KSR Today: Merry Christmas Eve Eve, Big Blue Nation

Good morning and Merry Christmas Eve Eve, Big Blue Nation. Today is December 23rd, the final day to get your last-minute shopping done before you settle for gifting e-gift cards tomorrow. Get out there and tackle that list today before it’s too late.

In the wide world of Kentucky sports, your friends at KSR headquarters are still working around the clock because the internet does not take days off. There is a long drought between games after the Wildcats lost in the CBS Sports Classic over the weekend. Still, there is plenty ahead, even with the holiday on deck. Join me in some Monday morning notes, will you?

Mark Pope on the Mark Pope Show

Kentucky Basketball has a 10-day gap between games, so expect a quiet week ahead around the holidays. But first, Mark Pope has his Monday evening radio obligation scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight on the UK Sports Network. Pope will sit down with Tom Leach to recap the loss to Ohio State and the trip to New York while taking calls from the listening audience. If you can’t tune in, come back to KentuckySportsRadio.com for a recap of any important comments.

Brace for a fall in the Top 25

Kentucky’s three-week run as a top-five team in college basketball will end later today when the AP updates its rankings around lunchtime. The Wildcats will see a slight fall from No. 4 in the AP poll after losing Saturday’s game against Ohio State by 20 points. No other top-10 team lost last week.

Jeff Ruby’s gift cards are 20% off through Christmas (#Ad)

Still looking for that perfect holiday gift that can still arrive in time for the holidays? Order a Jeff Ruby’s gift card today for the perfect gift idea for family, friends, and coworkers. Make sure to take advantage of their 20% off deal through Christmas Day. The KSR crew would like to put in an order for a Freddie’s salad, Steak Collinsworth, with a side of Potatoes Anna.

Kentucky Football found a new center in the portal

Evan Wibberley is a Wildcat. As first reported by Ryan Lemond on KSR last week, Wibberley will transfer from Western Kentucky to Kentucky, where he is the new plug-and-play option at center on the Wildcats’ offensive line. Wibberley hails from Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, Kentucky, and stands six feet, five inches tall at 295 pounds. He wrapped up his redshirt sophomore season in the Boca Raton Bowl last Wednesday, then entered the portal, visited Lexington, and committed to the Wildcats by Sunday.

The All-Conference USA Honorable Mention center is Kentucky’s tenth addition from the transfer portal and the fourth offensive lineman of the bunch.

• OG Josh Braun
• OT Alex Wollschlaeger
• OL Wallace Unamba
• LB Landyn Watson
• EDGE Sam Greene
• WR J.J. Hester
• QB Zach Calzada
• TE Henry Boyer
• WR Kendrick Law
• RB Dante Dowdell
• DT Jaden Williams
• CB Kevis Thomas
• OT Evan Wibberley

More: WKU offensive lineman Evan Wibberley will transfer to Kentucky

Penn State won the NCAA Volleyball national championship

A new NCAA volleyball champion was crowned at the KFC Yum! Center on Sunday. Louisville, playing a home match in the final, lost to Penn State, a No. 1 seed, in four sets (25-23, 32-34, 25-20, 25-17). The national championship was Penn State’s eighth in volleyball, one shy of Stanford’s record of nine. Congrats to the Nittany Lions, and Ls down.

Sports on TV today

For everyone who doesn’t have to work and isn’t out last-minute shopping, there is a daytime bowl game doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. on ESPN. You can spend the day on the couch watching a couple of bowl games, then scout the Tennessee Vols in the only college basketball game of significance on Monday. Tonight’s Monday Night Football game comes from the Frozen Tundra, where the Packers host the Saints.

• Myrtle Beach Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA – 11:00 a.m. (ESPN)
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State – 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
• CBB: Middle Tennessee @ #1 Tennessee – 7:00 p.m. (SEC Network)
• NFL: Saints @ Packers – 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Also, 28 of 30 NBA teams play a Monday game.

KSR is live from 10 a.m. to noon before the Christmas break

Matt Jones and Ryan Lemond will be live from 10 a.m. to noon at KSBar and Grille with one last episode of Kentucky Sports Radio before a two-day holiday break. Shannon The Dude is on a two-week vacation, so he’s out until the new year. I am also out and surrounded by Buckeyes in Ohio for a couple of days (in fact, I am writing to you from the passenger seat of a car driving north of Dayton). So, Matt and Ryan will take KSR listeners into Christmas with two new hours about the CBS Sports Classic and what’s ahead. The show will return on Thursday after some holiday time.

Go Cats. Get that shopping done.