xt77h41jhr6v https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt77h41jhr6v/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1985 Volume 9 -- Number 19 athletic publications  English Wildcat News Company Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Cats' Pause UKAW University of Kentucky Men's Basketball (1984-1985) coaches Hall, Joe B. players Walker, Kenny (Sky) UK vs. Mississippi State University (January 9, 1985) UK vs. University of Alabama (January 12, 1985) UK vs. Vanderbilt University (January 7, 1985) Newton, C.M. University of Kentucky Football (1984) Hall of Fame Bowl (1984) Claiborne, Jerry statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause,  "January 19, 1985" text The Cats' Pause,  "January 19, 1985" 1985 2012 true xt77h41jhr6v section xt77h41jhr6v Six Prep Stars Now Committed To Jerry
Claiborne's Wildcats
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"SPOTLIGHTING UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
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VOLUME 9 - NUMBER 19
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 1985
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S TOP TEAMS ARE UNPREDICTABLE
The 1984 college football season was full of surprises. Brigham Young, which was voted No. 1 in three national polls so far, did not even make the Top Ten in most preseason polls. Pittsburgh, Texas and Penn State, which were in most preseason Top Tens, finished far down or out of most final polls. A list of the final USA TODAY/CNN, AP, UPI and The Sporting News polls, and eight major preseason polls (standings and points, with first-place votes in parentheses):
FINAL USA TODAY/CNN TOP 25
1. BYU (26)................ 789
2. Washington (3)........... 751
3. Florida (3)............... 746
4. Nebraska............... 689
5. Oklahoma............... 660
6. Boston College........... 648
7. Okla. State.............. 625
8 SMU................... 543
9 Maryland............... 512
10. South Carolina........... 486
1.1. Southern Cal............ 465
12 UCLA.................. 442
13 LSU................... 438
14 Ohio State.............. 376
15 Auburn................. 368
16. Miami (Fla.)....'.......... 279
17. Florida St................ 242
18. Virginia................. 212
19. Kentucky............... 210
20 Iowa................... 173
21. West Virginia............ 129
22. Army.................. 110
23. Georgia................. 97
24 Air Force................ 93
25. Notre Dame.............. 91
FINAL ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 20_
1. Brigham Young (38)...... 1.160
2. Washington (16)......... 1.140
3. Florida (6) ............. 1.092
4. Nebraska.............. 1.017
5. Boston College ...........932
6. Oklahoma ...............883
7. Oklahoma State...........864
8 So Methodist ............761
9. UCLA ..................613
10. Southern Cal.............596
11 South Carolina............557
12. Maryland................552
13. Ohio State...............497
14. Auburn .................432
15. LSU....................314
16. Iowa ...................228
17. Florida State .............207
18. Miami. Fla................166
19. Kentucky................152
20. Virginia .................119
FINAL UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL TOP 20_
1 Brigham Young (28)........ 579
2. Washington (11)...........561
3. Nebraska................508
4. Boston College ...........429
5. Oklahoma State...........376
6. Oklahoma ...............345
7. Florida (1) ...............328
8. Southern Methodist........310
9. Southern Cal.............245
10. UCLA ..................229
11. Maryland................175
12 Ohio State...............166
13. South Carolina............143
14. Auburn .................118
15. Iowa ................... 73
16. Louisiana State........... 48
17. Virginia ................. 45
18. West Virginia............. 34
19 Kentucky................ 28
20. Florida St................ 28
THE SPORTING NEWS FINAL TOP 20
As selected by Joe Marcin, The Sport-mg News college tootball writer_
1. Florida 2 Nebraska
3. Washington
4. Brigham Young
5. Boston College
6. Oklahoma
7. Oklahoma State 8 South Carolina
9. Southern Methodist 10 Maryland
11. UCLA
12. Miami
13 Ohio State 14. Auburn
15 Southern California
16 Florida State
17. Iowa
18. Virginia
19. Army 20 Georgia
THE 1984 PRESEASON COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS
USA TODAY/ CNN TOP 25
1. Auburn
2. Clemson 3 Nebraska
4. Pittsburgh
5. Ohio St.
6. UCLA 7 Texas
8. Miami (Fla.)
9. Alabama
10. Arizona St.
11. Penn St.
12. Iowa
13 Notre Dame
14. SMU
15. Oklahoma
16. Michigan
17. Boston Col.
18. LSU
19. Florida
20. Washington
21. Okla. St.
22. Arkansas
23 Tennessee
24 Georgia 25. Missouri
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1. Auburn . Nebraska . Pittsburgh . Clemson UCLA . Texas . Ohio St.
8 Notre Dame
9 Alabama
10. Miami (Fla.)
11. Penn St.
12. Iowa
13. Arizona St.
14. Michigan
15. SMU
16. Oklahoma
17. Florida
18. Washington
19. Boston Col.
20. Florida St.
UNITED PRESS
1. Auburn
2. Nebraska
3. Texas
4. Miami (Fla.)
5. UCLA
6. Penn St.
7. Pittsburgh
8. Clemson
9. Ohio St.
10. Michigan
11. Oklahoma
12. Alabama
13. Arizona St.
14. Iowa
15. Notre Dame
16. SMU
17. Washington
18. Florida
19. Georgia
20. Boston Col.
SPORTING NEWS
1. Texas
2. Clemson 3 Pittsburgh
4. UCLA
5. Alabama
6. Ohio St.
7. Washington
8. Nebraska
9. Michigan
10. Miami (Fla.)
11. Penn St.
12. Arizona St.
13. Notre Dame
14. Okla. St. 15 LSU
16. Oklahoma
17. N. Carolina
18. Tennessee
19. BYU
20. Missouri
SPORT MAGAZINE
1. Arizona St.
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Ohio St.
5. Michigan
6. Notre Dame
7. Clemson
8. Oklahoma
9. UCLA
10. Texas A&M
11. Tennessee
12. Auburn 13 Penn St.
14. Georgia
15. Nebraska
16. SMU
17. Washington
18. Alabama
19. Pittsburgh
20. BYU
STREET AND SMITH
1. Auburn
2. Miami
3. Iowa
4. Clemson
5. Penn St.
6. Notre Dame
7. Arizona St 8 SMU
9. Washington
10. Michigan
11. Nebraska 12 BYU
13. Texas A&M
14. UCLA
15. Alabama
16. Pittsburgh
17. Oklahoma
18. Florida
19. Texas
20. Okla. St.
PLAYBOY MAGAZINE
. Auburn . Alabama . Pittsburgh . Clemson . Michigan
6. Texas
7. Washington
8. Wisconsin
9 Notre Dame
10. Arizona St.
11. Missouri 12 So. Cal
13. Nebraska
14. Miami
15. Florida St.
16. Okla. St.
17. Florida
18. Illinois
19. SMU
20. Oklahoma
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
1. UCLA 2 Nebraska
3. Pittsburgh
4. Auburn
5. Ohio St. 6 Iowa
7. Clemson
8. SMU 9 Texas
10. Notre Dame 11 Penn St.
12. Arizona St.
13. Miami
14. Oklahoma
15. Florida
16. Alabama 17 Boston Col
18. Michigan
19. Washington 20 Okla. St.
FINAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL MATHEMATICAL RANKINGS
The mathematical method of ranking NCAA Division l-A teams was devised by Dr. Thomas Jech, professor of mathematics at Pennsylvania State University. II is an extension of what the standings would be if all the listed teams could play each other. Each team is assigned one point for a win and one-half for a tie, and the playing schedules are compared; for example, if two teams play identical schedules, the team with more wins is ranked higher. The following are the final mathematical rankings. Kev: The first number (scale) gives a mathematical measure of performance on a logarithmic scale, the second (pet.) is the estimated percentage of the games that the team would win if it played all the listed teams.
NO.	Team	Record	Scale	Pet
1.	Brigham Young	13-0-0	0.00	97.4
2.	Florida	9-1-1	1.32	91.6
3.	Washington	11-1-0	1.43	90.8
4.	Boston College	10-2-0	1.87	87.4
5.	Nebraska	10-2-0	2.05	85.7
6.	Oklahoma	9-2-1	2.28	83.3
7.	South Carolina	10-2-0	2.36	82.6
8.	Maryland	9-3-0	2.42	81.9
9.	Oklahoma St.	10-2-0	2.44	81.7
10.	Southern Cal	9-3-0	2.48	81.1
11.	Kentucky	9-3-0	2.49	81.0
12.	SMU	10-2-0	2.52	80.7
13.	Louisiana St.	8-3-1	2.54	80.5
14.	Rutgers	7-3-0	2.60	79.8
15.	West Virginia	8-4-0	2.73	78.2
16.	Syracuse	6-5-0	2.77	77.7
17.	Auburn	9-4-0	2.79	77.5
18.	Virginia	8-2-2	2.87	76.5
19.	Georgia	7-4-1	2.94	75.6
20.	Miami (Florida)	8-5-0	2.97	75.2
21.	Tennessee	7-4-1	2.98	75.1
22.	Ohio St.	9-3-0	2.99	74.9
23.	Penn St.	6-5-0	3.05	74.1
24.	UCLA	9-3-0	3.13	73.1
25.	Texas	7-4-1	3.15	72.8
26.	Notre Dame	7-5-0	3.16	72.7
27.	Florida St.	7-3-2	3.19	72.3
28.	Army	8-3-1	3.22	71.8
29.	Fullerton St.	11-1-0	3.26	71.3
30.	Clemson	7-4-0	3.33	70.3
31.	Nev.-Las Vegas	11-2-0	3.42	69.0
32.	Iowa	8-4-1	3.48	68.3
33.	Purdue	7-5-0	3.55	67.2
34.	Texas Christian	8-4-0	3 68	65.3
35.	Georgia Tech	6-4-1	3.68	65.3
36.	Houston	7-5-0	3.71	65.0
37.	Arkansas	7-4-1	3.71	65.0
38.	Michigan	6-6-0	3.73	64.7
39.	Illinois	7-4-0	3.76	64.2
40.	Wisconsin	7-4-1	3.79	63.8
41.	Virginia Tech	8-4-0	3.90	62.2
42.	Washington St.	6-5-0	3.96	61.3
43.	Air Force	8-4-0	3.98	60.9
44.	Alabama	5-6-0	3.99	60.8
45.	Arizona	7-4-0	4.03	60.2
46.	Vanderbilt	5-6-0	4.09	59.4
47.	Hawaii	7-4-0	4.19	57.9
48.	Baylor	5-6-0	4.22	57.5
49.	North Carolina	5-5-1	4.24	57.1
50.	Michigan St.	6-6-0	4.26	56.9
51.	Stanford	5-6-0	4.32	56.0
52.	Navy	4-6-1	4.45	54.1
53.	Pittsburgh	3-7-1	4.56	52.6
54.	Temple	6-5-0	4.56	52.6
55.	Oregon	6-5-0	4.66	51.1
56.	Texas A&M	6-5-0	4.68	50.9
57.	Wake Forest	6-5-0	4.72	50.2
58.	Arizona St.	5-6-0	4.77	49.5
59.	Kansas	5-6-0	4.99	46.4
60.	Mississippi	4-6-1	5.02	46.1
61.	Minnesota	4-7-0	5.12	44.6
62.	Utah	6-5-1	5.17	44.0
63.	Mississippi SI.	4-7-0	5.33	41.8
64.	Memphis St.	5-5-1	5.34	41.6
65.	Tulane	3-8-0	5.48	39.8
66.	Missouri	3-7-1	5.53	39.0
67.	San Diego St. .	4-7-1	5.62	37.9
68.	Toledo	8-3-1	5.71	36.7
69.	Wyoming	6-6-0	5.73	36.4
70.	Texas Tech	4-7-0	5.79	35.7
71.	San Jose St.	6-5-0	5.80	35.6
72.	Bowling Green	8-3-0	5.83	35.1
73.	Kansas St.	3-7-1	5.84	35.1
74.	Northwestern	2-9-0	5.95	33.7
75.	Central Michigan	8-2-1	6.04	32.5
76.	Colorado St.	3-8-0	6.35	28.8
77.	Long Beach St.	4-7-0	6.37	28.5
78.	Fresno St.	6-6-0	6.42	28.0
79.	Tulsa	6-5-0	6.50	27.0
80.	Duke	2-9-0	6.52	26.8
81.	California	2-9-0	6.65	25.3
82.	N. Carolina St.	3-8-0	6.72	24.5
	1J ~t I '.1 1 '.M I \) O    & S> H	, i  - t		
83.	New Mexico	4-8-0	6.73	24.4
84.	Oregon St.	2-9-0	6.75	24.2
85.	Iowa St.	2-7-2	6.75	24.2
86.	SW Louisiana	6-5-0	6.91	22.4
87.	So. Mississippi	4-7-0	7.01	21.4
88.	Colorado	1-10-0	7.24	19.1
89.	Pacific	4-7-0	7.28	18.7
90.	Ohio U.	4-6-1	7.38	17.7
91.	Miami (Ohio)	4-7-0	7.43	17.3
92.	N. Illinois	4-6-1	7.51	16.5
93.	W. Michigan	5-6-0	7.55	16.2
94.	Rice	1-10-0	7.56	16.0
95.	Kent St.	4-7-0	7.72	14.6
96.	Utah St.	1-10-0	7.82	13.7
97.	Louisville	3-8-0	7.83	13.7
98.	Texas-El Paso	2-9-0	7.87	13.4
99.	Cincinnati	2-9-0	7.94	12.8
100.	East Carolina	2-9-0	8.08	11.8
101.	Ball St.	3-8-0	8.23	10.6
102.	E. Michigan	2-7-2	8.36	9.7
103.	New Mexico St.	2-9-0	8.76	7.3
104.	Wichita St.	2-9-0	8.97	6.2
105.	Indiana	0-11-0	9.61	3.6
Help America's Young Men get the Point about Selective Service Registration
Young men born on or after January 1, 1660 are required to register with Selective Service within a month of /their 18th birthday.
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The registration process takes lesa than five minutes at the post office. A young man fills out a simple form asking onfy for his name, date of birth, address, telephone number and Social
Security number./ 1 ! J I
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Registration; help* keep pur country ^ prepared with a tool ofjnames to draw from In cat*
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without interfering with people's lives. A
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Its Quick. Its Easy. And Its the Law.
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Sky's Supporting Cast Essential To Success
The word is out - Kenny Walker is a "keeper."
In the junkie world of basketball, that means Kenny Walker is one of the finest basketball players in his field and his domain is the collegiate basketball world.
Make no mistake about it, Walker has already proven his worth this season. He's on schedule to join the elite UK 1,000-point club within the next couple weeks. And unless the season is suddenly called off, Walker is likely to garner some All-American honors later this spring.
But all of Walker's heroics shouldn't drown the importance and contributions of others on this Kentucky team. Without four other players on the court, Walker would be nothing.
This is an unselfish group of players, but even the best of youngsters enjoy attention or they wouldn't be participating in such a high visibility sport.
Just for a moment, let's look at a few of the other Wildcats.
*BRET BEARUP - Here's a young man who came to UK with stardom written all over him from Centerport, New York. He was a prep All-American by most everyone, averaged almost 30 points a game as a senior in high school. The adjustment to big-time college ball has been tough, but he's learned to live with the fact that his 30-point games are in the past. Still, he's a valuable contributor, especially as a rebounder and defensive stalwart. And he doesn't complain. Still, he deserves more credit than he receives.
?WINSTON BENNETT - He was the
star of stars in high school. After an impressive freshman year at UK, he expected even greater results this year. An injury slowed him considerably, but he has battled back. His aggressive play has often got him in foul trouble, sometimes when he even isn't guilty. His scoring is not 20 per game, but then again, he's not counted upon to carry that part of the load. Still, he deserves more credit than he receives.
?ROGER HARDEN - Here's a young man who came from tradition-rich Indiana as that state's Mr. Basketball. He was never a great shooter in high school, but he could handle the ball and run the offense. Oh, how he could run the offense. Again, a young prep star is hit with the big-time transistion. Harden is a fighter and seems to perform best when his back is against the wall. Not a great scorer, but he has improved his jumper by leaps and bounds. Defenses cannot totally ignore him from 18 feet. Although he'll never be a great scorer, Harden does the little things to make a team click, things., which and average fan., y?i}\.
often overlook. Still, he deserves more credit than he receives.
?JAMES BLACKMON - Another young star from the Hoosier State. James came to Kentucky with glowing reports from the recruiting experts. He displayed flashes of excellence last season. Much the same has followed this season. James is a player which should blossom into a big-time scorer and he  probably will,  but for the
weekly press conference that early games are just as important as late season games, but noted that a record can be misleading, depending on where the games to date have been played at home or on the road.
Kentucky was fortunate to have played its first two games at home and the initial road contest was at Ole Miss, probably the weakest school in the SEC.
SEC A Race To Finish Line
present he has been struggling off and on. Yet, he has been extremely valuable in many situations. Still, he deserves more credit than he has received.
Those are the starters, but what about the likes of Ed Davender, Troy McKinley, Richard Miadison, Robert Lock, Paul Andrews, Cedric Jenkins, Todd Ziegler and Leroy Byrd.
The same can be said for them, especially McKinley, Davender and Madison. Of the three McKinley has gone unnoticed the most. A senior, McKinley has been called on in clutch situations more this year than his previous three seasons combined and he has responded well.
Davender, Madison, Lock, Ziegler and Jenkins are a little different. They are all freshmen and fully realize their days are yet to come. Andrews is a sophomore and has been on a roller-coaster. He's too good a player to stay down for long. He'll be back. And Byrd just might be the silent inspiration.
Now, back to Sky Walker.
No one appreciates those players listed above more than Kenny Walker. He is quick to pass along praise to his teammates and he's one of the most unselfish players I've ever met.
Because it is so unusual for a Kentucky team to be so dominated by a single player, there are some who forget the unsung heroes. Fellas, we thought you should know that you're not forgotten.
+    + +
As so often happens in the Southeastern Conference, the early jump out of the gate doesn't mean you're going to win the SEC title. Mississippi State and Kentucky will likely discover that very soon.
Going into Wednesday's action, the two schools were tied for the league lead at 3-1 with Florida. A game earlier State and UK were alone with 3-0 marks.
Coach-Joe B. Halt pointed' out at his
State won at Alabama, a shocker in anyone's book and upset LSU at home, another shocker when you consider the Tiger's talent. Still, State's true level may best be judged after its current road trip to Lexington. State lost at Auburn by eight, but that's no disgrace. A win over UK would send State to the top of the basketball world.
Despite two early season losses, Wimp Sanderson believes his Tide still has an excellent shot as a contender, especially after the Tide escaped with its victory over Kentucky.
"No one knows the SEC better than I do," joked Sanderson after the win, "heck, I was here when the conference was formed. I'm a pretty old fella at this SEC stuff."
And what about LSU?
"They're tough," commented Wimp, "hey, they've got the best basketball talent in the league, better than us, better than Kentucky. Now don't get me wrong and don't get Dale (Brown) all mad at me, but as far as pure basketball talent, LSU is the best."
Sanderson sees another dogfight to the end.
Sanderson isn't the only one predicting a dogfight. Add Joe B. Hall to that list. He believes the race will go right to the end.
In fact, Hall says four losses will easily win the conference title and five losses will give a team at least a tie.
If history tells us anything, he may be a little on the conservative side. Last season, UK was undefeated at home and 5-4 on the road and won it with a 14-4 mark. The year before UK tied for the title with a 13-5 record. Quite frankly, there is not a team in the league this year as good as Kentucky's of the past two seasons.
The key this March will be LSU. The Tigers are probably the only team capable of producing a 14-4 conference mark and that theory was punctured
when the Tigers lost at Mississippi State.
It's highly possible that 13-5 will win the league and then be shared by more than one team. Look for a number of schools to be bunched around that 10-8 mark.
HITS AND MISSES. .Kenny "Sky" Walker was honored last week as the "Player  of  the  Week"   by Sports Illustrated for his play against Kansas, Auburn and North Carolina State. He followed those games with like exhibitions against Ole Miss and Alabama . . .Hall is still upset with official Dale Kelley over the incident at Ole Miss when James Blackmon took an elbow from Eric Laird. Reportedly, Hall has sought action from the SEC office. Hall said Kelley told him the elbow was an accident   but   Hall   says   he can't understand why a foul wasn't called. The incident brings memories back of the Dirk Minniefield-Sean Tuohy incident in Oxford a few years ago when Minniefield was guilty of taking a shot at the Ole Miss guard. Minniefield later was given a private reprimand by the SEC office . . . Tickets for the SEC Basketball Tournament in Birmingham March 6-9 are now available by mail order from UK. Tickets are $60 each for the entire tourney. Information can be obtained by writing: UK Ticket   Office,   Room   3, Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky 40506. . . The new idea on the collegiate scene is to promote game attendance by offering a once-in-a-lifetime shot at big prizes. This season Florida fans can win   a   new   car   by   hitting three consecutive shots (a lay-up, a free throw and a mid-court shot). Persons buying game programs qualify for the chance and one lucky ticket is drawn at each home game ... At Alabama, The Crimson Tide is going one better. The lucky ticket gets one chance of making a single basket about three-quarters the   length   of the   floor.   Only at Alabama, if you hit the big one, you don't win a new car, but $100,000 (that's right, one hundred thousand dollars) cash . . .UK may have been lucky to have opened at Ole Miss for its first SEC road contest. Said coach Joe B. Hall, "our freshmen were in a state of shock in their first SEC game. They missed their home crowd." . . .This is the big week as far as the NCAA is concerned. It is holding its annual convention in Nashville and some  important  legislation will be acted on which would change the present course of the NCAA. The most controversial proposals call for a plan where only Division I schools will vote on legislation which doesn't directly affect small schools. A Sure-Bet In the SEC?
So you say you can pick college basketball games with any of the Las Vegas experts. I don't believe it; especially if your specialization is Southeastern Conference basketball this season.
For instance, I'll bet you picked little-known Mississippi State to beat SEC favorite LSU in Assembly Center. It was such a sure thing that Tennessee would drill Sonny Smith's talented Auburn group by 14 that you bet the weekly paycheck on your certain prognostication. How about the lock of the year, those Baton Rouge Tiger-killing Mississippi State Bulldogs handling host Alabama with high-scorers Bobby Lee Hurt and Buck Johnson.
Nick Nicholas
Cdts.' Pause Coluirmbi
If you picked those three games then I should be writing a story about you, the college basketball prognosticator of the South, instead of trying to figure out what's going on in the mixed up antics of Southeastern Conference basketball in '85.
At one stretch this season Kentucky and Mississippi State were leading the conference with 3-0 slates. Mississippi State?
Wasn't that the team most everyone around the SEC said didn't have a chance to compete against the likes of the LSUs, Alabamas, and Auburns?
And while we're on the subject, what about the Bengal Tigers, Crimson Tide, and Plainsmen? Well, (at the time the story was written) they are fourth, seventh, and eighth respectively. Kind of strange isn't it?
The funny thing is that when asking a few of the coaches around the SEC they didn't seem the least bit surprised, especially about the recent home team domination in league play.
"I think the surprising thing would be if everything was normal," said assistant coach Monte Towe of Florida in a recent phone interview with TCP.
Sanderson Is Not Surprised
"The only thing that has surprised me is LSU has lost twice. I didn't expect that."
Now an assistant to Coach Norm Sloan, Towe was the starting guard on the North Carolina State team (coached by Sloan) that defeated Marquette for the 1974 NCAA title in Greensboro, N.C.
When asked about the home team's advantage (11-4 after January 9) one SEC head coach didn't seem to be startled by the latter statistic.
"It hasn't surprised me at all," said Alabama head coach Wimp Sanderson in a recent phone interview. It's nothing new.
"Show me a team that's going to win a lot of road games and I'll show you a team that's going to go very far in the national tournament."
"Home court domination is exsistent about every year in the conference," mentioned Towe.
As of January 10, only LSU, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi State, have won games while being the visiting team in SEC competition.
What about fouls being the culprit victimizing certain SEC guests? Could that be a possibility Wimp?
' 'That may have a little bit to do with it," responded Sanderson. Total free throw attempts and fouls commited may be the hidden factor in why the home teams have been prevailing so much. First, lets look in our own backyard -- Rupp Arena.
"I think the surprising thing
would be if everything was
normal, "said assistant coach
Monte Towe of Florida.
Against Auburn and Vanderbilt the Wildcats have had an edge in the two pertaining categories but a slight edge. In free throws attempted UK tried 21 and was whistled for 15 personal fouls while Auburn took 14 charity tosses while being called for 18 fouls. In the Vandy win, Kentucky was called for 16 fouls and shot 18 free throws compared to Vanderbilt's 17 fouls and 13 charity attempts.
In SEC games played January 9, all four home teams were called for less fouls (64 to 89) and shot more free throws (100 to 55) than the visiting squads. The only game,-of the four referred to- out of the ordinary was the Auburn-Tennessee matchup at the Stokley Athletic Center. Auburn, who lost the game 86-74, was guilty of 29 fouls in contrast to only 14 by the host Vols. Meanwhile, at the free throw stripe Tennessee had 42 chances compared to 11 by the Tigers.
How 'bout that home court advantage?
I'm not going to argue though about what's right and what's wrong. Let somebody else, like the league's office, get involved with such technicalities. All I want to do is find out what makes this conference so unique this year. What makes it tick?
Could it be that all ten teams in the SEC are capable of winning during any given night in league play? Is it that balanced?
Said Coach Joe Hall, "The league race is probably indicative of the way the SEC schedule starts off.
' 'It's probably indicative of the inability to project the impact of JC (Junior College) players like at Mississippi State. The league probably has as much balance as it ever has. Although the schedule will likely even out the early standings."
So, in economic terms, the SEC in '85 shows that the supply and demand figures have leveled off as the 10 teams now appear equal to one another. Even a 12-6 SEC slate wouldn't be out of the ordinary for the regular season conference crown.
"I think a lot of people would take a 12-6 record in their conference games," said Towe. "It's going to be tough for one team to win 15, 16, or 17 games in this conference."
"That's not out of the rim of possibility," commented Sanderson in relation to 12-6 winning the conference. "I think 14-4 could win it and maybe 13-5. I think six (losses) might be too many."
It may be too early to predict, but the SEC race will probably be still up for grabs until the final week of action. There doesn't seem to be any clear-cut choice for the league title at this point of the schedule.
"I don't think there's no one dominant team," Towe said. "I don't see anyone dominating."
For now, that's the way things appear to be. @ pa MUM BECAME You^fsr
fLAYER EVER tikMBO A Co^BtJSilS ALL-AMERICAN1/ Hall Delighted With Smaller Basketball
The switch to a smaller basketball in the women's collegiate game may be a subtle one, but it could have major implications.
Since women started playing the sport at colleges and universities across the nation, they have dribbled the same basketball used by men. But this season the women began using a ball about an inch smaller in circumference and about a couple of ounces lighter, according to Lady Kats' head coach Terry Hall.
i^el Holbrook
Cats" Pause Columnist
"I was in favor of it because women's hands are smaller than men's," said Hall, whose team was ranked 13th in the country by the Associated Press going into Sunday afternoon's contest at Memorial Coliseum with top-ranked Old Dominion. "It fits our hands better and speeds up the game for us."
Hall, currently in her fifth season at Kentucky, said she has always been in favor of the proposal of a smaller ball. She is an advocate of the running game, utilizing the fast break as often as possible.
Speeding up the women's game is exactly what it needs to draw more support from those people who claim the women are too slow to watch. Actually, that's an unfair theory for the opposition to use, since most men are bigger and faster than women. Nonetheless, a smaller basketball could help women players refute that claim.
"We just handle it better because of the size of our hands," Hall explained. "It's helped us in a lot of ways."
With the way the Lady Kats have played so far this season, Hall shouldn't have any complaints about the new basketball. Hall, the winningest women's basketball coach in UK history entering this season, has watched her team get off to a fast start; 11-3 after last Sunday's narrow 64-63 loss to the Lady Monarchs at Memorial Coliseum. The Lady Kats, unranked in the pre-season polls, won their first six games. They had lost previously only to the Lady Monarchs, 66-59, and to the Indiana University Lady Hoosiers 65-64.
Hall's contributions have been astounding. She has a record of 98-35 with the Lady Kats and is 191-95 overall including previous stints with the Eastern Kentucky University Lady Colonels and the University of Louisville Lady Cardinals.
In 10-plus seasons, Hall's collegiate teams have never had a losing record. And it was one of her teams, not any of the other women's powers, that set a new national attendance record of 10,622 fans in UK's 80-66 victory against Old Dominion two years ago at Memorial Coliseum. Hall is one of the top coaches in the game today.
And, because of Hall and others like her, women's collegiate basketball will probably survive. Hall is a leader in her field, and her support of the new basketball is another indication of that.
"Most of them (her fellow coaches) were in favor of it," Hall said. "But there were a few who thought it was a disgrace since we had played with the larger basketball for years. I thought that was kind of ridiculous."
According to Coach Hall, it took only a couple of years for the smaller basketball to get accepted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, but it was a pretty long process getting the idea through coaches' meetings and past the basketball committee. But the passage of Title IX a few years ago has helped with the funding and acceptance of women's collegiate sports such as basketball, thus opening the door for new concepts to be introduced into the game.
Still, adjustments have to be made. Hall introduced the new ball to the Lady Kats last summer, when she was able to get four or five new basketballs from out-of-state manufacturers.
"It's taken a lot of time to get used to it," she said. "It took quite an adjustment for our players. We're not used to shooting with it."
But Hall, along with most of the other coaches, likes the change.
"It's improved the range our players can shoot from," she said. "We're shooting better from 20-22 feet out on the floor. We can handle it better and rebound it better. It's tougher to shoot it on the inside, though, because players tend to put it up too hard."
Hall said she doubts a smaller goal will be presented into the women's game anytime soon, because such a move would be too costly.
But the smaller basketball is a good step towards helping the women improve and thus insure the survival of women's basketball on all levels. Maybe someday soon all the high school players will also benefit from using the smaller ball.
And, who knows, if these changes help change the way women play for the better, maybe its popularity will help bring about a women's professional league back on the national scene again. It's the subtle changes that count the most. ___
Coach CM. Newton's Postgame Comments
The following are Coach CM. Newton's postgame comments following Kentucky's 75-68 win over Vander-bilt last Monday night at Rupp Arena.
Coach Newton: I was really proud of our basketball team for playing within the plan we had. I thought Steven Reece did as good as jo