Kentucky Ink

Let me get this out of the way quickly: the NCAA Tournament's "play-in game" is rubbish.

I use that term (A) because it's an underrated gem of an expression from our Brit friends, and (B) because most of the country was tuned into Simon Cowell and "American Idol" Tuesday night instead of this phoney-baloney "first game" of the NCAA Tournament.

If you weren't one of the 37 people watching on ESPN -- a slightly bigger audience than, say, those strongman competitions that used to air at 3 a.m. where a hulk of a human being from Lithuania raced against a Thor-like figure from Sweden to see who can flip a gigantic tire 50 yards the fastest -- Arkansas-Pine Bluff advanced to the real field of 64 with a win over Winthrop and earned itself a monumental beatdown at the hands of Duke on Friday in Jacksonville. Enjoy it while it lasts, boys.

The NCAA came up with his idea in 2001, and it's never added anything remotely interesting to a great event. Doesn't move the dial at all. You want to know what the best proof is? Forget the anemic TV rating; people don't even bother including it in bracket contests that are now as big a part of the tourney as "Selection Sunday" and "One Shining Moment."

It doesn't have to be this way.

When they first came up with this concept of a play-in game, my first reaction was "Why just one?" It seemed really odd that you'd have this one rogue bracket feeding into one region, almost at random, as evidenced by the fact that the winner of this latest game will play the third overall No. 1 seed, Duke. Huh? To borrow from Jerry Seinfeld, "Who were the ad wizards who came up with this?"

Why not have four play-in games, one for each region? There's been a lot of talk about expanding the field to 96 teams. I hope that never happens. The tournament is great right now, and we don't need to see it watered down with ever school that managed to play slightly above .500 in The Dance. But you can find an opportunity for six more teams to earn a spot if you just have a play-in game for each region.

Think about it: There were basically three or four schools that the talking heads really belly-ached about Sunday as the tourney field was announced -- Virginia Tech, Illinois, Mississippi State and Seton Hall. Every year, there are only about five teams they bring up in the serious "snub" talk. If you had a play-in game for each region, you could accomodate all of those and make them prove it, as we use to say during a playground game of H-O-R-S-E.

And instead of having these play-in winners get tossed to Duke as a sacrificial lamb, they could all feed into the tournament as the 9 seeds. It could easily be set up to create some fair and compelling matchups. Think how much more interesting the start of the tournament would be if you had Virginia Tech and Mississippi State playing the first game of a doubleheader in Dayton Tuesday night with Illinois and Seton Hall playing the second game. Then you could have the four other schools (perhaps Ole Miss, Arizona State, UConn and South Florida) playing their doubleheader, either in Dayton earlier that day or a second play-in city

It would also be more fair to teams like Winthrop and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, who actually won the Big South and SWAC. They should be rewarded with a "normal" spot in the tourney, not be forced to play in this dog-and-pony show.

If you want some additional drama, that's the way to do it. Until then, I'd rather watch glorified karaoke on Fox.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Some quick-hitters from the opening day of play in the SEC Tournament:

• Player of the Day: Florida's Alex Tyus. The jumping-jack foward with the Predator 'do stalked Auburn like the stealthed assassin from Gov. Schwarzenegger's sci-fi flick. He finished with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, a high-percentage game aided by the fact that more than half of the junior's points (14) came off rim-rattling dunks. He couldn't have timed his season scoring high any better. The Gators needed this one -- and at least two more in my opinion -- badly if they want to sneak into the NCAA tourney.
• The Almost Player of the Day: Had Tyus not gone off against Auburn, the Tigers may have advanced on the strength of a monster game from sophomore guard Frankie Sullivan, who tallied 27 against the Gators.
• Game of the Day: Alabama 68, South Carolina 63. I take partial credit for the Crimson Tide victory. With about 15 minutes left in the game and South Carolina leading by 18, I tweeted that it looks like the Cats would get another matchup with Devan Downey on Friday. Oops. Seemingly offended by my suggestion that it was time for spring football in Tuscaloosa, the Tide immediately went on a 12-0 run to get back int he game. Bama deserves a lot of credit for playing with some pride, and South Carolina deserves some criticism -- especially coach Darrin Horn -- for stopping just short of Dean Smith's infamous four corners with 10 minutes left in the game instead of keeping the pedal to the metal. Horn, the former Lexington Tates Creek standout, deserves a lot of credit for the job he's done in Columbia so far, but Thursday wasn't his best moment.
• The Homer Simpson D'oh! Matchup of the Day: Tennessee 59, LSU 49. Let's face it: the Vols typically stink in the SEC tourney, and once again they did almost everything possible to give away a game they had no business sweating out. If there's ever an ESPN Classic for horrible games, this one will be in regular rotation. It was 21-21 at the half. The Vols and Tigers could have posted more points in football. At one point, both teams had more turnovers than field goals in a game that set the sport back 75 years.
• Worst Individual Performance: Tennessee's Scotty Hopson went 0-for-8 from the field, 0-for-4 from the 3-point arc, missed two of his four free throws, grabbed only three rebounds despite standing 6-foot-7, recorded no blocks or steals, and turned it over three times against LSU. The Vols won't last long in the postseason if the former University Heights star charts another game like that. He can be the difference between a pretty formidable UT squad and an ordinary team.
• Crushed on the Boards: Arkansas hung close to Georgia throughout the late game Thursday night, but could never manage to get over the hump in a 77-64 loss that was much closer than the final score indicates. The primary reason: Georgia owned a 45-28 rebounding advantage over John Pelphrey's Razorbacks, thanks in large part to sophomore forward Trey Thompkins, who pulled down 14 boards to go along with his 23 points.
• Good Sign for UK? After spending all season blowing whistles at a breakneck pace -- especially against road teams in the SEC -- the officials once again reverted to "Let 'em play" status on the first day of the SEC tourney. Even whistle-happy Tony Greene managed to stay out of the way of a nice Auburn-Florida game. That could be very good news for the Cats and foul-prone center DeMarcus Cousins in particular.
• Nice Day 1 Attendance: Even though the Big Blue Nation had yet to arrive in its entirety, the first round games were pretty well-attended. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many fans representing all of the schools. Every section seemed to be mostly filled with a kaleidoscope of team colors. Still, some of the loudest ovations of the day -- with the exception of the closing moments of the Bama comeback -- were due to the UK fans on hand cheering the arrival and departure of the Cats, who popped in to check out some of the action.

A great deal of debate has ensued among Kentucky basketball fans regarding who should be considered the Wildcats' MVP this season, sensational freshman point guard John Wall or sensational freshman big man DeMarcus Cousins.

That one's a tough call. You really can't go wrong with either choice. I like to hedge a little bit and say Cousins is the team's best player, but Wall is its most indispensable. You might even throw Patrick Patterson into the discussion on a given day, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's the one we're talking about more when March Madness comes around.

But another player is forcing his way into the conversation, and it's someone who many UK fans didn't even expect to be playing for John Calipari this season.

DeAndre Liggins.

Before anyone scoffs too hard, those aren't just my words. Listen to the Big Blue boss.

"He's as valuable to our team right now as anybody," Calipari said in the aftermath of Saturday's 73-62 win over Tennessee, a game which saw Liggins contribute seven points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and one blocked shot in just the things that the statisticians were able to track. His contribution went well beyond those numbers, including suffocating man-to-man defense and a floorburn-inducing dive for a loose ball that gave the Cats possession of the ball with under five mintues to go and seemed to break the Vols' spirit.

After calling timeout from the floor, Liggins peeled himself off the hardwood and was in the process of jogging back to the UK bench as the crowd roared with approval. He barely made it to midcourt, though, when he was met by his coach for a rousing celebratory chest-bump.

"I did that to let the other guys know that means more to me than you making a shot or some fabulous highlight play," Calipari said. "That's the play that wins games."

"I was shocked," Liggins said of the chest-bump. "I didn't know he had that emotion him him... to come out and chest-bump me like he was a player. It was kind of cool."

Calipari has taken to saying there's no such thing as a 50/50 ball when it comes to Liggins, noting his propensity for reeling in the loose ball time and time again. "He plays hard, he adds energy to the game."

Not bad when you consider this is a player many fans didn't even expect to survive Calipari's roster cuts when he arrived in Lexington, much less be playing 28 minutes against the rival Volunteers in a hotly-contested February SEC showdown. In the last five SEC games, the sophomore swingman has played 25 mintues or more three times, has averaged 7.2 points and 5.6 rebounds, has hit six of his 10 3-point attempts, and has recorded at least one steal per game.

Remember, Liggins didn't even play in UK's first nine games this season. Some even speculated that, after already suffering a year in Billy Gillispie's proverbial doghouse, the Chicago native might transfer during the holiday break, a notion that he says never crossed his mind, but was certainly a fair question given the circumstances. Liggins' uniform didn't even need washing until December 12, and probably not even then after his almost trivial minute of action in a blowout at Indiana.

"It's all paying off," Liggins said. "I waited patiently, I was humble, I was positive."

What a remarkable turnaround it has been.

So while MVP may sound a little silly when the Cats arguably have two national player of the year candidates, perhaps we can find another designation for Liggins.

Comeback Player of the Year.

Usually, that one's handed out in professional sports for a player who bounces back from an injury to have a big season. In Liggins' case, it's much more literal. The fact that he's back at all and playing at this level is one of the best stories of a fantastic 24-1 season.

"I just want to get better every day and stay humble," Liggins said. "... I still have a lot of things to work on, but I'm willing to work."

That approach, Calipari says, is going to lead to Liggins living up to his billing as a four-star prospect coming out of high school. "He's becoming a real high-profile prospect. Everybody that's evaluated my team, DeAndre is now being talked about. You got people who absolutely love him."

Rosters for the 2010 McDonald's All-American game were announced on Thursday by ESPNU, and Kentucky fans are going to want to circle March 31 on the calendar. Five Wildcat recruiting targets have been selected to play in the game, which will be held at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The East squad features Maryland guard Josh Selby (pictured) and North Carolina forward C.J. Leslie, while the West squad will showcase Florida guard Brandon Knight, New York guard Doron Lamb and Oregon forward Terrence Jones.

A quick breakdown of each player's recruitment:

• Selby -- The one-time Tennessee verbal commitment currently lists UK, Arizona, UConn, Indiana and Kansas
• Leslie -- The one-time N.C. State verbal commitment currently sports a long list of schools, but is widely believed to be focused on UK, Maryland and N.C. State.
• Knight -- Florida guard considered to be the nation's top prospect by some scouting services lists UK, UConn, Florida, Syracuse, Kansas and Miami.
• Lamb -- Oak Hill standout recently narrowed his list to Arizona, Kansas, West Virginia and UK.
• Jones -- Told KI recently that his top five is Oregon, Washington, UCLA, Oklahoma and UK.

The UK women will also be represented on game day. Jennifer O'Neill, a 5-foot-6 guard from the Bronx, N.Y., became the first Wildcat signee to ever be selected to the women's event. Tipoff for that game will be at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Fans of both Kentucky baseball and the SEC are in for a treat this season. The league announced its 2010 baseball television schedule on Monday, the first under a new 15-year contract with ESPN. The deal expands this year's broadcasts to 46, up from eight last season. The SEC Tournament will also continue to be televised, with the championship game airing nationally on ESPN2.

The package features broadcasts on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FSN, SportSouth and CSS. In addition, ESPN360.com will stream all broadcasts live online, which the exception of games that appear on ESPNU.

Kentucky is scheduled to play in televised games on April 30 at Tennessee (5 p.m., ESPNU) and May 15 when LSU visits Lexington for a 3 p.m. game on Fox Sports.

SEC schools maintain the rights to air additional games not included in the official league package through various TV outlets and official SEC TV partners.

In this edition of The Friday Five, I offer the five players in Kentucky's 2010 football signing class who intrigue me the most:

5. Joseph Mansour, K/P, LaGrange (Ga.) HS -- Kentucky's special teams have been a mixed bag of puzzling inconsistency in recent years. In the ever-competitive SEC, so many games can come down to a field goal here or there, and field position in general, so a talented specialist like Mansour is a welcome addition. He made six field goals of 50 yards or longer during his career with the Grangers, including a 59-yarder that ranks as the third-longest in Georgia high school history. (Watch that thing clear the goalposts by about 8 yards.) He also punted for a 42.7-yard average, and 84 percent of his kickoff went for touchbacks. The Cats generally don't have a player who multitasks in the kicking game, but Mansour, who Joker Phillips declared has the strongest leg of any player he's ever recruited, may break that trend. He's also a great athlete, similar to Tim Masthay coming out of Murray High School a few years ago, in that he probably could have been a good wide receiver if he took that path.

4. Donte Rumph, DL, St. Matthews (S.C.) Calhoun County/Fork Union Military Academy -- It feels like I've been following Rumph's recruitment for an eternity (he originally signed with UK in 2007) so I can only imagine what it will feel like to him as his opportunity to play at the major college level finally arrives. It says a lot about his character that he has stuck with it and continued to fight for his eligibility. A lot of kids I've covered in the past would have just given up -- some after just one shot, let alone three -- so that tells me that Rumph really wants to play for UK. I thought he was physically capable of helping the Cats back when they were originally recruiting him three years ago, so I'm very excited to see the more matured version come to Lexington. The UK D-Line needs some immediate help, and Rumph should be able to crack the rotation early. Check out some of his highlight clips at this link.

3. Brandon Gainer, RB, Miami (Fla.) Central HS -- The guy who made the entire Big Blue Nation celebrate when it was announced that UK was the surprise recipient of his letter of intent, Gainer is the crown jewel of the 2010 class. A four-star prospect rated No. 15 at his position nationally by ESPNU Scouts Inc., Gainer gives the Cats their first high-potential "big back" since Artose Pinner trucked opposing defenses from 1999-2002. Check out his video highlights here and consider while you're watching them that he's facing some of the best competition in the entire country in these clips. If you're in the market for a running back, there are few places in the country better to go shopping than Miami.

2. Nermin Delic, DE, Dalton (Ga.) Northwest Whitfield HS -- We in the journalism business love a good story, and Delic (pronounced DELL-ic) comes to UK with a great one. Check out this ESPN feature about him and his family's unique story in moving to the U.S. from war-torn Bosnia. Plus, you had to love Joker Phillips' NSD description of Delic as "a monster... a big human being." Since the end of his junior year, he's gone from about 210 pounds to 259, but has reportedly retained the same athleticism and footwork he had when he was much lighter. The good folks down in Georgia decribe him as a fierce competitor with a motor that wont' quit. In other words, just what the doctor ordered for UK's defensive end corps.

1. Mychal Bailey, S, LaGrange (Ga.) HS/Southwest Mississippi CC -- Joker Phillips said it best on national signing day when he was asked about Bailey (pictured above) and why he likes recruiting LaGrange so much: "He runs and hits, like every LaGrange player we've ever had here... he loves football." That pretty much sums it up. I'll take a player from LaGrange any day of the week -- and twice on Saturday -- especially if he plays defense. Grangers have defense laced in their DNA. They'd rather be subjected to a 24-hour marathon of movies on the Lifetime network than surrender points on the football field. DeMoreo Ford once told me a story about his LaGrange buddies growing up playing "backyard" football... IN THE STREET. On pavement. Yes, blacktop. And they liked it. Bailey brings the wood, and will give the Cats a nasty presence in the secondary next season. Check out this YouTube clip for a sneak preview.