John Calipari set to sign Kentucky Wildcats contract extension

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Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Is 2015 the year that the Kentucky Wildcats finally break the streak to Florida? Last years close call in Gainesville fuels the speculation and the fact that this game is in Lexington makes it a popular prediction for the upcoming season. Across the blogosphere, the stars seem to be aligning that his may be the year as the Gators have several perceived weaknesses.

"It’s difficult to know how seriously to take these numbers as an outsider. How likely is it that positional disparities from previous classes will impact the 2015 season? It just so happens that new UF coach Jim McElwain confirmed this spring that there’s a “lack of numbers and size”, and Alligator Army’s spring scrimmage recap highlights the lack of depth along the offensive line. The offense is sounding like it’ll have issues. Furthermore, Gator speculation suggests freshman Will Grier will be named the starter at quarterback, and his first road game will be when he travels to Lexington. CWS won’t make anyone’s top ten list for most hostile environment, but a thin offense early in the season on the road with a freshman quarterback has been known to struggle in the history of college football writ large."

Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Bobby Petrino made headlines recently when he offered a 13-year-old quarterback. And apparently Petrino is not the only one to do this type of thing. It seems that getting that first offer on the recruits table is a big thing now. Of course, it means absolutely nothing in terms of locking the school in on the kid long-term, but it makes an impact on the players. No one forgets their first apparently.

"In what is becoming a growing national trend, colleges are extending athletic scholarship offers to middle-school students. Last week, the University of Akron was the first school to make an offer to Johnson and Ohio University followed a few days later. Johnson is 14 years old and is a standout quarterback for the Spartans in the Detroit Police Athletic League, where he has played the last six years. He’s believed to be the first athlete in Michigan in any sport to be offered a college scholarship before entering high school. “He’s 6-foot-3, 180 pounds. That’s the wow factor,” his father, Sam Johnson II, said. “He has won MVP awards at high school camps without coaches knowing he’s in eighth grade.” Offering athletes who are yet to take their first class as freshmen isn’t new. In 2009, then-USC coach Lane Kiffin offered Nathan Tilford and Alabama and LSU offered Dylan Moses that same year. Kentucky coach Mark Stoops extended an offer before Jairus Brent even got to eighth grade. It’s a touchy ethical issue for prospects and parents alike, but the benefit for the college is that it puts them first in line with young players — and that can pay dividends later in the recruiting process."

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