Kentucky
First Down Kentucky: College Football Teams I'll Never Buy and Can't Quit
Happy Friday, Big Blue Nation! It’s a slow news day in the world of college football, which gives me the opportunity to share some thoughts about a few programs before Talking Season takes over our lives.
Over the next six weeks, you’ll hear analysts make the case for some teams to make a run to the CFB Playoff, while casting others by the wayside as pretenders. For example, Missouri will get plenty of praise following an 11-win season with the easiest schedule in the SEC on the horizon, but I’m not buying back-to-back outstanding years from Eli Drinkwitz, especially after losing his defensive coordinator to LSU.
That brief synopsis provides some analysis. You won’t get much more from me in this post. I’m using all gut and no brain to share why you should, or shouldn’t buy into the hype this talking season.
Never Buy: Miami
Mario Cristobal is recruiting like he did at Oregon and hitting the portal hard. I don’t care. Yes, the ACC is a terrible conference. Racking up wins shouldn’t be too challenging, especially if they can get a big in-state win over Florida out of the gate. But the problem with The U is not getting a big win or two, it’s sustaining success. Consistency evades that place like a vegan and a barbeque. Don’t believe the hype.
Can’t Quit: Iowa Unders
Just because Brian Ferentz has left the building, doesn’t mean the Hawkeyes will quit punting to win. Brian’s Dad is just as responsible for their offensive woes. Nevertheless, they’re still going to punt and win a bunch of games this fall.
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Never Buy: Notre Dame
Notre Dame gets judged on different criteria because of they aren’t affiliated with a conference, yet they still get many of the same perks. The Fighting Irish may be good enough to get into the CFB Playoff, but like so many other times over the last 15 years, that doesn’t mean they’re good enough to actually win any games in the postseason.
Can’t Quit: Alabama
I don’t care if Nick Saban is gone, that successful stink isn’t wearing off anytime soon. Kalen DeBoer wins everywhere he goes and he’s got a Heisman Trophy contender under center. Sure, Jalen Milroe has his faults, but his ceiling is good enough to win plenty of big games in Tuscaloosa. Alabama will no longer be the rolling ball of butcher knives that suffocates the rest of the sport, but you will not find me betting on the Empire to collapse overnight.
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Never Buy: Nebraska
This one is a bit touchier subject. I actually got a feeling Matt Rhule will make a significant step forward in year two at Nebraska. The schedule isn’t too daunting this fall. They could be 7-0 when they travel to Columbus to play Ohio State. I’ll probably play with fire and lose money betting on early-season success.
The problem is that even if Nebraska is an eight or nine-win team, their fans still believe they’re one of the biggest brands in the sport. They might be a big brand, but they aren’t a team that’s going to dictate who wins the National Championship.
Can’t Quit: Utah (and Cam Rising)
Trusting teams to succeed in the first year of a new conference is a fool’s errand, one I will happily complete. Why do I trust that Kyle Whittingham moving conferences? Because he’s done it before. The Utes won eight games in their first year in the Pac-12, and that was after moving up from the Mountain West. The Big 12 should be more palatable this fall than last season’s Pac-12.
Utah is making the move with Cam Rising under center, a quarterback who is playing in his seventh college football season. That’s more than enough experience for the Utes to navigate their way to the CFB Playoff.
Never Buy: Texas
Remember when Sam Ehlinger said Texas was back? That was five seasons ago. They’ve been back approximately 72 times since and had to completely start from scratch with a new coach. Sark has this ship well-equipped to bring Texas back, but now they gotta be “back” in the SEC. We sure they’re ready for that? I’m not buying Longhorn stonks in advance.
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See Triple Crown winners in Kentucky Derby history
Take a look at the 13 elite thoroughbreds who have claimed the ultimate prize in horse racing: the Triple Crown.
Intrepido is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2026 Kentucky Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.
The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 25. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 2.
Intrepido will enter the Kentucky Derby off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4. He currently ranks 17th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 38.
Buy tickets here for Kentucky Derby 152
Color: Bay.
Bred in: Kentucky.
Sire: Maximus Mischief.
Dam: Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect.
Price tag: $385,000 at 2025 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
Owners: Dutch Girl Holdings (Michele Arthur); Irving Ventures (Ruben Isla). First Derby for both.
Trainer: Jeff Mullins. He’s 0 for 4 in the Derby, best finish with Buzzards Bay (fifth) in 2005.
Jockey: Hector Berrios. First Derby.
Record: 2-1-0 in six starts.
Career earnings: $342,800.
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 38 (No. 17).
Last race: Fourth in Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4.
Running style: Has displayed early speed but raced off pace in Santa Anita Derby.
Notes: Intrepido has done all of his racing in California, winning as a 2-year old at Del Mar and Santa Anita. This year, he finished second in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis before heading to the Santa Anita Derby. … Mullins is in the Derby for the first time since 2005 but had the morning-line favorite in 2009 with I Want Revenge. He was scratched the morning of the race because of an ankle injury. … Intrepido is a ridgling, which means he has at least one undescended testicle.
What they’re saying: “I didn’t (expect that),” Mullins said after Intrepido worked a quick 47.4 seconds for four furlongs on April 19 at Santa Anita Park. “But we often get what we don’t expect.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
Kentucky
Northern Kentucky Education Council honors NKY educators with 2026 Excellence in Education Awards
Sadiqa Reynolds was removed from the University of Louisville board of trustees last week, as the Kentucky Senate did not confirm her appointment before they adjourned the 2026 legislative session.
Reynolds, the former president of the Louisville Urban League, was appointed to a six-year term on the board last April by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
Under state law, gubernatorial appointees to boards must be confirmed by the state Senate during the subsequent legislative session in order to stay in that position. While the Republican supermajority filed and passed more than 50 resolutions to confirm appointees, none were filed to confirm Reynolds.
Reynolds told Kentucky Public Radio this week that she was not given any reason for why the Senate failed to confirm her, but suspected Republicans wanted her out due to her open criticism of the attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in education by President Donald Trump and the legislature.
“Attacks on education are attacks on our democracy,” Reynolds said. “There is no honor in following the lead of Kentucky Republicans when they are hellbent on destroying any gains we have made in this country.”
Reynolds added that it was “a badge of honor” to be rejected by Senate Republicans.
“Fascists refused to confirm me,” she said. “One little woman with one voice. I have never felt more powerful.”
Asked why Republican leadership did not confirm Reynolds, a Senate GOP spokesperson replied that “there was no resolution filed by a Democrat or Republican for the Senate to consider.”
Republican senators — who make up 84% of the chamber — filed all of the 50-plus resolutions to confirm Beshear appointees. Only one Senate bill filed by a Democrat was passed into law this session.
Senate Democrats did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the chamber not confirming Reynolds.
Scottie Ellis, the spokesperson for Gov. Beshear, replied in a statement that Reynolds “is an accomplished leader and University of Louisville alumna who cares about the direction of the school and served on its Board of Trustees with pride and integrity. Her removal is the latest politically motivated move by the Republican-led General Assembly, who are ultimately hurting UofL and its students with this baseless action.”
Asked to comment on Reynolds’ removal from the board of trustees, U of L spokesman John Karman said it was “not our decision,” adding that “the university is appreciative of Trustee Reynolds for her service and grateful for her contributions as a member of the Board of Trustees.”
Reynolds was critical not just of the Trump administration’s actions targeting DEI initiatives, but legislation passed into law by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2025 to ban all DEI initiatives at public colleges. She added that she pushed the university not to “overcomply” with such efforts and challenge them legally, or “at least explain the impact of compliance to the legislators and to the public.”
“People are so afraid to ask questions and challenge them, and I was not afraid,” she said. “Republicans have heard what I said and didn’t like it.”
Reynolds was not the only Beshear appointee to not be confirmed by the Senate. Though Republicans filed a resolution to confirm Michael Abell to the Fish and Wildlife Resources Commission, they did not vote on it before the legislature adjourned.
Responding to Abell’s removal last week, Ellis said the Senate GOP “once again refused to confirm a commissioner nominated by the Kentucky sportsmen and appointed by the Governor. This is now the eighth time they have done so. Kentuckians should be very worried about the operations at Fish & Wildlife.”
Reynolds was formerly a judge and top aide to former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, until she was named CEO of the Louisville Urban League in 2015. She left that position in 2022 to become CEO of the Perception Institute, a New York City think tank that counters bias and discrimination. Reynolds stepped down from that position last fall to focus fully on the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, a West End sports complex she pushed for while at the Urban League.
The Louisville Urban League president that succeeded Reynolds in 2022 was fired after four months, then filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit alleging she was wrongfully terminated for airing concerns about its finances and allegations of conflicts of interest involving the sports complex. A mistrial was declared in that case, and a new trial was granted last month.
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