The emaciated bulldog — just 23 pounds with his ribs visible — had been stuffed inside the bag and abandoned along an Iowa roadway, according to the Des Moines Police Department. Now, there’s good news, as Wally has thrived in the weeks that followed.

Chase Hill was “having an amazing day,” he told Iowa lottery officials in a Jan. 16 news release. The ticket revealed a $30,000 prize. It took significant convincing for Hill to believe his luck, he told officials. He scanned his ticket a total of five times, then took it back to the Casey’s convenience store to have a clerk verify his win.

Pope took over after John Calipari left for Arkansas in a stunning turn of events. However, Pope wasted no time winning over the fanbase, especially since he is a former Kencutky basketball player. Moreover, moves such as this one only helped Pope's case more, and fans were excited to see the fan interaction with the Wildcats coach.

Kentucky dropped three spots to No. 12 in the updated Coaches Poll released Monday after losing 74-69 to Vanderbilt last weekend. The Wildcats have lost three of their last five SEC games to Georgia,

For Kentucky, a loss would mean the Wildcats would slip down to a No. 4 seed, per Lunardi — provided that Texas A&M doesn’t fall to Oklahoma at home. After a strong start to the season, Kentucky has now lost 3 of its last 5 games including 2 in a row.

Sure, the win at Kansas is really the only marquee victory Houston has so far this season, but a 13-game winning streak with 11 double-digit wins over that stretch earns Kelvin Sampson's team a place in the top tier of the sport.

Notable notes, stats that stand out, and emerging trends as college basketball closes out the month of January.

The Kenny Brooks era is off to a strong start in Big Blue Nation. But six of Kentucky's remaining nine games are against ranked opponents.

No. 25 Florida St. (16-4) at Boston College (12-10), 6 p.m. No. 1 UCLA (20-0) vs. Minnesota (18-3), 3 p.m. No. 4 Southern Cal (18-1) at Iowa (14-7), 1:30 p.m. No. 5 Texas (20-2) at Texas A&M (10-9), 6 p.m.

John Calipari's anticipated return to Kentucky is just 1 of the 10 things Neil Blackmon is overreacting to this week in SEC basketball.

Analysts gushed over Chili’s results on an earnings call, offering congratulations to the company 11 times. One analyst said the company’s turnaround was “the best one of all time” in the restaurant industry, and another said CEO Kevin Hochman was “going to write a great book on this some day.”