A healthy heaping of Thanksgiving leftovers:

‰It looked like Saturday night was going to be a Big Blue mess on ESPN2. The football Cats played from 6:30 to 9:30, a lackluster affair against Tennessee that was, well, downright dull (uninspiring?) and an eventual 28-10 loss. Then the basketball Cats tipped off against WVU at 10:30 p.m. and, for a half, it looked like it was going to be a long, long night for Big Blue Nation.

The score was 26-16 at halftime. Sixteen is about the number of M&M;’s you can expect to get in a package, not how many points UK scores in a half. But things perked up and Kentucky zoomed to a 54-43 victory over the Mountaineers to salvage the night. Blue Nation went to bed happy.

‰Kentucky’s quarterback situation may be in good hands. Morgan Newton, the heralded recruit from Mount Carmel, Ind., was a stud in the Class 5A finals loss to Center Grove on Saturday in Indianapolis. Newton rushed for 211 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries and completed 12 of 19 passes for 78 yards and a TD in a 36-33 loss.

Center Grove, the top-ranked team, rallied from a 19-point deficit — the largest comeback in Indiana state finals history — to defeat Mount Carmel. After the game Newton told The Indianapolis Star: “My job is to lead the team to a title and we weren’t able to get it done. I’d say my job was a failure with a loss.”

‰How mad must fans of the Texas Longhorns be? The Longhorns defeated Oklahoma and Missouri — the two teams battling for the Big 12 championship on Saturday — during the regular season. But when things went to a three-way tie between Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech for the Big 12 South championship, the conference tiebreaker formula in place was whatever the BCS computer spit out.

The Longhorns finished fractions behind the Sooners and ahead of Texas Tech, which actually beat Texas. That’s just one more reason for fans to hate the BCS mess.

‰Marshall sports information sent out an ominous e-mail on Sunday night. The statement was from Herd AD Bob Marcum, who said, “To avoid any speculation concerning our football program, Mark Snyder is and will remain our head football coach.”

Sometimes the “vote of confidence” is the kiss of death for a coach but maybe not this time. The Herd went 4-8, with seven losses in the last eight games. On the positive side, Sports Illustrated’s preseason preview predicted the Herd to go 1-11.

‰Oh! Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? It may not be with the Cleveland Browns next year.

Barring a big (unlikely) turnaround, it would appear Romeo Crennel might be on his way out as Cleveland’s coach. It’s been a disheartening year for the Brownies, who have lost two quarterbacks the past two weeks. Crennel’s future with the Browns is in the hands of Ken Dorsey. Better polish up the ’ol resume.

‰Can Bengal coach Marvin Lewis be far behind on the firing line? The Bengals are just awful.

‰Louisville didn’t exactly get Gardner-Webbed on Sunday, but Western Kentucky’s 68-54 victory over the No. 3 ranked Cardinals was stunning just the same. Congratulations to the Hilltoppers on one of their biggest wins in years.

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.