NASHVILLE — The phrase, “The only constant is change” aptly describes Kentucky basketball’s starting lineup this season.

In 20 games since the 2025-26 campaign began, the Wildcats have sported nine different starting fives — an altered look nearly every other outing. The reason for the fluidity has been the story of Mark Pope’s two seasons as coach: UK simply can’t avoid injuries.

In 56 games since taking over at his alma mater, Pope has had his full complement of scholarship players available just 10 times — and only five occasions in 41 matchups versus high-major foes.

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But UK forges on.

Another SEC showdown awaits tonight, squaring off with Vanderbilt in Nashville.

“It feels like we’ve been having to adapt every game to (a new roster) and new rotations,” said Kentucky sophomore guard Collin Chandler, who has started 15 times this season. “So, I think it’s just a credit … to everybody in finding roles, finding ways to win.

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Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) had a laugh at Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) expense over a fake X post accusing the governor of being out of town during the massive winter storm that brought dangerous amounts of snow and ice to many parts of the U.S.

Cruz posted a “thinking” emoji along with a retweet of a post by the Kentucky Freedom Coalition showing Beshear and his wife posing in front of a church in Europe.

The account, that’s also followed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) posted, “The liberal media went wild when Ted Cruz wasn’t in Texas for the major freeze a few years back. Well, Kentucky is in a declared emergency and @AndyBeshearKYis touring Europe. The media won’t say a word though.”

Beshear responded, “Sorry for missing this earlier, @tedcruz. Been busy leading my state’s emergency response all day. From Kentucky.”

Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake added some additional context, writing, “This photo of Beshear in Europe is a full week old. He gave a briefing in Kentucky today.”

According to WKYT, Beshear spent last week in Europe “with a delegation from Team Kentucky, attending the World Economic Forum and meeting with company leaders in Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland.”

Cruz famously received massive backlash in 2021 after escaping to sunny Cancun as a brutal winter storm left millions of his constituents “stranded in sub-freezing temperatures without electricity and water,” according to The Hill.

The contrite senator returned to Texas within 24-hours of being spotted on his travels. Cruz eventually apologized, saying, “It was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it.”

This week, as Texas braced once again for an onslaught of weather, a Texas political strategist posted, “Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was spotted earlier today, January 20, 2026, on a plane heading to Laguna Beach as the state of Texas braces for a rare ice threat and arctic cold front.”

Of the California trip, a Cruz spokesperson told KXAN that the work trip “was scheduled weeks in advance.”

The spokesperson continued, “He will be back in Texas before the storm is projected to hit.”

Cruz posted that he did, in fact, return to Texas the day before the storm hit.

This isn’t the first time Cruz has been called out for retweeting a fake post. In 2023, Cruz shared an image of what looked like a shark swimming on a flooded highway in Los Angeles.

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