One of the biggest rivalries in college basketball is an in-state rivalry between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals. During this offseason, both of these two schools hired a new coach. The Kentucky Wildcats hired Mark Pope, and the Louisville Cardinals hired Pat Kelsey.

In a short period of time, both of these coaches used the transfer portal to bring a ton of talent into their programs. Both Kentucky and Louisville have a ton of veteran talent that should help these teams be in the hunt once the NCAA Tournament rolls around.

At a recent event, Coach Pope and Kelsey got together, and Louisville’s coach had some great things to say about the Wildcat’s new coach. Coach Kelsey had this to say about what Coach Pope has built in a short time in Lexington.

“I’ve paid very close attention to what Mark has done and what he’s built. He’s underselling it, he’s like Noah’s Ark. He’s got two of everything.”

– Pat Kelsey on Mark Pope

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While this is one of college basketball’s biggest rivalries, it is great to hear that these two coaches have a ton of respect for one another. When the Cardinals come to Lexington early in the season, it will be one of the best games of the year.

Coach Pope has a really good 2024-25 roster, and Kentucky fans should be happy to hear that Coach Kelsey had high praise for Coach Pope and his team. The Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry is back and it’s going to be really good for a long time.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Former President Donald Trump’s campaign in Kentucky officially filed election paperwork on Friday. This will ensure that Trump’s name appears on the ballot in November.

Trump easily won Kentucky in both 2016 and 2020. His statewide campaign believes he’ll win Kentucky again in November.

“I predict that – because of the inflation crisis, because of the open borders, because the vast majority of Kentuckians think the country’s on the wrong track – Kentucky is going to vote overwhelmingly in 2024 to make a change and to bring Donald Trump and J.D. Vance back to the White House,” said Congressman Andy Barr, who serves as the chairman of Trump’s statewide campaign.

“We need the policies of Donald Trump, of border security, of price stability, of the affordability of living again. And we need energy dominance again and we need a strong US military to deter our adversaries,” added Barr.

Dr. Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky, said Kentucky voters have realigned themselves to Trump’s Republican Party “pretty strongly,” so it’s likely he will win the Commonwealth.

“It would take a miraculous change in our politics for Donald Trump not to win the state,” said Voss. “And if Donald Trump found himself struggling to keep Kentucky, it’s over anyhow.”

However, Vice President Kamala Harris has been generating excitement since she became the Democrats’ pick, so is that enough to make a change in Kentucky?

“The excitement Harris has generated will show up in Kentucky because people don’t vote thinking they’re going to swing a presidential election, they get caught up in the excitement. The Harris excitement will play out here. It won’t help Harris beat Donald Trump, but it could matter in some of our state legislative elections,” said Voss.

Score predictions for the week two matchup between South Carolina and Kentucky

The South Carolina Gamecocks managed to squeak out a win against Old Dominion in their week one game by a final score of 23-19. At one point, the game was paused due to a delay, but the Gamecocks had some offensive struggles that kept the Monarchs in the football game. The defense however forced four turnovers which helped seal the victory to get a necessary game-one win. Now they travel to Kentucky for their first conference game of the season.

With that being said, here is how the staff at South Carolina Gamecocks on SI sees the game playing out:

South Carolina vs Kentucky Predictions:

Joseph Griffin: Kentucky 24, South Carolina 17
This is a very winnable game for Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks, however, based off of simply what we know and have seen, the offense has a lot of growing to do in just the one week of playing in not only their first road game and SEC matchup, but it’s Sellers as well. Kentucky doesn’t severely outmatch Carolina on either side of the ball, but the lean right now has to go to the home team. If Sellers can hit on the throws he missed last week and Loggains can get the passing game going, Carolina can have a chance to win in the 4th.

Alex Joyce: Kentucky 24, South Carolina 16
This game should come down to a defensive battle in what should be a low scoring affair. While both offenses have fresh faces at the QB spot, South Carolina has more questions than Kentucky. Can Sellers in his first ever road start calm the nerves he showed in game one? Can the WR room gel? Can the offensive line create holes in the run game and limit Kentucky’s star Deone Walker from making a huge impact? For the Wildcats, I like the weapons on offense in Barion Brown and Dane Key. Defensively Kentucky has a veteran defense that has playmakers at each level. If this game were played in October or November, my pick would likely be different, but as of now I believe Kentucky is the more complete football team. It should be a tight game into the second half, but Kentucky does enough to pull this out at home.

Jonathan Williams: Kentucky 30, South Carolina 17
This is going to be a defensive battle between this two teams. Kentucky’s defense is coming off of an impressive game against Southern Miss and the Gamecocks forced four turnovers against Old Dominion last week. With both Brock Vandagriff and LaNorris Sellers making their first starts in an SEC football game, I am expecting some turnovers on both sides. I think this game is going to boil down to which offense can create the most explosive plays and that’s where the Wildcats hold the edge in this ball game. Gamecocks lose a tough conference road game in week two.

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