DeMarcus Cousins has taken on a slew of monikers this season. He's played the role of comedian, Peter Parker, Big Cuz, Boogie and even Russian (this picture says it all), but Monday may have been his most intriguing character yet.

Cousins put on his best acting hat in front of the media Monday, rehearsing an act that was in complete contradiction to some candid comments made earlier in the year.

"It's just another game," Cousins said of the Alabama game. "No big deal."

But don't expect an Oscar nomination for this Cousins performance. Just a few months earlier before the Louisville showdown, Cousins had called the Alabama matchup his biggest game of the season.

Somewhere along the line, between his double-doubles and Kentucky's 22-1 record, did Cousins get out a No. 2 pencil and erase the circle around Tuesday's date?

Likely not. Sandwiched between the grins and awkward pauses to bite his tongue, one could read the script going through his head. Barring a brain transplant, Tuesday's Alabama game is likely still Cousins' Super Bowl.

Monday, however, seemingly lacked the media day appeal of last week's Super Bowl game. Head coach John Calipari followed the script and played coy as well.

"I didn't know there was any bad blood in this past with (Cousins and Alabama)," Calipari said. "I have no idea why that would be. Obviously he and Eric (Bledsoe) from being down there, there may be some of that stuff."

What is or isn't going through Cousins' head and what did or didn't happen in Cousins' time in Alabama is up for debate.

What we do know is Cousins has deep Alabama roots having grown up and played in Mobile, Ala. Cousins was recruited by former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried to play for the Crimson Tide and Cousins said he considered attending Alabama before choosing UK.

The 6-foot-11, 260-pound freshman had maturity problems during his high school and AAU ball in Alabama, but judging by his play and attitude of late, it appears those issues are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

"It was just a bad situation," Cousins said of his decision not to go to Alabama. "I'm here now so that's all that matters."

That answer shows that wounds from his home state are still present but bandaged up enough to move on. Three months ago, reporters would have expected nothing short of an open and honest answer from the always candid Cousins.

"He's growing up," Calipari said. "I've not had a player come that far that fast."

And it isn't like he's changed personalities off the court. Although he's riding a school-record streak of six straight double-doubles, he's still the jovial goofball outside the game that has made him both a media and fan favorite.

Take for instance his answer to a question about who he expected to be watching him from the state of Alabama on Tuesday night.

"Probably the whole state," Cousins said as he fought off a laugh. "I wouldn't say it's all friends and family. It's probably more people hoping for the worst more than anything."

But Cousins' play of late has warranted a fast-growing sentiment among the national pundits to place the big man on the ballots for the National Player of the Year race and even atop the NBA draft boards.

The biggest reason is his maturity and consistency. His talent has never been in question.

"I've grown up a lot as a player," said Cousins, who is averaging a team-best 16.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. "My decision making is a lot better. I still have a ways to go in some areas. I've matured more and my (basketball) IQ has gotten better."

One area he still has to grow in is his relationship with the zebras. During a sequence in the first half against LSU on Sunday, Cousins was called for an offensive foul when he swung his elbows after a rebound, prompting the referees to check the replay monitors to see if it was an intentional or flagrant foul.

Cousins was outspokenly upset with the refs after the win over LSU on Sunday for the lack of whistles in favor of him. He reiterated those thoughts again on Monday.

"It's a hard thing getting beat on every single play of the game and probably getting it called 30 percent of the time," Cousins said. "It's hard, but I'm getting used to it. I'm still trying to adjust to it."

Cousins said he's taking the lack of foul calls as a compliment because it means the other teams don't know how to stop him, but he also believes no other big man in the country is taking the type of beating he's suffering on a nightly basis. After a while it starts to take a toll.

"It hurts," Cousins said. "Let me beat on you all day."

His head coach, however, seems to believe that it comes with the territory of being a dominant post player in college. Teams are going to do everything in their power to stop Cousins from continuing this current torrid streak.

"He should ask Shaq (what it was like) when he was in college," Calipari said. "What did they do to him to where he had to leave and go pro? They just put three guys on him and hung and pushed and shoved. It was ridiculous, so no, he's not the only guy."

As Calipari quickly noted, though, it doesn't always feel that way when you're in his shoes. When you're getting beat on every game, leading the No. 2 team in the nation and shadowing your eyes from an ever-growing spotlight, it's hard not to slip up once in a while.

Despite playing under a microscope, he rarely has this season.

Because of the past, Alabama will offer another opportunity for the naysayers to say, "I told you so" about Cousins. But to his credit, whether it was an acting job or not, he's put on his best game face and squashed the hype.

"It's just another game," Cousins said again with that million-dollar smile brimming from ear to ear.

Maybe he can't hide his emotions heading into the Alabama game, but there's no acting job that can cover up the maturity overhaul Cousins has undergone at Kentucky.

Here are quotes from Alabama head coach Anthony Grant, whose team will take on Kentucky at 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Thanks to the Alabama media relations department fo the quotes.

Opening statement:
"Well we're facing two very good basketball teams starting with Kentucky tomorrow, one of the best teams in the county, extremely talented, very well-coached and playing very good basketball right now.  Then on Saturday we play Arkansas having lost to them the last time we played them in Fayetteville.  I think Arkansas is a team that has really hit their stride and is playing well right now.  I believe they've won three in a row here and lead the (SEC) West, so we have two tough opponents here this week."

On two of Kentucky's star players (DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe) being from Alabama and his philosophy on recruiting in-state:
"I think for every player you go to the right situation for you.  Certainly it's important to us to recruit the best student-athletes within our state and our region.  Obviously we're going to take a look nationally to make sure we get our program where it needs to be, and that's what we'll do."

On facing a tough Kentucky team following close losses:
"I think Kentucky, when you look at the talent and the way they're playing, that's a very tough opponent to play, regardless of the situation, so I don't think one has to do with the other.  For me right now, our focus is on our basketball team and continuing to do the things that we've talked about all year - getting an understanding of what it takes to win, what we've got to do and how we should approach each game and the preparation that's involved in each game so that we put ourselves in the best situation to play the best we can and be successful."

"Again, Kentucky is a very talented basketball team.  I think they're playing extremely well, so for us it's just a matter of going in and controlling the things that we can control - how hard we play, how well we compete and the attention to the details that are involved in what allows us to have a chance.  I think right now it's more about us than it is about anything else."

On Kentucky's freshman guard, John Wall:
"He's a very talented player.  I'm extremely impressed with his ability in what he's done as a freshman walking into college basketball, let alone the SEC, for what he's been able to accomplish.  I think with his scoring, his leadership and his ability to make the game easier for his teammates he is a very talented guy.  For us it's never going to be about an individual.  Kentucky is a very talented team.  We're going to approach it in terms of a team game and try to put ourselves in a position to have success."

On whether his team is experiencing a hangover following the past week's close losses:
"You know, our guys come every day, they listen and we try to keep the same approach in terms of understanding the process and getting better.  We'll find out here tomorrow, but right now I think our guys understand where we want the program going and what we need to try to do to make it happen."

On what makes Kentucky a great team:
"Well they're extremely talented, a very talented team and a very deep team.  Coach (John) Calipari has done a great job of blending the talent that he has.  He's got them playing extremely hard and they appear to be playing together.  Anytime you do that it's a great recipe when you have the talent that he has.  It makes for an awfully good team, which they are."

The Kentucky basketball teams are on the rise again.

Both the men's and women's basketball teams moved up in the major polls after going unscathed in conference play last week.

Following Villanova's loss to Georgetown, the men moved up to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 2 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. UK trails Kansas and Syracuse, respectively, in the AP poll and Kansas in the Coaches poll.

The men notched two first-place votes in the AP and one in the Coaches.

Meanwhile, the women continued their climb in the AP Top 25, jumping to No. 17 in the latest rankings. UK's 8-2 record in league play marks the program's best start in Southeastern Conference play in school history. The women's Coaches poll will be released Tuesday.

Also, ESPN.com has its weekly Bracketology. This week the Cats are in Milwaukee as a No. 1 seed, of course.  

Full polls below:

AP Top 25 (men) 
 1. Kansas (55) 22-1 1,613
 2. Syracuse (8) 23-1 1,553
 3. Kentucky (2) 22-1 1,514
 4. Villanova 20-2 1,366
 5. West Virginia 19-3 1,361
 6. Purdue 19-3 1,301
 7. Georgetown 17-5 1,211
 8. Duke 19-4 1,142
 9. Kansas State 19-4 1,139
10. Michigan State 19-5 968
11. Wisconsin 18-5 871
12. Tennessee 18-4 850
13. Ohio State 18-6 845
14. Texas 19-4 789
15. New Mexico 21-3 725
16. Gonzaga 19-4 693
17. Brigham Young 22-3 532
18. Butler 20-4 422
19. Northern Iowa 21-2 298
20. Georgia Tech 17-6 269
21. Temple 19-5 223
22. Vanderbilt 17-5 222
23. UNLV 19-4 209
24. Baylor 17-5 202
25. Pittsburgh 17-6 149

ESPN/USA Today Poll (men) 
 1. Kansas (29) 22-1 773
 2. Kentucky (1) 22-1 731
 3. Syracuse (1) 23-1 728
 4. West Virginia 19-3 657
 5. Villanova 20-2 639
 6. Purdue 19-3 599
 7. Duke 19-4 574
 8. Georgetown 17-5 560
 9. Kansas State 19-4 506
10. Michigan State 19-5 455
11. Gonzaga 19-4 427
12. Tennessee 18-4 417
13. Wisconsin 18-5 401
14. Texas 19-4 361
15. Butler 20-4 326
16. Ohio State 18-6 302
17. Brigham Young 22-3 298
18. Northern Iowa 21-2 221
19. New Mexico 21-3 211
20. Georgia Tech 17-6 150
21. Temple 19-5 131
22. Cornell 20-3 112
23. Pittsburgh 17-6 89
24. Vanderbilt 17-5 76
25. UNLV 19-4 55

AP Top 25 (women)
 1. Connecticut (40)  23-0 1000 
 2. Stanford 21-1 959 
 3. Nebraska 21-0 896 
 4. Notre Dame 21-1 894 
 5. Tennessee 20-2 850 
 6. Xavier 18-3 775 
 7. Ohio State 23-3 740 
 8. Duke 18-4 709 
 9. West Virginia 21-3 627 
10. Florida State 20-4 593 
11. Baylor 17-5 537 
12. Oklahoma 16-6 511 
13. Texas A&M 16-5 510 
14. Texas 16-6 475 
15. Oklahoma State 18-5 436 
16. Georgetown 19-3 402 
17. Kentucky 20-3 372 
18. North Carolina 16-5 358 
19. Georgia 19-5 323 
20. Iowa State 18-4 210 
21. Georgia Tech 19-5 205 
22. Gonzaga 19-4 118 
23. LSU 15-7 93 
24. TCU 17-5 70 
25. St. John's 19-4 68 

Derek Anderson could have won an NBA title, an MVP trophy and an Olympic gold medal and it still may not have mattered in this state.

When you're Kentucky blue once -- whether it's for two years, four years or 40, or whether you've scored two points or 2,000 -- you're Kentucky forever.

Anderson knew that to an extent when he left UK after his senior season, one year removed from a national championship in 1996. But it took a long and successful NBA career for Anderson to fully appreciate the passion and dedication of the Kentucky fan base.

"I was the first guy to wear Jordan shoes on his first deal, got drafted in the lottery, the first guy from Louisville, all those things, and it never matched up to being at Kentucky," Anderson said. "To me it's still amazing because you have that type of career, 11 years in the NBA, and you would think that somebody would remember you for one of those years more than Kentucky."

Not after what Anderson and his 1995-96 team, "The Untouchables" did nearly 14 years ago. For all that mattered to the fans, Anderson and the eventual stockade of NBA draftees could have flamed out in the Association. The fans still would have adored them for one of the most amazing runs in college basketball history.

Just last week Anderson boarded a plane out of the state of Kentucky and a fan brought up his two years in Lexington, not his decade-plus professional career. Moments like that got Anderson to thinking: If the championship and that team meant to such much to him, his teammates and the state, why not relive the experience?

After a couple of conversations with his former teammates, including current UK assistant director of basketball operations Tony Delk, Anderson decided to recreate the dream season with an all-access look back at "The Untouchables" with a self-produced documentary on one of the greatest teams in college basketball history. The documentary is titled, "The Untouchables: The Greatest Team Ever."

"It's still amazing that people remember us from that team," Anderson said. "When you talk and relive it, we didn't realize how good we were. We knew we were good. We won a championship and did what we were supposed to do. But our goal after that was to win a championship. When we talked about it we were just like let's relive it and let people see how good we were.

"We decided it would be best for us to leave a legacy, not just to be a part of something but to be remembered as something."  

Fans will have a chance to relive and remember just how good that team was with a blue carpet screening Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom in Lexington. Tickets for the 45-minuite preview are $150 and include one plated dinner, desert, unlimited beverages, official screening program and gift bag. The event will feature members of the 1996 team, former Wildcats, current Wildcats, alumni and more. Tickets can be purchased at the documentary's official Web site. 
 
What will likely stand out during the interviews and reflections with former players and coaches, all of which were conducted by Anderson, is a super-talented team that put its egos aside and came together on the court for the greater goal of a championship.

Despite having nine future NBA players, including six first-round picks, the players were able to co-exist with one another and put together one of the most historic runs in NCAA history. UK, with a star-studded lineup that featured the likes of Anderson, Delk, Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty and more, won 27 games in a row, including a Southeastern Conference record 16-0 in league play, en route to the 1996 title.

"Most coaches would have to baby guys and not play some guys," Anderson said. "The coaches made us practice every day to where you were fighting just to play so you can go to the NBA. So if you were a starter and you thought you were going to start all year, (Rick Pitino) would start somebody else and make you get your job back. It almost scared us into playing harder because we were so talented. That's what a great coach does."

The fact that the documentary coincides with Kentucky's return to the national stage is merely a coincidence, Anderson said, but he made no hesitation about stating his belief that the 1996 team was the greatest to ever take the court.

ESPN.com recently ranked the '96 team No. 2 behind one of John Wooden's great UCLA teams in its rankings of the best college basketball teams of all time.

"When was the last time a team went to the championship game three years in a row?" Anderson said. "You can't remember it and you won't. That's why it was so special for us. We had five NBA players starting. Then the other four guys were coming in to play. Once we figured it, out it was easy for us to win."

All it took was an early season loss to Massachusetts to figure it out. After that, the Cats were out for revenge. UK went on to win 27 straight games before losing to Mississippi State in the SEC championship. It hardly mattered as the Cats cut down the national title nets a month later.

"We didn't want to just win; we wanted to beat you to death," said Anderson, whose team won by an average of 24.3 points per game. "Whoever we were playing we wanted to embarrass them and show them how good we were."

Anderson said they didn't realize at the time what they were doing or how special they were.

"We were so focused on just one thing, (winning the championship)," Anderson said. "We didn't sway of the NBA or sway of leaving a legacy. Coach always told us to live in the precious present which every moment counts today and nothing else matters."

Maybe, but they've left a legacy for which they will always matter. Greatest ever? That's up for debate. But on Friday, fans will have a chance to relive it and judge for themselves. 

For more information, visit the Official Web site at untouchablesofkentucky.com.

Snow piles still pack the sidewalks and streets in Lexington, but UK's baseball team is just 11 days away from opening the 2010 season.

Continuing its 2010 Southeastern Conference baseball coverage, the SEC's official Web site has an in-depth preview of the 2010 UK baseball team. In the preview, fans will get a position-by-position outlook on the upcoming season.

The SEC also has a short video clip with UK coach Gary Henderson. Henderson previews the upcoming season and provides us with a couple of key players to watch out for this season. Check out the video when you get a chance.

UK will kick off its season Feb. 19 vs. Virginia Tech in the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

It figures, the weekend I decide to step away from the blogosphere a bunch goes on. I guess that's the great thing about UK Athletics is its unpredictability and constant action. There are rarely days off for any of us.

Anyway, thought I'd run through the three biggest stories of the weekend while I was away for those of you that didn't catch all the action.

- The biggest story of the weekend that unfortunately got overshadowed by the play of the basketball teams was the UK men's tennis team. Thanks to a pair of upset wins by sophomore Alex Musialek and Alberto Gonzalez, the No. 14 Cats toppled No. 2 Virginia 4-3 on Saturday at the Hilary J.  Boone Tennis Complex. UK's win snapped a 63-match winning streak for Virginia and improved the Cats to 5-1 on the season (the Cats moved on to 6-1 later that day with a 5-1 win over Eastern Kentucky). Expect UK to jump in the next Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.

- The No. 3/4UK men's basketball team thumped LSU on Saturday by a count of 81-55. Freshman DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 13 rebounds for his sixth consecutive double-double and 10 players scored for the Wildcats, but the biggest thing to take out of Saturday's game was the re-emergence of Patrick Patterson. The junior forward finished the game with a modest 16 points, but for the first time in a long time, Patterson appeared to be more assertive down low. There was a concentrated effort to put his butt in the paint and post up. As a result, we saw turnaround hooks, a couple of dunks and even more offensive rebounding opportunities for Cousins. Sure, Patterson launched a few 3-pointers and played on the perimeter, but for the first time this season we saw a total package of his newly honed game. Head coach John Calipari said after the win that Patterson is about 20 percent away from where he wants him to be. After the LSU game, imagine a Patterson at 100 percent.

- Matthew Mitchell and Co. continues to roll on. They're picking up so much momentum at this point that it isn't unconceivable to think this team could win the Southeastern Conference title. Picked to finish 11th by the SEC coaches at the beginning of the year, the No. 18/20 Cats remained one game behind first-place Tennessee with a 71-57 victory over Arkansas on Sunday. The win improved UK to 8-2 in the league, the program's best 10-game start in the SEC in school history. Nobody in the league is playing better than the duo of A'dia Mathies and Victoria Dunlap. Mathies, a freshman guard, went for a career-high 27 points Sunday, and Dunlap notched another double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Dunlap was named SEC Player of the Week for the second straight week for her performances against Ole Miss and Arkansas. Inexplicably, Mathies was somehow snubbed from SEC Freshman of the Week honors despite averaging 24.0 points per game.

For those of you loyal followers who follow this blog every day, just wanted to give you a warning that I won't have coverage today for the LSU game.

I'm currently on the road bidding farewell to a sibling who is moving out west, and since I'm helping him move, my availability today for the game will be limited.

Hope everybody enjoys the game. I'll return to the blogosphere on Monday at the latest.