'Jesus' hangs up on Hampton coach when asked about odds of beating Kentucky (VIDEO)

Everyone knows that the little Hampton College doesn't have a prayer against top-seeded Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday … or do they?

After the Pirates advanced to meet the Wildcats with a 74-64 First Four win over Manhattan Tuesday night, Hampton head coach Edward Joyner was asked about the odds of his team beating the No. 1 team in the country — if any.

Joyner then picked up his cell phone, said he had Jesus on speed dial and pretended to get His opinion of the task at hand.

And even The Big J hung up on the coach. 

Too bad. A little divine intervention would have been quite the sixth man.

Kentucky's Devin Booker takes out cheerleader on baseline (VIDEO)

During Tuesday night's game between Kentucky and Tennessee in Knoxville, Wildcats guard Devin Booker took a hard foul while going for a layup and rolled right under a Tennessee cheerleader, knocking her for a loop.

This is called a clip in any rulebook.

After taking her out, like any good Kentucky gentleman, Booker followed up with an after-game tweet.

Is that Vol cheerleader alright? My bad.
— Devin Booker (@DevinBook) February 18, 2015

Rick Pitino blasts NCAA about Louisville-Manhattan matchup: Report

After insisting he doesn’t care about his team's No. 4 seeding in the NCAA Tournament, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino laid into the NCAA selection committee for matching him up against his friend and former assistant Steve Masiello in the opening round-of-64 game.

Pitino brushed off the low seed, but didn’t hold back regarding his displeasure at his defending national championship team being matched up with 13th-seeded Manhattan and Masiello. He went so far as to call it “unjust” because of how close he is to the Manhattan coach.

“I don’t think it’s right for either one of us,” he said. “I don’t know why (the selection committee) would do it.”

Besides the snub and the awkward matchup with Pitino's protege, the committee also placed Louisville in a bracket with a potential Midwest-region semifinal matchup against a bitter rival — Kentucky.

Whew.

Masiello, himself, has also been suggesting for days that playing against Pitino — “a man who means so much to me,” has taken some of the fun out of this trip to the tournament for him.

The Jaspers coach wasn't shy about the fact that he’s copied most everything Louisville does and kidded at his press conference that he has changed everything this week, installing a triangle-and-two zone defense in place of his full-court press.

“Louisville has been the brand that I’ve tried to model (his program) after,” Masiello said on Wednesday.

But there is also the matter of Manhattan dealing now with a Louisville team that is playing its best ball of the season, winning 12 of its last 13 games, and coming into the tournament with something to prove.

Even after remarking “it doesn’t bother me, it really doesn’t,” Pitino said just enough about the lower seed to make it clear Louisville feels disrespected.

“I think everybody else is more shocked than I was,” Pitino said. “Sometimes when people say you fit the eye test (as a No. 1 seed), it depends who’s looking at it. If you have a bunch of football ADs looking at it, how would they know what the eye test is?

“But the selection committee is very fair, very honorable, so I can’t protest too much because they’re doing the best job they can do. Maybe they’re a bunch of soccer ADs, I don’t know.”

Yeah, he's peeved.

Kentucky fan gets pre-tournament 2014 National Championship tattoo (PHOTO)

If you don't have faith, you don't have nothing — so it goes.  But having that assurance permanently inked onto your body before the fact is another thing.

My man Tyrone had an unspecified Kentucky national championship tattooed somewhere on his hirsute body, but it's assumed to be a pre-NCAA Tournament prediction.

Don't know what the '9' stands for but if the Wildcats fall short of his expectations, old Ty could just do a comb-over with his ample body hair.

People are gonna hate, but I still got faith @TrillGeta15 @AaronICE2 @DrewRoc5 @AlexTheGreat22 @J30_RANDLE #BBN pic.twitter.com/VveZzlDQhJ
— Tyrone (@Tizzblack) March 13, 2014

Kentucky's James Young makes incredible no-look basket for other team (VIDEO)

The college basketball season hasn't even officially started yet — and we already have a candidate for Play of the Year. Too bad it was for the other team.

Kentucky had an exhibition game against Montevallo on Monday, and while it should have been a phoned-in romp, the Wildcats James Young did his part to help keep the other team in the game.

Chasing a ball going out of bounds, Young saved the ball by throwing it behind his back. He threw it with such power and arc, though, that it went right into his own basket. Montevallo was awarded two points for Young's charitable effort.

Kentucky won 95-72.

UTEP to play Kentucky for 50th anniversary of '66 game on Martin Luther King Day: Report

In 2016, it will mark 50 years since Kentucky lost to Texas Western in the 1966 men's national championship game, a game now viewed as one of the most significant in college basketball history.

That game blew away one facet of racial prejudice that contended that an all-black lineup could not win at the highest level. Then-Texas Western (now The University of Texas-El Paso) coach Don Haskins used only black players in the victory over all-white Kentucky.

Current UTEP head coach Tim Floyd said Wednesday afternoon the two schools were working on a plan to honor that milestone victory and mark the 50th anniversary of the classic match-up by meeting once again on Martin Luther King Day in 2016.

UTEP coach Tim Floyd just announced Miners will play Kentucky in rematch of 66 game in 2016 possibly at Maryland on Martin Luther King Day.
— Darren Hunt (@dhuntabc7) October 23, 2013

According to Floyd, the teams are hoping to schedule the game at Maryland, the site of the 1966 game.

This is sports history that deserves such a tribute.

Nerlens Noel needs help picking out NBA Draft Day outfit

The hoop dreams of NBA Draft Day can sometimes turn into recurring nightmares for a lot of the young draftees when they look back at the ill-fitting fashion disasters they chose to wear on their big day.

As in the tradition of high school portraits and senior prom poses, these fashion statements can come back to haunt you forever in pictures and on film.  So it only makes sense to take care with what you wear.

Before these guys get the big bucks to pick and roll in the NBA, some are left to pick and choose at the tall and big man shops.

One of the top picks in this year’s Draft looks to be Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel. And while he waits to find out which team will be drafting him, he’s currently figuring out what to wear — and the selection isn't too shabby. Which is where his Twitter followers come in. He is asking fans for their help in choosing his ensemble for the evening.

Nerlens has his choices narrowed down to three suits, pictured below. The first two looks are by Jhoanna Alba, and the third is by Roger Mischel. All three look great, but Nerlens can only rock one on draft night. Cast your vote and watch the 2013 NBA Draft on Thursday night to see what he wears.

What to wear??? Vote for @NerlensNoel3's #NBADraft Night suit! http://t.co/WmbM3mS9Vv
— NBA (@NBA) June 24, 2013

Suit No. 1: Designer – Jhoanna Alba ALBA -  The Look of Your Legacy

Suit No. 2: Designer – Jhoanna Alba ALBA -  The Look of Your Legacy

Suit No. 3: Designer – Roger Mischel