Mark Stoops is in favor of the SEC's new injury report

Injury reports are coming to the Southeastern Conference.

SEC schools will be required to submit player availability reports three days before each team’s football game along with daily updates that lead up to one final report 90 minutes before opening kick. It’ll be similar to what the NFL does with its injury reports, where players are designated as available, probable, doubtful, or questionable ahead of game day and then listed as available, game-time decision, or out on the actual gameday.

This move will go into effect immediately, meaning it will apply to the 2024 football season, which begins for Kentucky on Saturday. Fines will be sent out to teams that fail to follow injury report guidelines. The Wildcats head coach, Mark Stoops, is in favor of the new rule, which should provide more clarity across the league. Teams can better prepare for the opponent knowing who is hurt and who is not.

“I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to look like and I’m comfortable with it,” Stoops said on Thursday. “I think you guys know from covering me all these years, it’s not hard to read through what I’ve said all along I don’t think. Now it’s just being specific on questionable, probable, out, and all those things.

“I’ve been pretty forthcoming with that over the years, I feel like everybody knows at some point anyway, they’re gonna get the information. And I have no problem with it. I’m good with it, I support it, and I think there will be clarity, certainly when we play other teams it’ll be good for me to know where they stand. It’ll be good.”

NEWS: The SEC has approved mandatory injury reports for football, basketball, and baseball starting effective immediately, @PeteNakos_ reports.

Football reports must be published on Wednesday.

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— On3 (@On3sports) August 29, 2024

Not to ignore the elephant in the room, the rise of sports gambling across the United States has surely helped speed up the need for regular injury reports. Bettors will no longer be left in the dark until kickoff when it comes to player availability (or, ideally, not feel the need to find other, less moral, ways to learn that information). That’s no small note in regard to the future of college athletics in the new era, which is beginning to look more and more like professional sports.

Previously, there were no regulations at all. Injuries were mostly tight-lipped outside of something major. Even if it means Stoops can’t keep his injuries under wraps, the benefit of knowing what’s going on with the other team outweighs any other factors.

“From my side, I know. We know what it’s going to look like,” Stoops said. “With us under no obligation in the past, you could play it closer to the vest because there are game-time decisions. That still could happen and will happen. And then there’s other opportunities where you know it’s not gonna happen. I think for us, from a preparation standpoint, from our opponents, I think it’ll be more clear.”

From a fan, coach, and sports bettor perspective, weekly injury reports should only help the cause.

Watch the latest Mark Stoops press conference on the KSR YouTube Channel.