Kentucky Sports Radio

AP/Humphrey

Just days ago, our beautiful big blue land was full of questions. Our football team was facing a virtual must-win and our basketball team had yet to bounce it with any meaning. We wondered what our freshmen would look like, who our quarterback would be, whether we could get to a bowl game and whether the hoops season would ever really start. Fast forward to now, and with bowl-eligibility and a real live basketball game in the rear view it’s time to kick back with a cold glass of bourbon. Unless that’s how you were dealing with the stress, of course. If that’s the case, I don’t know how you’d go about celebrating. Caramel corn, maybe? I digress.

The basketball team looked just good enough to keep us interested Friday night, with Patrick Patterson being who we all knew he was and Eric Bledsoe being who we all hoped he could be. He looked like a freshman at times, but like an athletic freak far more often. All with one flippin’ ankle! I’ll still say that what’s happened over the last six months with the basketball program doesn’t seem totally real. But man does it feel good just to see the Cats tip it up, as evidenced by the smile I physically haven’t been able to remove since the Bledsoe shot last night. Basketball season is here and I’m officially incoherent with joy. Please, someone cohere me.

Probably more important in the big picture, the football Cats secured bowl-eligibility for the fourth straight season, a first for the program and a great accomplishment for the senior class. Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke were stars, as the Wildcat passing attack must have fallen between the seats in Papa Brooks’ Ford BAMF150, because it never made it to the stadium. Still, as you can read in my splendid and at times moving game recap below, any win that gets the Cats to a bowl is a good win. Besides, if I may speak freely, losing to Vanderbilt in anything just plain sucks, so truly a great win all around. Seriously, when the pigskin season starts, bowl eligibility is the number one goal, and Papa Rich can slice a tomato knowing that despite the ebb and flow of a wacky football season, it’s mission accomplished.

All in all a great weekend for all things Wildcat, and one that will only get better when the John Wall show starts Monday night. And no, I don’t care that Monday isn’t part of the weekend. Until then, I’ll close with a hardy Who Dey for my Cincinnati Bengals, who soon will crush the puny Steelers with nary a bead of sweat soaking their brow. If you’re good, we might give you a podcast tomorrow. For now, here’s a little video courtesy of John Clay from one of today’s stars, Derrick Locke:

BTI will be around before you know it to guide you through your Sunday travels. Don’t yell at me. He promised to play nice.