KSR Today: Rivalry Week At Rupp, Super Bowl LVIII, and Other Monday Things

Good morning, Big Blue Nation. We begin our Monday with congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, winners of their respective conferences in the National Football League and, thus, the two participants in Super Bowl LVIII. Kansas City punched its ticket to Las Vegas by beating AFC No. 1 Baltimore in Baltimore. The low-scoring game featured one of BBN’s favorite plays in sports: a costly Lamar Jackson fumble.

In the night game, the Lions jumped out to a 24-7 lead on NFC No. 1 San Francisco in San Francisco, only to give away the NFC Championship in the second half, allowing 27 unanswered points in a 34-27 loss. Yesterday’s results set up a rematch of Super Bowl LIV, the first of the Chiefs’ two Lombardi trophies in the current dynasty. San Francisco opened as a 2.5-point favorite in the rematch.

Former Wildcat Mike Edwards is in the Super Bowl again

With the Chiefs’ win, former Kentucky Wildcat Mike Edwards is going to his second Super Bowl, seeking his second Super Bowl ring. The two-time All-SEC safety in Lexington is the starting free safety in Kansas City, his first year in the Chiefs’ secondary. Originally, Edwards was drafted by Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and in his second year, he helped the Bucs win Super Bowl LV, beating Kansas City, of all teams. Now, Edwards is on the AFC side, playing for the team he beat in Super Bowl LV, seeking a second piece of jewelry.

Yesterday, Edwards returned to the lineup from a week away to make three tackles in the win. The former Cat intercepted a pass in Kansas City’s Wild Card win over Miami.

Former Wildcat Darian Kinnard is also one game from winning a ring with the Chiefs. However, the offensive lineman has been a non-participant in 2023 as a practice squad member. One more Kentucky tie in Kansas City: the Chiefs signed former Kentucky cornerback Kelvin Joseph to a reserve/future contract earlier this month.

Josh Paschal gave it his all for the Lions

As Mike Edwards moves on in the AFC, his former Kentucky teammate, Josh Paschal, saw his season end in Sunday’s NFC Championship. Detroit’s starting defensive end made one of the critical plays that helped give the Lions the early lead over the 49ers. He got his hand on a Niners’ pass that was intercepted by a teammate and returned to the 20-yard-line, setting up Detroit’s third first-quarter touchdown. Paschal also had a couple of tackles in the heartbreaking loss.

Former Wildcat Josh Paschal tips the pass to force an interception in the NFC Championship Game. pic.twitter.com/FdeDf3xWl6

— KSR (@KSRonX) January 29, 2024

Kentucky Basketball returns home for Rivalry Week

Moving on from Sunday’s events, your University of Kentucky Wildcats return home this week to host two SEC rivals in Rupp Arena. First, the Florida Gators come to Lexington for a rematch of the SEC opener in Gainesville. Kentucky won the first meeting, 87-85, in a tight finish. KenPom projects a 90-84 UK win in Round 2.

Then, one of the biggest games on the home schedule is Saturday, when Kentucky hosts Tennessee in a game with significant implications for Kentucky’s SEC dreams. KenPom is less confident Kentucky will defend home court in that one, predicting a three-point loss to the Vols. But we’ll worry about that one later in the week because Florida needs our undivided attention. The Gators have won three straight SEC games.

You can hear John Calipari on his call-in radio show tonight

At 6 p.m. tonight, John Calipari can be heard on his Monday night call-in radio show on the UK Sports Network. Calipari will be live with host Tom Leach for a conversation about Saturday’s win at Arkansas and what’s next in the return home for the rematch with Florida. Among the topics fans hope Calipari will address, the Big Blue Nation would like to know how he sees the rotation moving forward from the successful trip to Arkansas and how the offense will return to its high-scoring form. Any positive updates regarding the defense or Rob Dillingham‘s stomach virus will be welcomed, too.

Where will the Cats land in the new Top 25?

Each Monday brings a new Top 25 in college basketball. (Two, actually.) Today, Kentucky will likely slide in the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls for the Wildcats’ loss at South Carolina last Tuesday night. However, the fall may not be too far because the loss was a Quad 1, and UK responded with a win at Arkansas on Saturday. Other top-10 teams, like Auburn, were worse. The eighth-ranked Tigers dropped back-back games since last Monday, losing a grip on the Southeastern Conference standings.

No. 7 Kansas also suffered a road loss since the last update to the polls, as did the 9th, 10th, and 11th-ranked teams. For what it is worth, the new CBS Sports Top 25 put Kentucky at No. 18.

Kentucky’s unlikely candidacy for SEC Players of the Week

Mondays are also for the SEC’s weekly basketball awards. This week, Antonio Reeves is Kentucky’s best candidate to win the team’s first SEC Player of the Week award this season. However, Dalton Knecht‘s 32-point game and Wade Taylor IV‘s 49-point week may be the more deserving performances.

Reed Sheppard‘s second half at Arkansas may put him in the Freshman of the Week conversation, but Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard had games of 26 and 17 points, so he has a strong case for his third Freshman of the Week trophy this season.

Kentucky Women’s Basketball lost another one

Kentucky Women’s Basketball lost a second straight road game, going down at Alabama on Sunday in embarrassing fashion. The Wildcats lost by 17 points, 91-74, to a Crimson Tide team that had lost three conference games in a row, including two at home in Tuscaloosa. Combined with last Thursday’s 27-point loss at Arkansas, Kentucky lost its two road trip games by 22 points per game, pushing UK further down the standings to three places from the bottom at 2-5 in the SEC.

In Sunday’s loss at Alabama, sophomore Saniah Tyler was a bright spot with 14 points. Amiya Jenkins and Brooklynn Miles also played well. Read all about it in KSR’s game recap from Phoenix Stevens.

Kentucky returns home to host Mississippi State on Thursday.

College Basketball On TV Tonight

Looking for more sports to watch tonight? Two of the best in college basketball are in action tonight in an ESPN doubleheader. First, No. 12 Duke plays at Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. with the Hokies playing to match the Blue Devils in the ACC standings. Once that game ends, don’t touch the remote to see No. 4 Houston at Texas in the 9 p.m. game.

You can also see a replay of Kentucky-Arkansas today at 1 p.m. on SEC Network.

New “Floppy Action” on KSR’s YouTube channel

KSR’s Zack Geoghegan and Brandon Ramsey go to the film to find the biggest problems with Kentucky’s defense. The new episode of their “Floppy Action” asks, “What’s wrong?”

Matt Jones and Ryan Lemond are at KSBar and Grille

Today on KSR’s morning radio program, Matt Jones and Ryan Lemond are at KSBar and Grille in Lexington for two new hours of radio conversation. Tune in from 10 a.m. to noon. Even better, tune in now for the KSR Preshow with Shannon The Dude and Billy R. Sports.

Go Cats

I hope you have a great Monday.