ITS UK vs. UL DAY!!!!!

(Heros from battles past)

You know what the best part about Christmas is? It means were usually only a week or so away from the UK/UL basketball game!!! Remember how Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson felt about wedding season? That's how I feel about UK/UL Day. Couldn't sleep last night. Can't sit still right now. These 4 hours will be longer than the second half of a Thursday afternoon before a 3 day weekend. I will attempt to write a preview, but imagine yourself asking a 6 year old about his day at school after he's had 3 Mountain Dews... that's most likely what this will sound like.

To start lets take a look at the match-ups....

Both teams are lead by their point guards. One a senior, the other a freshman. John Wall is currently the leading candidate for National Player of the Year and will (not likely) WILL be the
#1 pick in next years NBA draft. If you haven't seen him play think of superman in a UK jersey. Edgar Sosa is a New York streetballa that has been a bit of a disappointment during his career at UofL. The talent has always been there but words like "uncoachable" and "headcase" are too often associated with Sosa. In an attempt to remain as unbiased as possible I should mention that Sosa was the hero of last season's matchup, draining a 28 footer at the buzzer for the win. The senior will have one of the biggest chips on his shoulder entering Rupp today considering he is constantly the butt of UK jokes and center of UK hate. I expect an excellent game out of Sosa, but even at his best he is no John Wall.
Edge: UK

At shooting guard the Cards throw out another senior in Jerry "No Way This Dude Is Younger Than Me" Smith. The Cats counter with.. shocker.. another freshman, in Eric Bledsoe. The numbers for Smith and Bledsoe are pretty similar with the freshman having slightly better shooting numbers so far this season. That can mostly be attributed to Smith's slow start, and Card and Cat fans both shouldn't read too much into it. Smith is a shooter, and when he gets hot he can knock down 5 or 6... in a half. Bledsoe is the faster player, handles the ball better, and is a better defender, but has been hampered by an ankle injury for the past month or so that actually caused him to miss UK's last game. A 100% healthy Bledsoe would get the nod here, but do to Smith's experience and that ankle uncertainty...
Edge: UL

At small forward UL will run out Reginald Delk while UK will start Mr. Kentucky Basketball Darius Miller. Delk can knock down the 3. That's about it. Miller, while not as accurate as Delk, is also shooting the 3 ball nicely this season. Miller also offers an excellent pull up jumper and floater in the lane. He can usually be counted on for several rebounds and assists per game as well. This is a matchup that UK should really try to exploit as Delk is probably the weakest of the UL starters.
Edge: UK

The power forward matchup couldn't be more of a UK edge. Patterson will be an All-American, lottery pick, and works harder than any player I can remember watching. Jared Swopshire spent his entire off season in the practice gym, and it has defiantly paid off. Looking at him last year the words "senior role player" came to mind, but if he keeps improving at the rate he did between his freshman and sophomore years, UL could have a serious player on their hands. Regardless of Swopshire's potential he will be lucky not to get ran over by Patterson. Here's to hoping that he doesn't leave the floor crying. Or bleeding. Or vomiting. Or all of the above.
Edge: UK

At the center position we see a matchup of two players that have combined for a total 5632 fouls so far this season. DeMarcus "Boogie, Big Cuz, Carl" Cousins will do battle with Samardo "SamSam" Samuels. If either of these players plays over 20 minutes I'll be surprised. The difference is Boogie drops 15 and 10's in under 20 minutes pretty regularly. If Samuels has a backbone.. which UK and UL fans alike are saying he does not.. now would be the day to show it. UL will need Sam to come up HUGE on the glass if UL has any chance of making this a game.
Edge: UK

The bench/intangibles category is an interesting one because the intangibles, UL's experience and UK's home court, should cancel one another out. Maybe. Or the UK fans will have that place so loud that even LeBron would crumble at the sight of the Eruption Zone. In regards to the bench players, UL's Jennings will need to have his best defensive/rebounding effort to help combat the size discrepancy UL faces. Freshman Rakeem Buckles should also contribute in that area as he is an all out workhorse. Unfortunately for the UL back court, freshman Peyton Siva will most likely be out today due to John Wall.. ahem.. "stomach" flu. Convenient timing don't ya think? UK will throw out defensive stopper Ramon Harris, freshman big man Daniel Orton, sharpshooter Darnell Dodson, and "undoghoused" DeAndre Liggins. Just so that I don't sound like a complete homer I'll call this one "even"
Edge: Push


The coaching matchup pits two former friends, now rivals, maybe even enemies, most likely both members of the Italian Mod against one another. All Karen Sypher jokes aside this really should be an "up and down" game. I expect to see both coaches rotating their players "in and out" very frequently. After a big win one would think they could celebrate with "sex in an Italian restaurant." OK that last one was a little obvious, but asking a UK fan to not take a few jabs at Pitinogate is just completely unreasonable. All jokes aside Pitino is still one hell of a coach, and this is usually the time of the year that he gets his teams rolling. He has coached in huge games before and is more than equipped to handle the most likely hostile environment that Rupp will deliver to him today. Calipari has coached in the NBA. He has coached in a National Championship. I can honestly say that he hasn't coached in a game with expectations like this one. There are a large group of UK fans that will say a National Championship without a win over Louisville is a loss of a season. Now that is clearly ridiculous, but just think about it for a second. If Cal has never felt the weight of an entire state, correct that, "big blue" nation on his shoulders he will today. Pitino has won the big one, and Cal has not and until he does the edge should always go to Pitino. Should. Hmmm yeah I don't care.. its too easy to see that Ricky boy has lost his magic touch and the torch has officially been passed down I-64 to Cal as king of the state.
Edge: UK

Even with the edges favoring UK, I still expect a very close game. If we looked at this type of analysis last year all of the edges would have gone UL's way, and that was still a 3 point game. The fact is in a rivalry game this heated you can throw talent out the window. This game will be won on heart. Edge: UK.

UK 76, UL 72