Saturday Links: Wisconsin, Kentucky, RSIII

Wisconsin good. Kentucky really bad.

** If you missed it, Kentucky lost Saturday to the University of San Diego. Not San Diego State. No, the Toreros of USD. The loss drops Billy Gillispie's squad to 5-6. The Wildcats lost two starters from a season ago when Tubby Smith led the Wildcats to a 22-11 record (9-7 in SEC play). As we all know, that wasn't good enough and some Wildcats fans labeled our basketball savior "ten-loss Tubby." John Clay reports that UK was booed as the final horn sounded.

** Meanwhile, our annoying friends to the east, Bo Ryan's Wisconsin Badgers, demonstrated with a thrilling victory at Texas Saturday that they will be a factor in the Big Ten this season. Michael Flowers came up very large with a game-changing three and then a game-stealing steal. The Wisconsin Sports Bar says YESSSSSSSSSSSS. The win at Texas should indicate the Badgers are ready for Big Ten play. The Badgers finish the non-conference schedule with a 10-2 mark, with blemishes coming at Duke and at home against in-state rival Marquette.

** One more item to pass along to you. After a brief hiatus from action--the boy was sick--Ralph Sampson III led his Northview team to a win Friday in the Arby's Classic in Bristol, Tenn. Sampson shot 7-9 from the floor for 19 points (This is good, considering the final score was 42-29). Sampson also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked seven shots. And today, Sampson continued his strong play with 21 points, 11 boards and eight blocks in a losing effort.

As an aside, I nearly drove 5 hours to Bristol to catch this tournament. For various reasons, I decided against it but was pleased I did when I learned that Sampson missed the first game of the tournament Wednesday with bronchitis.