Kentucky is staring at a huge week, with both the men’s basketball team and football team heading into matchups that should tell fans a lot about where each group stands.
The basketball spotlight lands first. On Tuesday night, No.
23 Kentucky meets No. 17 Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic, and the Wildcats will have to do it as 5.5-point underdogs.
The game comes with a big-stage feel in “Catlanta,” where a Sea of Blue is expected to show up, but the matchup itself looks like a real test for Kentucky.
The Wildcats are unbeaten so far in exhibition and regular season play, and they’ve shot the ball well. Still, they haven’t seen anything close to the level of talent Kansas is bringing.
The Jayhawks have a veteran core, with seniors Tre White and Trey Kaufman leading the way in scoring. Freshman Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 recruit in this year’s class and a Louisville native, is also in the mix.
Tip-off is set for 9:30 PM ET on ESPN.
Football, meanwhile, is coming off a weekend Kentucky would rather forget. The Wildcats were hammered in Knoxville, falling 34-6 to Tennessee in a road loss that dropped them to No. 13 in the AP rankings and took a major bite out of their hopes for both the Southeastern Conference Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.
Now Kentucky turns home for a game it has to have. Florida comes to town Saturday, and the Gators arrive unranked after a 23-7 home loss to Oklahoma. Kentucky needs to win out - against Florida, then unranked Mizzou and Louisville - and still needs help to keep CFP hopes alive.
Florida has been uneven, but it has shown real punch at times this season. The Gators knocked off current No.
8 Texas and later blew out current No. 19 Ole Miss.
Running back Jadan Baugh will be a key challenge for Kentucky’s front seven, especially in open-field tackling situations. Florida’s defense, meanwhile, will ask the Wildcats to find points after Kentucky struggled badly to do that just a few days ago.
He could end up leading this backfield by next week.
In Other News...
Kentucky Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious After Tennessee Loss
Kentucky left Neyland Stadium with more than a loss on its hands, because the Wildcats also left with a long list of grievances about how the game was called. Two moments in particular stood out: a missed defensive pass interference against Tennessee near halftime and an offsides no-call on Tennessees Qua Moss in the third quarter, both of which had the feel of swings that could matter in a tight road game.
For a Kentucky team still alive with three games left, the frustration is easy to understand. The Wildcats have enough football remaining to keep chasing a College Football Playoff path if they can win out, but a defeat like this one lingers because it invites the question of what might have been had those calls gone the other way. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Still Has SEC Attention But The Pressure Just Changed
The latest National Football Foundation Super 16 poll keeps Kentucky in the SEC conversation, even as the leagues hierarchy continues to shift around it. After Week 10, five conference teams made the list, with Georgia holding down the No. 1 spot after its win over Ole Miss and Alabama, Texas and Tennessee all landing ahead of the Wildcats.
Kentucky checking in at No. 13 is still a sign of national relevance, but it also underscores how much tighter the margin has become in the College Football Playoff race. With the SEC crowding the top of the poll, the Wildcats are no longer just trying to stay visible, they are trying to keep pace in a field where every result seems to reshape the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Biggest Concern From The Win Wont Go Away Before Kansas
James Madison kept firing away from deep against Kentucky, launching 45 three-pointers and tying a program record for most attempts by an opponent. The Wildcats still escaped with an 89-80 win by leaning on their interior scoring edge, but the game also exposed a familiar issue for a team trying to build momentum early in the season.
Perimeter defense is the part that will linger now, especially with Kansas next on the schedule. Kentucky can survive a night like this when its size and paint scoring hold up, but the margin gets much thinner if opponents keep getting that many clean looks from outside. [Read more 🡒]