KSR Today: A busy Monday with Pope, Almonor, Perry, a new Top 25, Willie Cauley-Stein, and more

It was a great weekend to be a fan of the Kentucky Wildcats. First, Jaxson Robinson led a hot-shooting effort in Starkville, Mississippi, as Mark Pope’s Wildcats beat 14th-ranked Mississippi State in response to a loss at Georgia earlier in the week.

Then, on Sunday, Kentucky Women’s Basketball moved to 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference with a lopsided win over Auburn in Historic Memorial Coliseum. Kenny Brooks has Kentucky undefeated through four SEC games for the first time since UK’s 2012-13 season.

Also, Kentucky Football landed Mi’Quise Grace from the transfer portal. Grace was an FCS All-American defensive lineman at South Dakota last season.

South Dakota DL transfer Mi'Quise Grace has committed to Kentucky. Arguably the program's best transfer addition this offseason.

STORY: https://t.co/7K9LEWr32E pic.twitter.com/kt5ss61osB

— Adam Luckett (@AdamLuckettKSR) January 12, 2025

Looking ahead, there is another busy Monday on deck. We’ll start with our special guest on KSR coming up at 10 a.m.

Willie Cauley-Stein to guest star on today’s show

Kentucky Sports Radio is excited to be joined by former Wildcat Willie Cauley-Stein on today’s radio show. The consensus All-American keeps a close eye on his alma mater and his old coach in Fayetteville, so KSR will get his thoughts on the changes throughout Kentucky Basketball and what he thinks of the season so far.

Cauley-Stein knows Pope and Pope’s players from Cauley-Stein’s time in Lexington with TBT over the summer, so he should have plenty to say about how they’ve performed since those first practices he attended. He may also have a few Bahamas memories to share with Matt and me. Tune in for Cauley-Stein on today’s show, beginning at 10 a.m. with a recap of Kentucky vs. Mississippi State.

Q&A Ansley Almonor and Travis Perry

After we hear from a former Wildcat on KSR, a couple of the current Wildcats, Ansley Almonor and Travis Perry, will be interviewed on campus about their trip to Starkville and what’s next on the schedule. Almonor and Perry each hit big shots in the road win at Mississippi State. Today, their reward is to speak on behalf of the team in the Monday pregame press conference before Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena tomorrow night to host Texas A&M. Check back here for those conversations with Almonor and Perry later this afternoon.

The Mark Pope Show

If you find yourself still wanting more basketball talk around dinnertime, Mark Pope will host his call-in radio show with Tom Leach from 6-7 p.m. Pope’s coach’s show has been very informative so far this season, so check out the new episode if you’re able, or come back to KentuckySportsRadio.com and we’ll let you know what you missed.

Kentucky in the new Top 25

The Wildcats will slide in the Top 25 when the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches update their polls later today. Ranked sixth in the AP as we speak, Kentucky will see a small hit in the new rankings due to the loss at Georgia, but the follow-up win at No. 14 Mississippi State should keep the Cats within the top 10.

Up top, Auburn will likely take the No. 1 spot from Tennessee after the Vols’ loss at Florida last Tuesday. Ninth-ranked UConn and tenth-ranked Texas A&M, UK’s next opponent, were the only other top-10 team to lose last week.

Changes to KSR’s H.S. Boys’ Basketball Top 25

In a couple of hours, KSR’s high school basketball voting committee will reveal the Week 6 Top 25. Last Monday, Great Crossing climbed back to No. 2 behind No. 1 St. Xavier at the top of the rankings. Frederick Douglass, Marshall County, and Hazard round out the top five heading into the new update.

Five teams survive Wild Card Weekend in the NFL Playoffs

The NFL’s Divisional Round is (almost) set after the Texans, Ravens, Bills, Eagles, and Commanders survived the weekend. Tonight, the Vikings and Rams will play in Arizona for the last divisional spot. Minnesota is a 2.5-point favorite.

Next weekend’s schedule:

Saturday, Jan. 18
(4) Houston Texans at (1) Kansas City Chiefs, 4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC)
(6) Washington Commanders at (1) Detroit Lions, 8 p.m. ET (FOX)

Sunday, Jan. 12
(5) Minnesota Vikings/(4) Los Angeles Rams at (2) Philadelphia Eagles, 3 p.m. ET (NBC)
(3) Baltimore Ravens at (2) Buffalo Bills (CBS), 6:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

Where to find KSR this week

As we mentioned already, Willie Cauley-Stein will guest star on today’s show at KSBar and Grille to discuss the new era of the Wildcats. Then, KSR is at KSBar the rest of the week until a return to Bespoken Spirits with Commonwealth Causes on Friday. See you around.