Arizona’s NCAA trouble, Devin Booker’s vacation, biscuit gravy and more random notes
Random notes:
▪ Slowly but surely, the NCAA is getting around to all the schools implicated in the FBI’s college basketball corruption investigation. Arizona is the latest school to receive the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations. The program is charged with five Level I violations. To this point, head coach Sean Miller has survived the scandal.
▪ There is much talk that when it’s all said and done college basketball leagues may end up playing conference-only schedules.
▪ If there are non-conference college basketball games, Jon Rothstein reports Indianapolis is now the favorite to host the Champions Classic on a date to be determined.
▪ Looks like both UK and U of L will limit attendance to 15 percent capacity at Rupp Arena and the KFC Yum Center, respectively. That would be approximately 3,000 per home game. Given the recent COVID-19 surges, I’m not sure even that is wise.
▪ With Terry Wilson not practicing Monday or Tuesday, the smart money is on Joey Gatewood starting at quarterback when UK plays Georgia on Saturday.
▪ After Saturday, Pro Football Focus has UK’s Darian Kinnard ranked as the sixth highest-graded offensive tackle in college football. Chris Rodriguez is the seventh highest-graded halfback.
▪ The SEC fined Lane Kiffin $25,000 for complaining on Twitter about the officials, but also admitted the Ole Miss coach was right. Kiffin still has to pay. He tweeted he may do so in pennies. Bet the league office is glad to have Lane back in the league.
▪ As has been pointed out, the SEC did Kentucky no favors in its coronavirus schedule shuffle. Missouri received extra time to prepare for the Cats last week. Result: Mizzou 20-10. Georgia had two weeks to prepare for Kentucky this Saturday.
▪ Before COVID-19, Kentucky was supposed to start its football season against Eastern Michigan. The MAC is to start its season on Nov. 4. The conference’s preseason poll is out. Eastern Michigan was picked fifth in the West Division. Another would-be UK opponent, Kent State, was picked fourth in the East.
▪ Jacksonville will allow 18,000 fans for the Florida-Georgia game on Nov. 7. But again, is that wise?
▪ The SEC’s 2020 offensive explosion does not include the “Air Raid.” Mike Leach and Mississippi State are averaging just 18.5 points a game, which ranks 88th nationally out of the 101 teams that have played college football this season.
▪ Kylin Hill didn’t last long in Leach’s system. Hill rushed for 1,350 yards last season for former coach Joe Moorhead. Under Leach, Hill had carried the ball just 15 times for 58 yards through three games and was suspended for the team’s Oct. 17 loss to Texas A&M. Reports now say Hill is leaving the program to prepare for the NFL Draft.
▪ I know Miami Dolphins fans are anxious to see new starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa coming out of the bye week. I’m anxious to see what the Dolphins have planned for Lynn Bowden coming out of the bye week. So far, Bowden has for rushing attempts and one reception.
▪ Zac Taylor is 3-19-1 as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. He is 1-12-1 in one-score games.
▪ It’s hard to get around the fact that the Dodgers’ Justin Turner cared more about himself than his teammates. Turner was pulled from Game 6 of the World Series after it was learned he tested positive for COVID-19, but came back on the field to celebrate the Dodgers’ victory.
▪ Did you see where ex-Cat Devin Booker was among the guests at Kim Kardashian’s “inner circle” private island 40th birthday bash? He’s reportedly dating Kim’s younger sister, Kendall Jenner.
▪ My Twitter friend Alex McDaniel sparked a biscuit discussion the other day, claiming that “a biscuit without gravy or a hunk of cured meat is cake.”
▪ My friend Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News replied, “I was in Tennessee on Saturday morning and stopped at a diner on 411 past Ocoee. I ordered two biscuits and the only question they asked was ‘you wanting proud on or on the side, hon?’ Even though the word ‘gravy’ was never spoken.”
