KSR Today: College basketball begins today!

Get excited, Big Blue Nation, because it is college basketball time in the Bluegrass. Today marks the official beginning of the 2024-25 season for men’s and women’s college basketball, and Lexington will be a busy town for basketball on opening day.

The much-needed distraction from football comes as Kentucky heads into another bye week in the college football season following the Wildcats’ fourth straight SEC loss over the weekend. We’ll discuss both sports and more in this week’s coffee-fueled Monday morning rundown. It’s going to be a long day at KSR HQ.

The Mark Pope and Kenny Brooks eras debut tonight with a doubleheader

It’s a huge night for basketball in Lexington because both Kentucky Basketball and Kentucky Women’s Basketball play season-openers. First, Kenny Brooks‘ women’s team will debut at Historic Memorial Coliseum with a 5 p.m. game against USC Upstate. You can watch the 22nd-ranked Wildcats’ first game of 2024-25 on SEC Network+.

Then, Mark Pope‘s men’s team will play its first real game at Rupp Arena, hosting Wright State at 7 p.m. in Game 1 of the new year. You can find Pope’s Wildcats versus the Raiders on ESPNU.

How to watch/listen to both games

  • NO. 22 KENTUCKY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. USC UPSTATE
  • Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. ET
  • TV: SEC Network+ (Jeff Piecoro, Christi Thomas)
  • Radio: 790 AM WKRD (Louisville), 98.5 ICONS (Lexington) (Darren Headrick)
  • OnlineiHeart Radio
  • Sirius XM: 161 or 191
  • Live StatsStatBroadcast
  • NO. 23 KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. WRIGHT STATE
  • Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV: ESPNU (Tom Hart, Jimmy Dykes)
  • Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Jack Givens)
  • AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
  • FM: 98.1 WBUL
  • OnlineiHeart Radio
  • Sirius XM: 383
  • Live StatsStatBroadcast

The KSR Pregame Show will preview Kentucky-Wright State at 4:30 p.m.

Tune in for the first KSR Pregame Show of the regular season when the show goes live from KSBar and Grille. Matt Jones, Ryan Lemond, and I will be there from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. to preview Kentucky versus Wright State down the street at Rupp Arena. Join us at KSBar before you head to Rupp. We’ll have the women’s game on TV as we count down to tip-off between Kentucky and Wright State. Tune in on 630 WLAP, 840 WHAS in Louisville, or anywhere online.

Kentucky is a 19-point favorite over Wright State

On the gambling apps, Kentucky is laying 19 points to Wright State. The total on the game is a high one at 161 points.

Other Top 25 teams in action tonight

19 of the top 25 teams open their seasons tonight, including a top-10 matchup between No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 8 Baylor in Spokane. You can see that one at 11:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Other games of interest are Morehead State at Louisville, No. 19. Texas versus Ohio State in Las Vegas, and #21 Florida versus South Florida in Jacksonville.

No. 14 Purdue vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 6 p.m. BTN
No. 7 Duke vs. Maine 7 p.m. ACCN
No. 12 Tennessee vs. Gardner-Webb 7 p.m. SECN+, ESPN+
UCF vs. No. 13 Texas A&M 7 p.m. ESPN+
No. 20 Cincinnati vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff 7 p.m. ESPN+
No. 23 Kentucky vs. Wright State 7 p.m. ESPNU
No. 1 Kansas vs. Howard 8 p.m. ESPN+
No. 4 Houston vs. Jackson State 8 p.m. ESPN+
No. 5 Iowa State vs. Mississippi Valley State 8 p.m. ESPN+
No. 18 Marquette vs. Stony Brook 8:30 p.m. FS1
No. 21 Florida vs. South Florida (at Jacksonville) 8:30 p.m. SECN
No. 24 Ole Miss vs. Long Island U. 8:30 p.m. SECN+, ESPN+
No. 2 Alabama vs. UNC Asheville 9 p.m. ESPNU
No. 9 North Carolina vs. Elon 9 p.m. ACCN
No. 10 Arizona vs. Canisius 10 p.m. ESPN+
No. 19 Texas vs. Ohio State (at Las Vegas) 10 p.m. TNT, truTV
No. 22 UCLA vs. Rider 10:30 p.m. FS1
No. 6 Gonzaga vs. No. 8 Baylor 11:30 p.m. ESPN2
Mark Stoops - Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio
Mark Stoops – Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio

Kentucky Football catches a break this week with a second bye weekend on the 2024 schedule. The week off comes at a good time because the Wildcats’ injury list is long, and the team has lost four straight games since the last bye weekend. They’ll get a short week to rest and regroup before hosting Murray State on Saturday, November 16, at 1:30 p.m., then the trip to Texas followed by the Governor’s Cup in the home finale. Needing to win all three games for bowl eligibility, a postseason seems very unlikely for Kentucky.

No Monday with Mark

Mark Stoops has the day off from his usual Monday media obligations. There is no Monday press conference because there is no game to preview during a bye week. And due to tonight’s basketball doubleheader, Stoops’ weekly call-in radio show is delayed until Wednesday when the airwaves are open to talk football again.

The routine is still the same for the KSR Football Podcast, with a slight modification to the format, which may be better for everyone. The show will still go live on YouTube on Monday afternoon, but this week, the conversations will be video-streamed, not at KSBar and Grille. It will certainly help the show’s ongoing technology issues while allowing everyone to get together from different places.

Tune in on KSR’s YouTube around 3 p.m. to hear Nick Roush, Drew Franklin, Adam Luckett, and Max Duffy voice their frustrations and disappointments from Kentucky’s latest loss, plus stories from the trip to Knoxville. Can’t watch the program live? Listen to the audio-only version on Apple PodcastsSpotify, or whatever means you use to listen to podcasts.

If you’re interested in looking back to Saturday’s loss, here are KSR’s top stories from the game:

Movement in the AP Poll’s Top 10

Oregon and Georgia stayed put at No. 1 and 2 in college football’s new top 25. Behind them, Ohio State moved into third by beating Penn State; unbeaten Miami climbed to fourth; and one-loss Texas, one of Kentucky’s remaining opponents, slid back into the top five.

  1. Oregon (9-0)
  2. Georgia (7-1)
  3. Ohio State (7-1)
  4. Miami (9-0)
  5. Texas (7-1)
  6. Penn State (7-1)
  7. Tennessee (7-1)
  8. Indiana (9-0)
  9. BYU (8-0)
  10. Notre Dame (7-1)

See the new Top 25 here. Kentucky did not receive any votes.

Kentucky Volleyball swept Georgia in Athens

On Sunday, No. 14 Kentucky Volleyball won another road match, beating Georgia at Georgia to complete a 5-0 run on five consecutive SEC road trips. The Wildcats swept the Dawgs (26-24, 25-15, 25-16) to maintain first place in the Southeastern Conference with six matches to play. Sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye shined again with 16 kills in Sunday’s victory. Up next? A return to Historic Memorial Coliseum to host Texas A&M on Friday.

Ray Davis scored another touchdown

Former Kentucky running back Ray Davis added to his breakout rookie season in Buffalo with a 63-yard touchdown reception on Sunday. Davis’ third career touchdown gave the Bills the lead in Miami late in the third quarter. He also carried the ball four times for 20 yards in the win.

Here’s where to find KSR’s morning show this week

You can find KSR at KSBar and Grille on Monday through Thursday of this week, including two shows at KSBar today when you throw in the pregame show at 4:30 p.m.

  • Monday: KSBar and Grille
  • Tuesday: KSBar and Grille
  • Wednesday: KSBar and Grille
  • Thursday: KSBar and Grille
  • Friday: Corman Kitchen & Bath in Lexington

Go Cats.

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.