When Mark Pope announced that he would be taking questions directly from BBN, we all knew things could get interesting. But honestly, it turned out pretty good; you had some honest questions and some good answers. Sure, there were sarcastic questions that just were never going to be answered, but Pope did address the GM situation. While it wasn’t the answer a lot of people hoped for, at least there is now a clear hierarchy within the basketball front office. Let’s break it down.
Kentucky
Kentucky vs. Georgia: KSR Staff Predictions
After a letdown loss to South Carolina in Week 2, Kentucky hosts No. 1 Georgia on Saturday at Kroger Field. The Wildcats need to show some resiliency after losing 31-6 to the Gamecocks, but the schedule was cruel, sending the top-ranked Bulldogs to Lexington. A 24-point betting favorite, Georgia has won 41 consecutive regular season games and the last 14 meetings with Kentucky. It’s the worst possible opponent for the Wildcats.
Before the game kicks off, the KSR office has its weekly round of pregame predictions, a Friday tradition around here. This week, everyone agrees that Kentucky is in for a long Saturday night.
Drew Franklin
I incorrectly predicted Kentucky over Georgia the last few years, hoping to speak an upset into existence. This year, though, I can’t find the optimism to make the unpopular pick again, not after how Kentucky played last week. So, I expect Kentucky will take its 15th straight loss to the Dawgs on Saturday, likely by a wide margin. I don’t see how Kentucky’s offense can score many points, if any, after the way the offense looked against South Carolina.
I have higher expectations for UK’s defense, which held Georgia to 16 and 14 points in Georgia’s last two trips to Lexington. Still, the programs are too far apart in 2024, so I predict Georgia will keep being Georgia. However, Kentucky covers.
Score: Georgia 30, Kentucky 10
Zack Geoghegan
2009 was the last time Kentucky beat Georgia on the gridiron. I don’t see that streak ending in 2024. The Bulldogs are primed to make another run to a national championship. Kirby Smart’s team hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2020! After what we saw from Kentucky last week, it’s tough to make a good argument in favor of the Wildcats.
What I do expect to see, however, is a better performance from Kentucky than whatever the hell happened last week. It’s almost required — anything close to a repeat of the South Carolina game would seriously result in a loss so bad I don’t want to think about the final score. Hand the ball to Demie Sumo-Karngbaye all game long and see if he can keep the ‘Cats alive. Is that a recipe for success? Probably not, but there aren’t many tasty ones out there right now.
Georgia will likely win, but Kentucky — as it usually does against the Bulldogs under Mark Stoops — will find a way to keep it “close” and cover the spread.
Score: Georgia 35, Kentucky 13
Nick Roush
This Kentucky football team has been unpredictable. That’s why I’m going to zig when everything else is telling me to zag.
Carson Beck should be able to carve up the Kentucky secondary. The Georgia defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown in its last three games and they’re facing a Kentucky offense that looked lifeless at times in week two.
Despite the obvious disadvantages, my gut tells me Kentucky will play an A- game and score early. A Georgia miscue will set up another great chance, but the Cats will miss the opportunity and be forced to kick a field goal. Given an inch, the Dawgs will take a mile and eventually run away with the game.
Score: Georgia 31, Kentucky 13
Adam Luckett
Kentucky is reeling and must find answers on offense after a disastrous performance against South Carolina. Coverage busts are still an issue for the secondary. The special teams unit also didn’t play well last week. The Wildcats are back to the drawing board after an embarrassing performance and must figure out a team identity that can allow them to win football games.
Georgia knows its team identity and will score points on anyone once they decide to turn Carson Beck and this passing game loose. Expect the Bulldogs to find an early lead and then likely sit on that lead with a game against Alabama on the horizon.
Kentucky’s run defense will allow them to hang around, but the offense prevents the home team from making a real run at an upset. The Bulldogs get a two-possession lead in the first half and keeps Kentucky at arm’s length before ultimately extending that lead in the second half.
Score: Georgia 30, Kentucky 7
Tyler Thompson
Score: Georgia 34, Kentucky 10
Jack Pilgrim
Kentucky is down to two scholarship backs with Chip Trayanum and Jason Patterson both out while the passing game is non-existent and the offensive line continues to be a trainwreck. The Cats couldn’t find the end zone against a mediocre South Carolina team, so what does that say about their chances to do so against the best team in college football? As Jerry Tipton once eloquently said time and time again, it doesn’t bode well, folks.
The defense needs to tighten up on the key downs, but showed some juice against South Carolina. You can see a scenario where Brad White’s unit mucks things up for the Bulldogs to keep things interesting early, only for the cream to rise to the top in the second half to solidify the blowout. I just can’t trust this offense right now, especially when considering the inevitable butterflies coming for Brock Vandagriff facing his former team. If the Gamecocks had him rattled, a defense that hasn’t given up a touchdown since the SEC Championship last December could have him seeing ghosts.
Show me, don’t tell me, Cats. I am a blind optimist no more.
Score: Georgia 35, Kentucky 3
Kentucky vs. Georgia: How to Watch
Warm and humid weather for Preakness Stakes this weekend
The second race of the Triple Crown is May 16 in Laurel, Maryland. Conditions at Preakness Stakes are expected to be warmer with humidity. There could be a spotty thunderstorm after the race.
Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby. He won’t be at the Preakness. And that’s becoming a familiar story.
This marks the second straight year and the third time in five years that the Derby winner has decided not to compete in the Preakness Stakes despite having a healthy horse. The reason is almost always the same: two weeks isn’t enough time.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux made the call quickly after Golden Tempo’s dramatic last-to-first Derby victory on May 2.
“Golden gave us the race of a lifetime,” DeVaux said in a statement. “We believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort.”
DeVaux and Golden Tempo are focused on the June 6 Belmont Stakes instead.
The pattern is pretty clear.
From 1997 to 2018, every Kentucky Derby winner ran the Preakness, keeping the Triple Crown path intact. That streak ended with Country House, who won the Derby on the disqualification of Maximum Security, was scratched from the Preakness. The sport has been wrestling with the question ever since. Maryland’s racing leaders have considered moving the Preakness one week later, from the third Saturday in May to the fourth, though no change has been made.
Of the 14 horses entered in the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, just three made the trip from Churchill Downs. None of them won the Derby. One nearly caused the biggest upset in recent memory.
Ocelli (Post 2, 6-1)
The most intriguing Derby returnee. Ocelli finished third at 70-1 odds on May 2, giving trainer Whit Beckman and jockey Tyler Gaffalione a surprise ticket to Laurel Park. He was the lone maiden in the Derby field and remains a maiden heading into Saturday. Nobody expected him to be here.
Incredibolt (post 12, 5-1)
The morning-line co-favorite among Derby runners. Incredibolt finished sixth at Churchill Downs and trainer Riley Mott moved quickly to point him to Laurel Park. Jockey Jaime Torres won the 2024 Preakness aboard Seize the Grey. The connections believe the 1 3/16-mile distance suits Incredibolt better than the Derby’s mile and a quarter.
Robusta (Post 4, 30-1)
The longest shot of the Derby trio is Robusta, who finished 14th of the 14 in the Derby. The question with any horse coming back this quickly after a tough Derby is how much the race took out of him. At 30-1, it seems the market has answered that question.
COVINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) – A Northern Kentucky man is in jail, accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl who’d been reported missing.
Matthew Wade, 40, faces charges, including sexual abuse, unlawful transaction with a minor and assault.
Covington Police say they found the teen at Wade’s home on Highway Avenue on Monday. According to the police report, he was knowingly hiding her, knew she was missing and had cut her ankle monitor off.
Investigators say the teen was given alcohol, marijuana and magic mushrooms.
The girl told police wade slapped her and choked her.
Officers also say they found guns in the home.
Mark Pope has confirmed that no official GM position will exist for at least this season, and most likely won’t exist going forward. Why? Because he has the responsibilities spread out across 4 different people, and believes that is the best way forward.
“In this ever-changing college basketball dynamic, everybody is trying a different solution. For us, instead of hiring a singular GM, we’ve gone with a more comprehensive general management team approach. We have four members of the team. Keegan Brown is a data analysis and roster construction expert who’s worked in both college and the NBA. Nick Robinson is our salary cap strategy and management specialist. Kevin Sergent is our compliance officer, and he deals with all of our contracts and legal language. Kim Shelton is our JMI liaison, and she does all of our NIL contracts that deal with corporate sponsorships. That’s our four-person general management team.”
But who is each one of these people, and what makes them qualified?
Who’s doing what in the Kentucky basketball front office?
Well, Keegan Brown has been a video coordinator in the G-League. That essentially means he would go and watch all the videos on league opponents and potential prospects, and come up with data-backed scouting reports for the coaching and front office teams. Pope has worked with Brown at BYU, so there is some familiarity there.
Nick Robinson also worked with Mark Pope in Provo, being an assistant coach from 2019 to 2024 and following Pope to Lexington. He has been on staff all 3 seasons now, and is being tasked with handing out Kentucky’s money and setting a budget for each player.
Kevin Sergent is not new to Kentucky; he has been in Lexington since 2020. But this is his first time handling compliance on his own; his official title is Senior Associate AD for Athletic Compliance. He handles all the rules, applying for waivers, basically making sure the entire staff is doing everything the right way.
Kim Shelton is a UK alum who was more known for soccer than anything else. She was part of the very first Kentucky women’s soccer team and is a former CEO of Lexington Sporting Club. She worked for Kentucky when Commonwealth was renamed as Kroger Field, and played a role in setting up naming rights for Kentucky Proud Park. Right now, she is kind of the bridge between Kentucky and JMI, specifically handling BBNIL Suite.
If you don’t remember what BBNIL suite is, it’s essentially the opt-in program where student athletes agree to only work with deals through JMI. They find offers, broker deals, and help athletes make money. It is, of course, optional, but if players decline, they will not be able to use the University of Kentucky logos in their NIL marketing.
Trent Noah is probably the most successful NIL athlete who opted out. The Kentucky native is handling his own NIL, and by the amount of ads and cardboard cutouts I see littered around the state, he seems to be doing pretty well.
Seeing JMI integrated again into Kentucky Basketball is probably going to make some of you uneasy, and I get that. But everyone who has worked with them who has officially gone on the record says they are a pleasure to work with.
And that’s how Mark Pope wants it done. There is a theory out there that he wants a GM, but JMI won’t let him. Considering he has chosen 2 of the 4 people personally, I highly doubt that’s true.
What do you think of his explanation, and what do you think of how he is handling the GM role?
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