KSR Today: Travel Day, New Top 25, Chin Coleman, Liam Coen, Jason Kelce, And More

As a coverer of sports, internet law requires that we use a photo of Jason Kelce shirtless within the vicinity of Taylor Swift at the Buffalo Bills’ divisional-round game against the Kansas City Chiefs last night. If nothing else, this buzzwordy introduction should help us in Google searches this morning. Jason Kelce Taylor Swift Jason Kelce Taylor Swift.

Now for things you care about and won’t find anywhere else: the latest news and views around UK Athletics in the most ridiculous manner possible. Today marks the beginning of a new week, and Mondays are always busy around the Kentucky Wildcats.

Travel Day

Later today, Kentucky Basketball will travel to Columbia, South Carolina, the site of the Wildcats’ next game in league play. Kentucky and South Carolina are scheduled to tip off Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. on SEC Network.

Also later today, the opening line on that game will hit the board. Ken Pomeroy, who is pretty good at forecasting point spreads, projects a three-point margin in favor of Kentucky. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives the Cats a 63.5 percent chance to win. We’ll have tons more about that game throughout today and tomorrow, all the way up until the final whistle and beyond.

Chin Coleman To Preview The Gamecocks

Around lunchtime, UK assistant Chin Coleman will conduct a press conference on campus to preview the Wildcats’ trip to South Carolina. KSR will share the full video and Coleman’s comments once the conversation concludes.

The last time we heard from Coleman, the team sent him out to preview the trip to Chicago to play Kansas, so this is an opportunity to get back to .500.

John Calipari’s Radio Show Postponed

Due to team travel, John Calipari will not be available for Monday night’s weekly call-in radio show. So, Calipari and Tom Leach will wait until Wednesday evening to talk to the Big Blue Nation once they have returned from South Carolina, hopefully with a win.

Bob In Jamestown should plan accordingly.

Moving On Up?

Kentucky should see a slight climb up the Top 25 when the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls are updated later today. Kentucky is eighth in the AP Poll and tenth in the Coaches Poll heading into the Week 12 versions; however, a move up the charts will likely come Monday afternoon due to seventh-ranked Duke’s home loss to Pittsburgh at Cameron Indoor Arena over the weekend.

Other top-10 teams that suffered losses last week are third-ranked Kansas (@ West Virginia, 91-85); ninth-ranked Baylor (@ Kansas State, 68-64; @ Texas, 75-73); and No. 10 Memphis (vs. South Florida, 74-73; @ Tulane, 81-79).

Big Z For SEC Freshman of the Week

Mondays bring the SEC’s weekly basketball awards. Kentucky has already won five of the ten Freshman of the Week awards this season, but a Wildcat hasn’t taken the league’s Player of the Week trophy yet in 2023-24. Antonio Reeves is UK’s biggest contender to snap the drought this week for his 48 combined points in wins against Georgia and Mississippi State. Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht might have something to say about that. He scored a combined 64 in blowout victories over Florida and first-place Alabama.

Looking ahead to the Freshman of the Week award, KSR fully endorses Zvonimir Ivisic for his breakout debut game in Lexington.

Kentucky Basketball Presents: @zvonimir_ivisic 🎥 pic.twitter.com/BpYt561Org

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 22, 2024

UK Women’s Basketball Got A W

In their first appearance since the embarrassment at South Carolina, Kentucky Women’s Basketball won a second game in league play on Sunday, beating Missouri at home in Rupp Arena. The 76-71 victory snapped a three-game losing skid for Kyra Elzy’s Wildcats, bringing UKWBB to 2-3 in the SEC standings and 9-10 overall for the year.

Eniya Russell was UK’s leading scorer in the game, adding 20 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Helping out from the starting five, Maddie Scherr scored 19 with nine rebounds and six assists before fouling out, while Ajae Petty recorded a double-double, and Saniah Tyler joined the double-figure scorers with her ten points for the Wildcats.

No Chicago For Liam Coen

The National Football League leads the sports headlines this morning. However, here at KSR, we’ll lead off with an NFL update from beyond the divisional round results: the Bears’ OC search.

According to multiple morning reports, the Bears are finalizing a deal to hire Shane Waldron to call the plays in Chicago, meaning Liam Coen won’t be leaving Lexington for the Bears. Kentucky’s offensive coordinator was a candidate for the job, but Waldron ultimately landed the position. If Waldron’s name sounds familiar, it may be because he was the other Rams assistant rumored to be in consideration for the Kentucky OC job when Mark Stoops hired Coen in December 2020.

Coen remained active with Kentucky throughout the Bears’ search. As reported on KSBoard, he watched Brock Vandagriff, Cutter Boley, and Beau Allen throw it around UK’s facility in Lexington last Friday. He intends to touch base with 2025 QB target Ryan Montgomery, too.

NFL Championship Round Is Set

In addition to Jason Kelce and Taylor Swift in Buffalo, the weekend gave us three thrilling divisional games and one blowout. Now, Championship Sunday is set with two spots in the Super Bowl up for grabs.

AFC Championship, 3 p.m. ET
(3) Chiefs at (1) Ravens (-3)

NFC Championship, 6:30 p.m. ET
(3) Lions at (1) 49ers (-6.5)

Former Kentucky stars Josh Paschal (Lions) and Mike Edwards (Chiefs) are still playing for a Super Bowl.

Tune in for KSR at 10 a.m.

Matt Jones, Ryan Lemond, and Shannon The Dude are coming up on your radio devices, or catch the KSR Preshow right now.

Have a good day and Go Cats.