Today is day 3 of the new, expanded SEC Tournament. Last night, the Vanderbilt Commodores outlasted the Arkansas Razorbacks to earn the right to face the Kentucky Wildcats tonight.

Tweet of the Morning:

Wow Digger just made total sense. I don't know what to do with that information. My mind is blown.

— Greg Wienges (@GregNJ) March 15, 2013

That is surely a sign of the apocalypse ...

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• WVSports.com // Stoops not afraid to step on toes to recruit

  Mark Stoops on recruiting:

  "Until guys are signed, they are fair game. We are going to recruit hard and do what is best for us. If there is a player we feel like we still have a relationship with, then we are going to stay with him until the very end."

  That’s the way everyone else does it.

Kentucky basketball

• Kentucky basketball hoping for Alex Poythress in beast mode // The Courier-Journal

  Playing in Nashville should mean something to Alex Poythress, and we need him at is best tonight.

• Madison Central Star Dominique Hawkins on Kentucky - " They Haven't Made an Offer Yet" // Everything Kentucky Online

  Hawkins does say he is going to wait and see what UK does before making his decision

• Kentucky's Cauley-Stein has history of adapting // Kentucky.com

  Calipari on Willie Cauley-Stein:

  "He’s done fabulous," UK Coach John Calipari said this week. "The kid has just a great temperament. He’s building his own confidence."

  He has been outstanding. Clearly, he was an underrated player in high school.

• Kentucky Wildcats basketball team is playing with house money

  Does this team really have what it takes to make a run? We’ll find out beginning tonight.

• Cal knows Cats in for fight against Vandy // Cat Scratches

  "We’ve had three really good days of practice and I was really - I was probably as hard the last three days as I was at any point this season," Calipari said on Thursday night.

  This is definitely going to be tough. It’s a home game for Vanderbilt, just as if the tournament were held in Louisville, only more so.

• Notebook: Calipari watches some of CPA's quarterfinal win // The Tennessean

  The Wildcats have shown interest in CPA’s 6-foot-7 forwards — Jalen Lindsey and Braxton Blackwell — Lions coach Drew Maddux said.

  Recruiting never ends.

• Bracket update: Movement on the bubble // ESPN

  Think Kentucky needs a win tonight?

  LAST FOUR IN
  La Salle
  Kentucky
  Virginia
  Tennessee

• Not knowing what to expect, Cal just wants his team to battle (with video) // CoachCal.com

  "I just want to see us play for 40 minutes," Coach Cal said. "Play, compete, battle. Don’t hang your heads. Don’t droop your shoulders. Don’t jog back because you’re embarrassed on how you’re playing. Play, battle, fight. That’s all we’re talking about."

  Sounds depressingly familiar.

• Calipari, Stallings preview SEC quarterfinal matchup // Kyle Tucker – UK Beat

• On the fix-it list, Kyle Wiltjer’s shooting slump // John Clay's Sidelines

  In his last five games, Wiltjer has made just eight of his 37 shots for 21.6 percent. He has missed 17 of his 20 three-point shots, making just 15 percent from behind the line.

  I wonder what Kentucky would look like with a consistent Kyle Wiltjer?

• Stallings acknowledges Vandy;s dependence on 3-point shot // Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

  When asked how dependent Vandy was on three-point shooting, Stallings said, "Pretty. Pretty dependent. We don’t score a lot of post-up points. We just don’t."

  Well, then just stay home on their shooters. Seems simple enough to me …

Other UK sports

• Diving to Compete in Zone C at NCAA Qualifier // UKAThletics.com

• Florida Baseball Starts SEC Play At McKethan Stadium Against No. 10 Kentucky // GatorZone.com

• Mathies one of 15 finalists for prestigious John Wooden Award // vaughtsviews

  I really hope she wins. She certainly deserves it.

Links posts

• Tom Leach // Friday Links
• Morning Five: 03.15.13 Edition // Rush The Court
• The Morning Mix // Troy Machir, CollegeBasketballTalk

College football

• "I LOVE THE WAY YOU BALL": This N.C. State Recruiting Letter Is Insane (UPDATE: It's A Form Letter) // Deadspin

  This photo of a batshit insane recruiting letter comes to us from the Instagram account Dexter Wright, a high school football player who has struck the fancy of N.C. State’s director of player personnel, Drew Hughes.

  I have no words…

• Governor asks federal court to dismiss NCAA lawsuit vs. Penn State // ESPN

  State and congressional lawmakers have objected to use of the NCAA fine to finance child abuse prevention efforts in other states.

  They should. It’s an absurd abuse of power by the NCAA.

• Judge moves trial of 'Bama fan in Auburn tree case - College football- NBC Sports

  Updyke has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to charges of poisoning the trees during Auburn’s run to the national championship in the 2010 football season.

  Imagine that. Well, you have to admit, the defense sounds reasonable in his case.

College basketball

• Vanderbilt 75, Arkansas 72: Another SEC Tournament Disaster // Arkansas Expats

  Point anything out in the stats you want, it’s just a disappointing end to an absurdly frustrating season. Arkansas doesn’t win a game in the SEC Tournament for the fifth year in a row. Think about that. 0-5 in SEC Tournaments in the last five years.

  Ouch.

• Odd A-10 ending gives Charlotte controversial win over Richmond // CBSSports.com

  Three technical fouls were assessed to Richmond in the final 4.7 seconds of play, and the Spiders fell to Charlotte 68-63 after leading 63-60, seemingly having victory in hand. All of Charlotte’s final eight points were made via free throw, all of them by Pierria Henry.

  I don’t know what to make of this. What I do know is the foul called on the 3-point shot was pretty absurd. It was a foul, but it looked to me like he heaved the ball at the goal after the foul happened.

• Recruiting critical to Frank Martin’s goal of changing South Carolina basketball // The Post and Courier

  Boy, howdy, I’d say. Especially after this year’s debacle.

• Missouri vs. Texas A&M; results: Tigers advance to SEC quarterfinals // SBNation.com

• Scout.com // Commodores advance in SEC Tournament

  Now we know our foe, and Kentucky has to face the dreaded "beating a team three times is hard" curse that seemed to undo the UK Hoops team.

• Tennessee Volunteers beat the Bulldogs, somnambulism 69-53 // Rocky Top Talk

Other sports news

• Commissioner: SEC to announce launch of TV network in mid-April // Yahoo! Sports

  The new network is expected to be a partnership with an established broadcast entity, most likely ESPN. That would be similar to the Big Ten Network deal, which is 49 percent owned by the conference and 51 percent owned by Fox. The SEC already has an extensive relationship with ESPN.

  What will this mean for the availability of UK broadcasts California or Texas? I don’t know, and I don’t guess we’ll find out until later.

• Around the SEC // Baseball Edition - Roll 'Bama Roll

• Laughably bad strike called in WBC // Larry Brown Sports

  Even somebody who has never seen a baseball game but understands the concept would mock this. And we think that SEC officials are blind …

• ESPN Suspends Bill Simmons From Twitter After First Take Criticism // Deadspin