Friday Look Ahead: Donovan's Gators don't need distractions at UK

John Calipari has turned Rupp Arena into the place to be this season if you like NFL stars (Ben Roethlisberger), NBA stars (LeBron James), rap stars (Drake), movie stars (Ashley Judd) or just larger-than-life stars from the world of basketball (William Wesley). But if you want porn stars -- and, honestly, who doesn't want porn stars? -- then you must travel to ... Allen Fieldhouse?

Yep, Allen Fieldhouse.

That's where Samantha Ryan -- veteran of more than 160 adult films and a 2009 AVN Award nominee for "Best All-Girl Couples Sex Scene" -- was hanging this week. She got tickets from KU assistant Kurtis Townsend, Tweeted about it, watched the Jayhawks beat Kansas State, ended up on TheBigLead.com and ignited a minor controversy. And this revelation has forced me to look differently at every word said at KU's Senior Night.

Take, for instance, the following quote from Sherron Collins: "I wanted it to go on all night, but it couldn't." At first read, I assumed Collins was talking about the game and Senior Night festivities, but now I'm not so sure. And then there's this quote about Collins from Markieff Morris: "He went out with a bang."

Whoa! What!?!

Anyway, I now expect Calipari -- rarely one to be outdone -- to have Jenna Jameson courtside for Kentucky's regular-season finale with Florida. Combine that with the fact that it's a huge game for the Gators' NCAA tournament hopes, and surely you understand why the Friday Look Ahead had to be led this way.

Best game of the weekend: Once upon a time -- like three years ago -- Billy Donovan won back-to-back national titles and was presented with the opportunity to leave Florida for Kentucky. But he stayed (after briefly taking the Orlando Magic job, of course), and now Donovan finds himself needing to win Sunday at UK to eliminate the possibility of a third consecutive NIT appearance. Funny how things work that way. What's not funny, at least for Donovan, is that the odds of Florida beating the third-ranked Wildcats at Rupp are slimmer than Samantha Ryan's acting range.

Another interesting matchup: West Virginia and Villanova don't have bubble problems like Florida has bubble problems. So in some ways their Saturday showdown isn't as important, although it could help determine the fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Mountaineers and Wildcats enter the weekend sixth and seventh in the CBSSports.com RPI. The winner of this game would have a legitimate claim to a No. 1 seed if it could then go to New York and win next week's Big East tournament.

Yet another interesting matchup: UAB's home loss to Memphis was devastating, but it can probably be overcome if the Blazers close the regular season with a victory at No. 24 UTEP on Saturday. The Blazers already own a win over No. 12 Butler, and their RPI is 41. That alone suggests the Blazers are still in play for an at-large bid, but a loss in El Paso will suggest they aren't.

Guaranteed to be a blowout: It seems strange to use Duke-North Carolina in this space, given the history of the rivalry. But the fourth-ranked Blue Devils are 25-5 overall, 12-3 in the ACC and still in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. In other words, they have a lot to play for Saturday while UNC is only playing for pride, and that pride thing hasn't made much of a difference for the Tar Heels the past two months.

Guaranteed to be an upset: Would there be a more fitting way for this regular season to end than with the top two teams losing at precisely the same time? I don't think so. Which is why I'm guaranteeing (with nothing more than meaningless words) that No. 1 Syracuse will fall at Louisville or No. 2 Kansas will fall at Missouri. Both games tip Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. If you have two TVs, I would suggest using them.

Player trying to keep rolling: Why anybody would let a guy who shoots 40 percent from 3-point range catch the ball, fly uninterrupted up the court and get off a 3-pointer in the final seconds is beyond me, but that's precisely what the Providence Friars did Thursday night, and it cost them because Ashton Gibbs drained a long jumper at the buzzer to lift Pittsburgh to a 73-71 victory. The sophomore guard was 9 of 13 from the field and 6 of 9 from 3-point range. It's doubtful he'll need an effort like that Saturday to get Pitt past Rutgers. But it wouldn't hurt, and I'm sure Jamie Dixon would welcome it.

Player trying to get rolling: Avery Bradley's point totals have gone up and down this season, and the freshman guard is currently on a down swing. He's 3 of 12 from the field in his past two outings and averaging just 4.0 points in that span. He was 3 of 11 from the field in Texas' first game with Baylor. The second game is Saturday. Bradley must be better.

Three things you need to know before you go

1. Mississippi State is good enough to advance in the NCAA tournament. But that won't matter if the Bulldogs don't get in, and they probably won't get in unless they add a signature win (or two) before Selection Sunday. That's why Saturday's home game with 16th-ranked Tennessee is crucial, because the Bulldogs enter the weekend with just one victory over a school in the top 50 of the RPI (Old Dominion).

2. Another game with "bubble" implications is the Notre Dame-Marquette tilt Saturday in Milwaukee. Marquette is OK regardless. But Notre Dame -- with an RPI in the 60s -- still has work to do, and a win here would help greatly. The Irish have won three straight.

3. Purdue and Michigan State both need wins this weekend if they want to share the Big Ten title with Ohio State. The No. 7 Boilermakers (13-4 in the Big Ten) play at Penn State on Saturday. The No. 11 Spartans (13-4 in the Big Ten) host Michigan on Sunday. Ohio State has already wrapped its regular season. The No. 6 Buckeyes finished 14-4 in the Big Ten.

Final thought: Yes, I'm now following Samantha Ryan (@SammyRyRy) on Twitter.

She's a relevant person in college basketball.

That's my excuse ... or at least the best reason I could manufacture.

Anyway, you can imagine my excitement when @SammyRyRy updated her Twitter account late Thursday/early Friday with a message to everybody making a big deal out of her getting tickets from a KU assistant. The Tweet read as follows: "You can waste your time making this into something it is not, but all I can say is that I do great things for people, strangers, my friends."

My response to Ms. Ryan: Nobody is arguing that.

People have seen you do all sorts of great things.

Sometimes two or three at a time.