Say what you want about the type of year the Southeastern Conference is having in basketball, but opening at Georgia will be no easy task.
“The two most dangerous places on the road, as of today, are Vanderbilt and Georgia. Those are teams that tend to go under the radar with the (fans) and maybe some of the young players as well.”
So says The Cats’ Pause founder and longtime UK basketball observer Oscar Combs as the Wildcats prepare to open SEC play Saturday at Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum.
“Georgia has arguably the top two NBA prospects in the league in (Trey) Thompkins and (Travis) Leslie,” Combs said. “Two guys can carry you a long way, especially on a home court.”
Another longtime observer of UK and SEC basketball is Larry Conley and the former Big Blue star is also bullish on Georgia right now.
“(Thompkins) is back and playing 100 percent and he’s playing really well,” Conley said in an appearance on “The Leach Report radio show (podcast at www.tomleachky.com. “I think Travis Leslie is one of the best athletes in the Southeastern Conference and he’s playing really well, too.”
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Mister Cobble isn’t your typical scout team defensive tackle. Offensive guard Larry Warford knows that all too well from their battles on the practice field all season long.
Now that Cobble has regained his eligibility in the classroom, his scout team days are over and Warford thinks Cobble can make an impact in the bowl game even though it will mark Cobble’s first college game action.
“Big, strong, physical guy,” Warford said of Cobble. “I don’t think I’ve played against anyone stronger than him. We’ll be double teaming him and he won’t move. He really has a chance to be an All-SEC player.”
Because he wasn’t eligible to play in games this past season, Cobble spent extra time in the weight room and said his max on the bench press is up to 450 pounds.
Warford benefitted from going against Cobble every day as he earned All-SEC honors this year.
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Turnovers played a major role in the losses the UK football team suffered this season and it was the same story with Pitt. In its seven wins this year, the Panthers committed only six turnovers but had 14 in their five losses.
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Do you realize that neither Derrick Locke nor Randall Cobb has played on a winning bowl team?
Locke was injured in both 2007 and 2008 and Cobb missed the ’08 Liberty Bowl with an injury.
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Jerry Claiborne played on Bear Bryant’s first teams at Kentucky but Claiborne’s bio indicates he missed the 1947 season. That would mean he missed out on the win in the Great Lakes Bowl that year, meaning Joker Phillips could become the only Kentucky coach to win a bowl game for the Wildcats as head coach and as a player if the Cats can defeat Pitt.
And here’s an ironic twist: If it happens, both wins would have come at the same place: Birmingham’s Legion Field.
How’s that for trivia?
