KSR Today: Riding a high into the Bye
Good morning, Big Blue Nation, and welcome to a new week. Like you, I’m still riding the high of Saturday’s win over No. 6 Ole Miss. After a dumbfounding loss to South Carolina and a heartbreaking one to Georgia, the Cats turned the season around with a statement win in Oxford, stunning the high-flying Rebels with ball control, stifling defense, and a little bit of risk-taking.
Now, we’re in the bye week. While it’s a bummer we don’t have Kentucky Football to look forward to on Saturday, the Cats desperately need the break to heal up and prepare for the next stretch of SEC play. We’ve got plenty of things to keep us occupied in the meantime. The basketball preseason tips off in earnest next week with Pro Day, Media Day, and Big Blue Madness. The program also hosted some very important recruits over the weekend. We’ll talk about it all on today’s rundown.
We’ll hear from Mark Stoops tonight
It being the bye week, Mark Stoops will not hold his usual Monday press conference. Instead, Stoops will sit down with Tom Leach tonight at 6 p.m. for his weekly call-in show. Tune in to 630 WLAP at 6:00 p.m. ET to hear Stoops’ thoughts on the huge win at Ole Miss after a day of reflection — and maybe some celebrating. If you can’t listen, we’ll have a full recap of the discussion on the site afterward, with live updates on KSBoard.
If you’ve been curious about KSR+, now is the perfect time to try it out. We’re holding a Flash Sale right now to celebrate the win over Ole Miss and basketball season coming up. KSBoard is brimming with conversation about the rest of the season and the latest on Mark Pope’s first Kentucky team in early practices.
New KSR Football Podcast this afternoon
Nick Roush and Adam Luckett were in Oxford on Saturday to witness Kentucky’s highest-ranked road win since 1977. After a long night of celebrating on the Square and a Sunday in the car, they’re ready to talk about it on a new episode of the KSR Football Podcast. Max Duffy will join them at 2 p.m. live on the KSR YouTube Channel. (Drew Franklin’s on vacation this week.) You can also catch the replay afterward or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
I’m sure they’ll talk about Mark Stoops’ decision to go for it on 4th and 7 a few times. I’m probably going to watch it a few more times this morning.
We’ll get the Vanderbilt game time
After the bye week, Kentucky hosts Vanderbilt. Later today, we’ll find out the time for that game. This summer, it was designated as a “Flex” game, meaning it will air in either the afternoon (3:30-4:30 p.m.) or night (6-8 p.m.) windows. Game times for October 12 will be set around lunch, so check the site a little later to find out when the Cats and the Dores will clash at Kroger Field. We’ve only got two opportunities for a Kentucky Football/Keeneland doubleheader this year, so if you want to pull off both, cross your fingers for a night kick.
The Dores (2-2, 0-1 SEC) are coming off a bye week of their own, a needed moment to lick their wounds after the overtime loss at Missouri. This week, they host No. 1 Alabama, which is coming off a huge win vs. Georgia. As you’ll see below, that game led to quite a shakeup in the polls.
ICYMI, the Cats are back to Receiving Votes
Kentucky’s upset in Oxford wasn’t enough to crack the Top 25. The Cats are back to receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls, coming in at No. 35 and No. 33 respectively. After beating Georgia, Alabama took the top spot in the AP Poll from Texas, but the Longhorns remain No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. Tennessee is up to No. 4. The Cats still have to play both this season, on the road.
| AP Top 25 | AFCA Coaches Poll | ||||||
| RK | TEAM | REC | PTS | RK | TEAM | REC | PTS |
| 1 | Alabama (40) | 4-0 | 1549 | 1 | Texas (29) | 5-0 | 1339 |
| 2 | Texas (19) | 5-0 | 1525 | 2 | Alabama (19) | 4-0 | 1330 |
| 3 | Ohio State (4) | 4-0 | 1445 | 3 | Ohio State (7) | 4-0 | 1281 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 4-0 | 1356 | 4 | Tennessee | 4-0 | 1163 |
| 5 | Georgia | 3-1 | 1329 | 5 | Georgia | 3-1 | 1153 |
| 6 | Oregon | 4-0 | 1216 | 6 | Oregon | 4-0 | 1090 |
| 7 | Penn State | 4-0 | 1208 | 7 | Penn State | 4-0 | 1062 |
| 8 | Miami | 5-0 | 1170 | 8 | Miami | 5-0 | 981 |
| 9 | Missouri | 4-0 | 1085 | 9 | Missouri | 4-0 | 948 |
| 10 | Michigan | 4-1 | 913 | 10 | Michigan | 4-1 | 792 |
| 11 | USC | 3-1 | 854 | 11 | Ole Miss | 4-1 | 743 |
| 12 | Ole Miss | 4-1 | 799 | 12 | LSU | 4-1 | 725 |
| 13 | LSU | 4-1 | 757 | 13 | Notre Dame | 4-1 | 702 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 4-1 | 748 | 14 | Clemson | 3-1 | 671 |
| 15 | Clemson | 3-1 | 694 | 15 | USC | 3-1 | 660 |
| 16 | Iowa State | 4-0 | 656 | 16 | Iowa State | 4-0 | 500 |
| 17 | BYU | 5-0 | 549 | 17 | Oklahoma | 4-1 | 470 |
| 18 | Utah | 4-1 | 467 | 18 | Utah | 4-1 | 408 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 4-1 | 428 | 19 | BYU | 5-0 | 375 |
| 20 | Kansas State | 4-1 | 398 | 20 | Kansas State | 4-1 | 242 |
| 21 | Boise State | 3-1 | 253 | 21 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | 198 |
| 22 | Louisville | 3-1 | 223 | 22 | Louisville | 3-1 | 197 |
| 23 | Indiana | 5-0 | 172 | 23 | UNLV | 4-0 | 180 |
| 24 | Illinois | 4-1 | 169 | 24 | Indiana | 5-0 | 143 |
| T25 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | 122 | 25 | Illinois | 4-1 | 122 |
| T25 | UNLV | 4-0 | 122 | ||||
| Others receiving votes: Arizona 106, Pittsburgh 42, Nebraska 30, Boston College 18, Iowa 17, James Madison 13, South Carolina 8, Oklahoma State 8, Rutgers 7, Navy 6, Kentucky 6, SMU 4, Army 2, Colorado 1 | Others receiving votes: Boise State 103, Pittsburgh 51, Arizona 44, Rutgers 35, Iowa 29, James Madison 25, Duke 22, Kentucky 17, Oklahoma State 15, SMU 14, Nebraska 12, Navy 9, Colorado 9, Boston College 6, Army 3, Liberty 2, UCF 2, Tulane 1, South Carolina 1 | ||||||
Kentucky Basketball hosted two big official visitors
It was also a big weekend for the Kentucky Men’s Basketball program, which hosted two 2025 five-star recruits, 6’10” power forward Chris Cenac and 6’3″ point guard Mikel Brown Jr. Kentucky’s recruitment of Caleb Wilson could impact what happens with Cenac; the same goes for Acaden Lewis and Jasper Johnson and Brown. Regardless, based on social media, both seemed to enjoy their trips to Lexington. Jack Pilgrim will bring you what he’s hearing later today or tomorrow.
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Volleyball bounces back with win over No. 15 Florida
The No. 12 Kentucky Volleyball team opened SEC play on Friday night at Auburn and lost, allowing the Tigers to rally from down two sets to win 3-2. Yesterday, they bounced back in a big way, beating No. 15 Florida in Gainesville 3-1. Sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye was the star, recording a team-high 24 kills and an ace and only four errors.
The win snapped a four-match losing streak for the Cats, who are now 7-6 on the season. They return home to host Oklahoma on Wednesday, the home SEC opener at Memorial Coliseum (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
A (somewhat depressing) Monday Night Football doubleheader
The Titans and the Dolphins have been two of the most underwhelming teams in the NFL this season — and that’s coming from a Titans fan. Tonight, they’ll square off in Miami in the first part of a Monday Night Football doubleheader (7:30 p.m., ESPN). Even though the Dolphins are down to fourth-string quarterback Tyler Huntley this week, they’re still a 2.5-point favorite over the Titans. That’s how bad Tennessee has been this season, thanks in large part to a bad offensive line and poor decisions by Will Levis. You’ve really got to love football to watch this one. (Naturally, I’ll have it on. At least for a little bit.)
The second game should be better. The Detroit Lions (2-1) host the Seattle Seahawks (3-0) at 8:15 p.m. on ABC. If you’re a Bengals fan, you’re happy this morning. After an 0-3 start, Cincinnati is back in the win column with a 34-24 win over the Carolina Panthers. Time for the Titans to follow suit or things will get real depressing down here in Nashville.
KSR the Show schedule for the week
It will be a celebratory radio show this morning as Matt Jones recaps his trip to Ole Miss and we revel in the upset. If you’d like to see the show in person, you’ve got several opportunities. They’ll be set up at KSBar and Grille today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, and on location at Shady Rays in Lexington on Friday. The location of Thursday’s show is still to be determined.
Happy Birthday, Nick Roush!
KSR’s football beat writer is celebrating another trip around the sun today. When it comes to presents, having a front-row seat to Kentucky’s upset in Oxford will be hard to top, but if you see the big guy around the South End today, wish him a happy birthday.
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