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Kentucky Still Lacking A Floor Leader
For the past few weeks, it seems, we've been saying the next two or three games "will be the most vital games of the season for the Kentucky Wildcats."
They were, perhaps, but no more so than the next two, and the following two, etc.
In the past, Kentucky's success almost always had a direct bearing on the outcome of the Southeastern Conference race, usually with the 'Cats right in the thick of the action.
Not so this time around.
Oh, Kentucky hasn't been officially eliminated from the race to defend its crown of a year ago. But anything less than a holy miracle will have the Wildcats clawing, just to finish in the top four of the SEC.
With a current 5-5 league mark, Kentucky could go undefeated (which it won't) the rest of the way and still not win the league. There's no way Alabama is going to lose four more games and Florida probably won't either.
What Kentucky desperately needs to accomplish is some consistent team play with an eye toward the new season at the Omni in Atlanta in March.
In the process, coach Eddie Sutton's team needs to play its games one at a time with a theme of giving a total effort toward improving each time out.
Obviously, Kentucky needs at least 17 or 18 victories to have a good shot at an NCAA at-large invitation. Anything less and the 'Cats will have to depend on a strong SEC Tournament showing.
And the way pairings have worked out in recent years, you never know which team you'll be playing. And as close as the league
Holy Cross' Phil Logan
race has been, sometimes the No. 4 seeded team really hasn't been as good as the No. 7 seeded team because the No. 7 seeded team was playing on an emotional high at the season's end.
It could happen again this season.
With the current standings in mind, the top candidates for the qualifying round of games on March 5 are Mississippi State, Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi.
Two of those clubs aren't surprising, but when you mention the names of LSU and Tennessee as two of the bottom four teams in the SEC, you know something is wrong.
Taking the standings as of this past Sunday, the seeding order would be Alabama, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, LSU, Mississippi, Tennessee and Mississippi State. You can rest assured the order will change, but for the sake of discussion, let's use this one.
Such a finish would have in the top bracket third-place Auburn going against sixth-place Vanderbilt. Second-place Florida would play the winner of a qualifying round involving LSU and Mississippi State.
In the bottom bracket, fourth-place Georgia would take on fifth-place Kentucky. SEC winner Alabama would take on the winner of the Mississippi-Tennessee contest.
One semifinal game would pit the Aubum-Vandy winner against the winner of the Florida-(victor of LSU-Miss. State) game. In the other semifinal, the winner of the Georgia-Kentucky contest would meet the winner of the Florida-(victor of the Mississippi-Tennessee) contest.
What you would then see would be league runner-up Florida probably having to face LSU in the Gators' first game. You can't make me believe that's a reward for being the league's second best team.
Of course there's no better method of seeding the teams, but it just goes \show how the system can be a bit unfair when the league is so balanced. By the first week of March, you might see a situation where a team might actually benefit itself by losing a game so it can avoid a tough first-round game.
Despite such possibilities, each club has to go after every game as though the outcome could affect the team's NCAA chances. First, one loss could mean the difference when the NCAA selection committee chooses between two teams.
Every SEC team has to avoid the bottom four qualifying round if it wants to have any chance of winning the SEC Tournament. Since the tourney was revived back in 1979, only one team (Auburn in 1985) has ever won the title by emerging from the qualifying round.
The SEC race is barely past the halfway mark, but because of the enormous success enjoyed by Alabama and Florida, eight other schools are already thinking of another seasonone which begins in Atlanta early next month.
Last week's performances against Ole Miss and Mississippi State did nothing to excite UK fans, yet it may have been the most im-
portant lessons the Wildcats will learn all season.
To say the Big Blue faithful are disillusioned would be putting it mildly. Ole Miss has proven itelf to be a worthy opponent (the Rebels had a great week by mowing down Tennessee in Knoxville two days later) but neither the Rebels or the Bulldogs of Mississippi State will have a say in the NCAA next month.
Those who should have learned the valuable lessons reside at Wildcat Lodge on Lexington Avenue. Perhaps now, these Wildcats understand that last year was last year and this year is this year.
All-American Kenny Walker is no longer around. Neither is All-SEC Roger Harden. For that matter, neither is sparkplug Leroy Byrd and rugged Winston Bennett who is out for the season with an injury.
This current bunch of 'Cats played on raw talent and emotion early, but as soon as opponents had a couple scouting films to tear down, the weaknesses have been exposed fairly regularly.
Missing are several ingredients which made last year's team so successful. The obvious, of course, were the players mentioned above.
And Sutton has repeatedly pointed that out.
Sutton probably was also making another point which, perhaps, has not been so obvious to the public.
This team has no leader. Period.
Last season, the club had a bundle of leadersWalker, Harden and Bennett.
With them gone, no one has stepped forward. It's as simple as that. Coaches have often said they like a team which has at least two or three seniors who are counted on heavily, both on and off the court.
When you count so heavily on young peoplelike Rex Chapman, Derrick Miller and Irv Thomasyou can expect to face this problem. What this team needs and needs quickly, is for someone to surface with a take-charge attitude.
Oh, how nice it would be if Winston Bennett could just put on his uniform for just five minutes.
The football wars are really heating up around the country and UK boss Jerry Claiborne is in the midst of his most important recruiting season since he arrived on campus five years ago. ' For a change, the state is blessed with an abundance of blue-chip grid stars who could have both an immediate and long-lasting effect on the Big Blue program.
Verbal committments are beginning to surface and the 'Cats need to collect a lion's share of the crop to beef up the Wildcat roster.
Word also has it that Kentucky could finally score a couple of big out-of-state prospects for the first time when the signing date arrives on Feb. 11.
The 'Cats had their third big recruiting weekend of the winter last weekend as the recruits watched the hoop 'Cats hold off Mississippi State 50-36.
One of the prized recruits spotted on a front row seat at Rupp Arena was Phil Logan, the
highly talented 6-2, 180-pound wide receiver out of Louisville Holy Cross.
Logan reportedly has narrowed his choices to Kentucky, Tennessee or Michigan. He's one of the state's top candidates for Mr. Football and one of those "musts" on UK's recruiting list.
Being the great year that it is for Kentucky prep football products this year, the situation hasn't gone unnoticed by the ratings services.
Max Emfinger, director of the National High School Football Recruiting Service, has three Kentuckians listed among the nation's top prospects.
Newport Catholic defensive end Frank Jacobs is listed as the nation's No. 1 defensive end. Emfinger believes the race will boil down to Kentucky, UCLA, Boston College, Notre Dame and Perm State.
Both Eddie Thomas and Phil Logan are listed among the top 20 wide receivers.
Kentucky also is in the hunt for some great out-of-state prospects like the nation's No. 2 offensive tackle in Scott Ball, a 6-6, 285-pounder of Brandon, Fla., and No. 5 running back Carlos Snow of Cincinnati, Ohio.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING NOTES. .
.Early reports out of the recruiting circles have Notre Dame enjoying a great recruiting year along with Eastern powers Penn
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Paul Galvan Calling It Quits