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Thank God for Kentucky and Vanderbilt

by Tony Basilio

With Erik Ainge on the shelf, Tennessee fans are sweating what could be a photo finish for an SEC Eastern Division Championship. It’s uncertain moments like these that help one appreciate the kindness and generosity of others. In other words, thank God for both Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

It’s no understatement to say that the two final opponents on Tennessee’s schedule suck out loud. In fact, “suck” doesn’t really do either team justice. In these hard times, they are both a welcome sight—a blue-and-gold red carpet on the Vols’ way to Atlanta. Even without either of our starting quarterbacks, it wouldn’t be good enough to simply beat these teams. It’s time for John Chavis’ defense, led by stand-out DT Jesse Mahelona, to pitch a couple of shutouts!

First, let’s look at Vanderbilt. In the previous decade, Vandy’s record in November is 6-32. Only in 1995, Rod Dowhower’s final season, did the Commodores win two games in a single November. They do have a great chance at to win one this week, however. They face Kensucky.

Vanderbilt’s record versus Tennessee is 0-21 since ’82. There have been a few close calls along the way, but Vanderbilt always finds a way. This year, Tennessee needs to show them the way. To compound things for Vandy, the Commode-ores have scored only three TDs in their last three SEC Games. Their lone win in the last month was a less than stellar 19-7 victory over Division 1-AA Eastern Kentucky.

But of these two remaining weak sisters, Vanderbilt is by far the more dangerous opponent. Bobby Johnson’s ’Dores are at least semi-competitive. Kentucky, on the other hand, has devolved into the laughing stock of Division 1-A football. Their offense, or lack thereof, is plain offensive. The Mild Cats brought the nation’s worst offense into Division 1-A football last weekend when they somehow hung 17 on Georgia. And believe me, 17 points is a real event for the UK faithful. The Big Boo-Hoo were a stunning 117th (out of 117) in major college football in total offense before squaring off with the Dawgs.

The neutered Kitties were also a world-beating 114th in scoring offense in Division 1-A before taking on Georgia. After the loss, the Cats fall to 1-8 overall, 0-6 in the SEC, and have lost seven straight games. Seven of their eight losses have been by double digits.

How bad is it for the Kitty Cats? Consider that their last win, which occurred over a month ago, was a 28-16 dogfight with Mid-American Conference also-ran Ohio University. OU is 0-4 since almost getting it done in Lexington. That’s cause for celebration compared to the most recent Sagarin Ratings, which indicate just how far the Kats have fallen into the dregs of the SEC.

Kentucky is 126th in the latest Sagarin, the lowest total by far for a recent SEC team. The Cats have the distinction of staring up at the following Division 1-AA teams: Georgia Southern at No. 41; James Madison at No. 47; Southern Illinois at No. 58; New Hampshire at No. 61; Harvard (an Ivy League school is 60 places higher than Kentucky!) at No. 65; William & Mary at No. 72; Villanova at No. 74; Delaware (they call themselves the Blue Hens) at No. 77; Cal Poly at No. 82; Northeastern at No. 88; Sam Houston State at No. 93; Hofstra (The Flying Dutchmen!) at No. 93; Maine at No. 95; Montana, at No. 96; Penn at No. 97; Western Kentucky at No. 103; Eastern Washington, at No. 103; UC-Davis (Didn’t Arnold and the Republicans run him off?) at No. 106; Furman (Yes, that Furman.) at No. 108; Lehigh at No. 119; Lafayette at No. 122; Brown at No. 123; and mighty Montana St. at No. 124.

As if the numbers aren’t bad enough for UK Head Coach Rich Brooks, his record fell to 6-15 overall after Saturday’s loss to Georgia. Couple this with the dreaded “vote of confidence” from embattled Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhardt, and you get a team playing out/hanging from a string.

Don’t listen to the pundits who will try and hype UT’s obstacles to the SEC Championship game. The Vols could beat Vandy and Kentucky with Victor Ashe at Quarterback. Vandy and Kensucky will both cede to Tennessee. The only question is by how much.

Tennessee’s goal should be eight shutout quarters versus those last two laughing stocks. That’s called gliding into the post-season, Big Orange style.

Let’s beat these schools while we can, because basketball season is right around the corner.

Listen up! Tune in and talk sports with Tony Basilio weekdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN Radio WVLZ 1180 AM.

November 11, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 46 © 2004 Metro Pulse