For far too long, actress Ashley Judd has been the face of University of Kentucky men’s basketball fanfare, as the UK alum is often seen celebrating courtside or cheering with the student body during big games at Rupp Arena. But as nice as it is to see the younger and presumably adopted sister of Wynonna Judd get all the attention, it would still be refreshing to occasionally see some other fans share the spotlight for the Wildcats. Maybe like this girl or these girls. I’m not picky.

Despite being the clear favorites to win the SEC Tournament this weekend, the Wildcats sputtered and slipped, barely beating the Florida Gators 74-71 on Saturday and ultimately falling to the Vanderbilt Commodores 71-64. This result was clearly upsetting for a diehard UK fan like Judd, but in the aftermath of disappointment, the spotlight is finally moving.

After the jump, grab your Kleenex and open your heart to the new faces of Kentucky basketball.

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It’s well-known that the majority of mascots are f-cking annoying, and the Vanderbilt Old Guy (I don’t care about f-cking Commodores, so you’re now Old Guys) fits right in with that sentiment. At a basketball game, the Old Guy decided to pump up students by smacking one of them in the face in a pretend fight. I’m assuming the Old Guy didn’t have any depth perception, because he clocked that kid and made him forget what dregs of Finite Math he hadn’t already lost due to a Keystone-and-pizza diet.

Bloody mascot carnage after the jump.
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The Big Ten Conference is talking about expansion again. Wisconsin AD and former football coach Barry Alvarez is planning to amp up the 11-team conference’s charge to find a 12th member, which would allow the league to split into two divisions and host a championship game.

“We’re irrelevant for the last three weeks of the football season because we’re not playing,” Alvarez said Friday. –ESPN.

Alavarez and proponents of expansion face an uphill battle in bringing another mouth to feed. Notre Dame, with their lucrative football TV deal running through 2015, seems to be out. I’ve heard arguments for Missouri and Pittsburgh being natural fits, but only in a football context. That’s great, but the faculties of the conference’s current member schools won’t care. Fortunately, there’s a better, more mind-blowing option for a 12th school that has a much better chance of making everyone happy.

Vanderbilt. Read the rest of this entry »

And that team was South Carolina, who was ranked 24th heading into last night’s game. It was Vandy’s first such victory at home since 1992. While a short wave of BCS fever sweeps over the Nashville campus, it’s time to point and laugh at the second South Carolina team to soil itself on national television in five days. South Carolina is a program that Steve Spurrier still can’t seem to get into top gear. Well, I guess we can finally put the rumors to rest. There actually is at least one black guy playing for Vanderbilt.

OK, my bracket looks like a World War I French battle plan, but I suppose that's what I get for penciling DePaul in on the play-in game line. Time to root for upsets like the one that occurred last night when #13 Siena beat #4 Vanderbilt 83-62.

On their own floor this season, Vanderbilt was 19-0, averaging 85.1 points and outscoring opponents by 11.7 per game. Away from home, Vandy dropped significantly in every department — a 7-7 record, a 74.4 scoring average and it was actually outscored by 1.2 points per outing. The road jinx struck Vandy again Friday. And now the Commodores are heading home for the season. "We congratulate Siena," Stallings said. "They were the much better team today."

Hmm, 19-0 and 7-7? Seems like it would have made me reconsider my heavy wager in this game. Why can't they write the game recaps before the games happen? Oh well, I'll ponder that question while I watch a highlight reel of Sienna Miller's scenes in Layer Cake. -KD     

A top ten ranked college football team lost to an unranked opponent yesterday. (Yawn.)  What made Vanderbilt's upset of South Carolina particularly satisfying was that a Steve Spurrier-coached team lost and the Commodores win rendered their losing by less than a certain number of points a moot issue.  My heart enjoyed the former upside, and my bleeding ulcer appreciated the latter.

USC strong safety Emanuel Cook also could not get his head around losing to Vandy. “That’s the sorriest team in the SEC we lost to,” Cook said. “We should’ve won that game.”

I like how they have the same word or acronym that describes something completely in some areas of the South.  Everywhere else in the country, 'USC' means 'Southern Cal'.  It's similar to how they refer to a 'daily shower' when they really mean a 'monthly bath'.  Anyway, Vanderbilt is pretty sorry on the gridiron.  When are they going to create that college football super conference of crappy football squads of schools that analysts always say have "good academics"? Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, Northwestern and . . . who would the Big XII and Big East representatives be? On second thought, every conference and bleeding ulcer likes a patsy. -KD