swept by the Vols since '99 and the first loss to Tennessee in Lexington since 2006, a place Tennessee has only won 16 times in 104 trips. History is on the Wildcats' side. Tip-off is at 7:00 on ESPN with Joe Tessitore, Sean Farnham and Seth Greenburg on the call.

These UNC Fans Don't Want to Hear Anything About Last Night's Game

North Carolina took choking to a new level last night, losing by one to Duke at home on Michael Jordan's birthday. The Rule of 71 couldn't save Ol' Roy, who is receiving criticism for not using his timeouts down the stretch. Why should you care? That win over Duke continues to look better and better.

So Many Upsets

In even better news from college basketball last night, Tubby Smith's Texas Tech Red Raiders upset #3 Oklahoma 65-63. In the last week Tubby's Tech has beaten the #3 team in the country, #14 Iowa State, and they handed an 18-point beating to #21 Baylor. Meanwhile in Minnesota, Richard Pitino is terrible and all is right in the world. Oklahoma and North Carolina weren't the only Top 25 teams to fall last night. The mighty #4 Iowa Hawkeyes lost 79-75 at Penn State; #15 Dayton fell to St. Joe's 79-70; and #23 Providence lost by 11 to #8 Xavier. Closer to home, Kentucky can sit alone atop the SEC standings with a win after LSU lost at home 76-69 to Alabama.

Do You Know Basic Math?

The problem below doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, but I'm sure most of you all will get it wrong the first time. [caption id="attachment_194321" align="alignnone" width="512"]

@_aquemini[/caption] You think it's 18 16, right? Me too, that's why I'm no mathmagician. When you skim over it quickly, you fail to realize there are only three bananas and one half of a coconut in the bottom line, making the total 14.

A Happy Birthday to Erin Calipari

Make sure to wish the former KSR Co-Host and Calipari daughter a very Happy Birthday. Coach didn't forget this time, but he wanted to make sure everyone knows exactly how old she is. https://twitter.com/TheErinCalipari/status/700304727871983616

College Basketball on TV Tonight

Even though I know the only game on your mind is the 7:00 tip-off at Rupp Arena, it really is one of the only games worth watching on a slow night for college basketball.

#6 Maryland at Minnesota, 8:00 on BTN
#21 SMU at UCONN, 8:00 on ESPN2
Wisconsin at #8 Michigan State, 9:00 on ESPN