I thought the grey jerseys last night were pretty cool....a lot better than black. Of course, if you're superstitious you might say we creamed Ole Miss in the black and lost in the grey. But...it was Kentucky and the Dawgs played pretty well. What do you think about the grey?

Last night Rodney Hood went down with 4:54 left in the first half with an apparent knee injury. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist accidentally ran into Hood from behind, and he never returned to the game. The Bulldogs lost to #1 Kentucky 73-64.

Today Hood had his knee evaluated through a MRI. Fortunately, there was no structural damage found. The official word is a deep bone bruise on his left knee. His status for Saturday's road game against fellow bubble-team Alabama is unknown.

We'll let ya know when we find out more...

Quick observation: I was just thinking the other day that when MSU makes the NCAA Tournament, Ole Miss usually doesn't. And the same thing with Alabama and Auburn.

MSU made the big dance in '95 and '96. Then Ole Miss made it in '97, '98, '99, '01 and '02. State made it in '02 as well, then again in '03, '04, '05, '08 and '09. So out of the last 17 years, one of these two teams have made it in 12 of them...but only once have they both made it.

Auburn made the tourney in '99, '00 and '03. Alabama made it every year from 2002-06. So that's an eight year stretch where there was a team from Bamer in the NCAA Tournament every year but one, and only 2003 featured both.

That is your nugget of useless info for the day.

For 35:54 seconds, it would have been easy to think that the No. 1 team in the country wore grey Tuesday night in the Humphrey Coliseum, but Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's basket with 4:06 to play put Kentucky ahead for good on their way to a 73-64 Wildcat victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Here's a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the contest.

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Welcome to the For Whom the Cowbell Tolls for the Mississippi State vs. Kentucky matchup tonight at the Humphrey Coliseum. Here's the essential info for tonight's game

MISSISSIPPI STATE (19-8, 6-6) vs. No. 1 Kentucky (26-1, 12-0)

State will have to play a near perfect game tonight in order to have a chance against the cats. Kentucky is led by Freshman tandem Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis. The cats are long at every position, and defend well both on the perimeter and low block. Anthony Davis is the next Jarvis Varnardo shot-blocking wise, with an offensive game far advanced beyond many big men in the NCAA these days. With all the chips seemingly stacked against State tonight however, there's always a reason they go out and play the game. And especially in this series, who knows what may happen.

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Earlier today, Justin Sutton wrote about how Rick Stansbury is an overachiever. I don't know about that one.

First off, what should the goals for the Mississippi State basketball program be? I would say it should be the same as any other SEC school outside Kentucky. Your view is probably different, but I say (1) to field a competitive team year in and year out and (2) build a team so that every 3-4 years you are contending for a SEC Championship (regular season) and position yourself for a lengthy run in the NCAA Tournament. If you're not accomplishing those goals then it's time to move on.

Stansbury was doing a fine job of the above paragraph from 1999-2005 (gave him three years to build it). And I will give him a reprieve for the 2006 season to rebuild after the top 6 guys left. But from there on out it has been transfers and underachieving teams.

2007 was disappointing, 2008 was a little too, and even 2009. But the biggest thorn in the eye was the 2010 team. Stans returned 9 of his top 11 players from the 2009 team which won the SEC Tournament. Here's the list of guys (in order) in case you forgot:

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Two weeks ago this Thursday, Mississippi State was 19-5 and riding high coming off a victory over our arch rival at home. Two weeks fast forwarded and the feeling around the program couldn't be more different, as we head in to play the #1 team in the country riding a 3 game losing streak. But great seasons are often forged in the fires of adversity, and tonight is a perfect opportunity to do some forgin', ya heard me?

I come to you today not as a blogger, but as a fellow fan. I've watched just like you as the hopes of this season have been quickly dashed by the likes of Georgia, LSU and Auburn. But I'm here to remind you that this season isn't quite over yet.

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A quick survey of the interwebs lets me know that many Mississippi State fans, at least the vocal ones, want to see some sort of shake up with the men's basketball program. I'm here to tell them why they are wrong. I'm here as the voice of what I think is the silent majority. No, it is not time to replace Rick Stansbury. It may be time to change expectations or goals, but it is not time to change the coach.

Reason Number One: Rick Stansbury has overachieved at Mississippi State.

The common phrase everyone likes to use about Rick Stansbury and his basketball program are disappointing or underachieving. I have a question for readers to consider. Why do you say that Stansbury has been an underachiever? By pretty much any measurable statistic, Stansbury has overachieved.

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