KSR Today: A sold-out Swamp, SEC schedule news, and new facilities

Good morning, folks! We’re just two days out from Kentucky’s ranked matchup against the Florida Gators down in Gainesville. On Wednesday, we heard from head coach Mark Stoops during his weekly SEC teleconference before defensive coordinator Brad White and the rest of the UK defense spoke with the media following afternoon practice.

If you want to hear everything they had to say, you can find it all conveniently located on the KSR YouTube page. Make sure to subscribe!

Now let’s dive into everything you need to know to get your Thursday off to a great start.

MBB SEC schedule announced

The SEC portion of the Kentucky men’s basketball schedule for the upcoming 2022-23 season has been released.

We also now have a tip-off time for the Wildcats’ matchup against Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis on November 15. UK vs. MSU will open the event at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, followed by Duke vs. Kansas at 9:30 p.m. ET.

The Wildcats will play an 18-game league schedule in their pursuit of a 50th SEC regular-season championship. In addition to its annual home-and-away opponents of Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Kentucky will also take on Arkansas and Georgia twice during the 2022-23 season.

Here’s what we know about Kentucky’s upcoming schedule so far.

• Nov. 15 | vs. Michigan State | Indianapolis (Gainbridge Fieldhouse)
• Nov. 29 | BELLARMINE | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Dec. 4 | vs. Michigan | London, England (O2 Arena)
• Dec. 17 | vs. UCLA | New York (Madison Square Garden)
• Dec. 28 | at Missouri* | Columbia, Mo. (Mizzou Arena)
• Dec. 31 | LOUISVILLE | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Jan. 3 |  LSU* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Jan. 7 | at Alabama* | Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Coleman Coliseum)
• Jan. 10 | SOUTH CAROLINA* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Jan. 14 | at Tennessee* | Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)
• Jan. 17 | GEORGIA* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Jan. 21 | TEXAS A&M* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Jan. 24 | at Vanderbilt* | Nashville, Tenn. (Memorial Gymnasium)
• Jan. 28 | KANSAS  | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Jan. 31 | at Ole Miss* | Oxford, Miss. (Pavilion at Ole Miss)
• Feb. 4 | FLORIDA* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Feb. 7 | ARKANSAS* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Feb. 11 | at Georgia* | Athens, Ga. (Stegeman Coliseum)
• Feb. 15 | at Mississippi State* | Starkville, Miss. (Humphrey Coliseum)
• Feb. 18 | TENNESSEE* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• Feb. 22 | at Florida* | Gainesville, Fla. (Stephen O’Connell Center)
• Feb. 25  | AUBURN* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• March 1 | VANDERBILT* | Lexington, Ky. (Rupp Arena)
• March 4 | at Arkansas* | Fayetteville, Ark. (Bud Walton Arena)

Home games listed in ALL CAPS; * – Southeastern Conference games

Volleyball hosting No. 6 Wisconsin on Friday

Over the next two weeks, No. 14 Kentucky volleyball will take on three of the country’s top-ranked programs, all of which will be played at home inside of Memorial Coliseum. The ‘Cats will first host No. 6 Wisconsin this Friday at 6:00 p.m. EST on ESPNU before taking on Indiana State the following day.

On Wednesday, UK Athletics announced that a shuttle will be available for Friday night’s showdown, which will run from 4-9 p.m. EST.

The free shuttle service will run non-stop from Administration Ave., across from the Cornerstone Parking Garage (Parking Structure #5) to the Euclid Ave. entrance of Memorial Coliseum beginning at 4 p.m. ET and running through 9 p.m. ET. This will allow fans to more easily access Memorial Coliseum with parking options around the arena expected to run out earlier than usual due to ticket demand.

Fast forward to Wednesday, Sept. 14 and Kentucky will host in-state rival Louisville, which is now No. 5 in the country. The challenging stretch concludes on Sunday, Sept. 18 with a showdown at home against an undefeated and No. 2 ranked Nebraska team. The shuttle service will also be implemented for the matches against Louisville and Nebraska.

Four games in 10 days, three coming against teams ranked among the top six in the nation.

Relive the win over Miami (OH)

Need something to juice you up ahead of Saturday’s battle in The Swamp? How about a video recap of the 37-13 Week 1 win over Miami (OH)?

Will Levis featured in Sports Illustrated

On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson dropped a feature on Kentucky QB Will Levis. Johnson breaks down Levis’s impressive rise on the draft boards throughout the offseason and how his success this year could pay massive dividends for himself and the program moving forward.

Here was my favorite Levis line from the article, where he talks about the hiring process of new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and how he was heavily involved.

“I was one of the first people to know that Liam (Coen) was leaving,” Levis says. “We sat down with coach Coen and coach Stoops for a few hours to kinda talk about it. And from that moment on [Stoops] made it very clear to me that I was gonna be a huge part of the process in choosing a new offensive coordinator. I was there for the interviews for all the coaches that we talked to, which was awesome. We had some really good candidates. Once we interviewed coach Scangs, right away we knew that this was the guy. We kinda felt lucky that he fell into our lap. But for coach [Stoops] to involve me in that process was really special.”

Sports Illustrated

The Swamp is sold out

Three days away from kickoff, No. 12 Florida announced on Wednesday that this weekend’s matchup against No. 20 Kentucky is officially sold out. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, otherwise known as “The Swamp”, holds over 88,000 people with a record attendance once clearing 90,000 fans in 2015 against Florida State.

Kentucky will take on Florida at 7:00 p.m. EST this Saturday on ESPN. The Gators also sold out last weekend’s home win over Utah.

🚨 SWAMP SELLOUT 🚨#GatorNation will be rockin' on Saturday night vs. Kentucky!

🎟 https://t.co/ackn2ZVqrK#GoGators | #jOURney pic.twitter.com/odwTyXpkQk

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 7, 2022

Seth Greenberg says UK needs new facilities

John Calipari has made plenty of headlines for his “basketball school” remark during the Big Blue Bahamas trip. But in reality, that was just a slip-up, which took away from the root of what he was trying to say: Kentucky men’s basketball needs new facilities.

KSR’s Jack Pilgrim brought on ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg to join the Sources Say Podcast earlier this week to talk all things Kentucky MBB. Pilgrim asked Greenberg about Calipari’s “basketball school” comments and if new facilities are actually necessary for the program. Greenberg couldn’t have been more clear with his view.

“He does need new facilities,” Greenberg told KSR on the Sources Say Podcast this week. “That’s not me being a mouthpiece for Cal. Pat Forde wrote something like — Pat, do your homework dude. I can name 50 schools that have better practice facilities than (Kentucky’s), it’s antiquated.

“It’s not nicer than my practice facility at Virginia Tech. It’s not nicer than VCU’s practice facility, not nicer than Illinois, not nicer than Arkansas, Auburn is moving into a new one. That’s just the way it is.”

You can read the entire article with all of Greenberg’s comments here.

NFL season begins TONIGHT

The real action begins on Sunday with a 14-game slate, but the 2022 NFL season officially kicks off later tonight. The Los Angeles Rams (and new offensive coordinator Liam Coen) will host the Buffalo Bills at 8:20 p.m. EST on NBC.

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That’s all the news and notes I have for you this morning. We’ve got three straight hours of radio starting right now (9:00 a.m. EST) with the KSR Pre-Show, followed by KSR in an hour. We’ll see you then!