Notes: Leave NCAA basketball tournament alone, plus reading between UK football lines

A John Calipari-Mark Stoops-free version of random notes:

▪ Reports say SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey believes the NCAA needs to take another look at expanding the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Look all you want, but unless expansion means allowing more one-bid leagues to have more teams in the tournament, I say leave well enough alone.

▪ As for Kentucky basketball’s four-game sweep in the Bahamas, here’s my list of most impressive Cats: 1-Antonio Reeves; 2-Jacob Toppin; 3-Chris Livingston.

▪ Reading between the lines at Kentucky football’s media opportunity Tuesday, sounds like there may be some shuffling on the offensive line.

▪ Also at Kentucky’s fall football camp, they can’t stop talking about freshman defensive lineman Deone Walker.

▪ If you’re scoring at home, Kentucky is ranked No. 20 in the preseason AP football poll, No. 21 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, No. 22 in ESPN’s preseason rankings and No. 22 in Sports Illustrated’s preseason rankings.

▪ Have not seen the new video boards and scoreboards at Kroger Field, but I do know they were overdue.

▪ Former UK linebacker Jared Casey is making an impression at Indiana. “Jared has done a phenomenal job of coming in, especially this fall, and embracing the process of growth and development,” IU defensive coordinator Chad Wilt told Rick Bozich of WDRB in Louisville.

▪ Eastern Kentucky University football’s Fan Day is scheduled for Aug. 27 at Roy Kidd Stadium. Doors open at 5 p.m. with an open scrimmage scheduled for 7 p.m. The event is free to attend. Colonels football players will be signing autographs and meeting fans from 5 p.m. until 5:45 inside the Rick Erdmann Olympic Sports Training Center gymnasium. Fans can also enjoy an inflatable kids’ zone inside and outside, photo backdrop for pictures, and a live DJ. Food trucks from Sammich Man Express, Piggin Out, and Poppy’s Ice Cream will be in the RV lot. The first 100 fans will receive free ice cream vouchers. Marketing tables will be holding giveaways, and season tickets are available to purchase at the event.

▪ Florida opened its $85 million football facility, the Heavener Football Training Center, this week. From the Gainesville Sun, “Amenities inside the building include a dining hall, lounge area, barber shop, virtual reality room, gaming and golf center, as well as resort-style pool area (65,000 gallons) with basketball courts and multipurpose lawn and volleyball areas.”

▪ AP preseason Top 25 teams by conference: SEC-6: ACC-5; Big Ten-4; Pac-12-3; Big 12-3; Independent-2; AAC 2.

▪ Talk about bad timing. I was on a Waco, Texas, sports radio talk show Monday to discuss the spat between our local coaches when it was brought to attention I voted Baylor No. 22 in my AP preseason poll. Overall, the Bears are ranked 10th.

▪ Leave it to Ole Miss Coach Lane Kiffin to find his new punter at a frat house, or so he says. Charlie Pollock, former punter at Nevada, entered the transfer portal after last season and wound up in Oxford. He’s listed at 6-foot-1, 250 pounds. Kiffin claims the Rebels found Pollock at a fraternity keg party.

▪ On a related note, the Tuscaloosa city council voted to allow beer and wines sales at 100,077-seat Bryant Denny Stadium for Alabama football games this fall. Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart said last Saturday he believes UK has a terrific environment at Kroger Field without alcohol sales.

▪ Tough break for Lexington native Walker Buehler. The Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher will miss the rest of the 2022 season after undergoing elbow surgery.

▪ On his return to Cincinnati, former Reds slugger Nick Castellanos received a standing ovation Monday night. Then Tuesday, Castellanos reminded Reds fans what they were missing as he doubled twice and homered in Philadelphia’s 11-4 win.

▪ Right now, the only Reds’ bright spot is Jake Fraley. Acquired from Seattle before the season, the outfielder is hitting .371 in August after Tuesday’s action.

▪ From longtime Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel: “Any university that’s a basketball school would rather be a football school. Even if no one admits it.”

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