Highlights from ESPN Gameday in Nashville

With the #OccupyMemorial movement making its presence felt in Memorial Gymnasium, the talent on the floor and the production of the show was solid as usual. It was an impressive showing from Kentucky fans as chants of “Go Big Blue” and “C-A-T-S” could be heard throughout the broadcast. Here is a brief run down of what happened and what was said during the show:

• Poor turnout by Vandy fans. Rarely, if ever, do fans fill the gym or arena for College Gameday, unless it’s Kentucky, but the Vandy representation was pretty weak. They barely filled to bottom portion of their one side where fans were allowed, there was no one in the middle tier of seats, and the entire top section was filled with Kentucky fans.
• Bilas’s “End of the Day”: “Anthony Davis is the Most Valuable Player in the Nation.” That’s pretty “Trill” of Bilas to say.
• Rece Davis continues to talk about Bilas’s trillness and his famous “I gotta go to work” tweets.
• They show the video of Anthony Davis dunking on a fan outside on the blue courts at the campout for Big Blue Madness tickets.
• Hubert says Kentucky needs more depth. X-factor is Terrence Jones. Teague is going to need to make a jump shot.
• Digger – Championship is Kentucky’s to lose. Defense wins Championships. I love Lamb. I love Miller. I think Teague can run the team. Destined for April 2nd.
• Bilas – I think Kentucky is the #1 team right now. I don’t see them getting beat before the Elite 8. Syracuse’s zone could give them trouble in the Tournament.
• In a graphic flashed talking about ESPN’s new statistic, Basketball Power Index, Kentucky ranks #1 in ESPN’s BPI and is #3 in the RPI. BPI takes into consideration these major categories: all Division I games, location, pace of games, opponent stength, and whether any top players missed a game.
• Bilas is a huge fan of the BPI ratings.
• ESPN plays a package of several SEC coaches, including Cal, talking about coaching from the baseline rather than the traditional sideline benches. They then transition into a segment with Rece interviewing Kevin Stahlings about the advantages of coaching from the baseline and how they are successful with it.
• Bilas: (In regards to playing at Memorial Gymnasium) Point guard is most important person in this game. All about communication.
• Jay Bilas then shows a beautiful breakdown of Kentucky’s execution on out of bounds plays that lead to lobs and good looks at the basket.
• Picks:
• Hubert – “I think it’s going to be Kentucky. Too good defensively.”
• Bilas – “I’ve got Kentucky in this game. One of the keys is going to be Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.”
• Digger – “Vanderbilt gets it done tonight!” Didn’t Digger just say that it was Kentucky’s Championship to lose? What a clown.