Kentucky

Opinion – Keith Taylor: 7-5 sounds about right for Kentucky football this season – NKyTribune

Published

2 years ago

August 25, 2024

Opinion – Keith Taylor: 7-5 sounds about right for Kentucky football this season – NKyTribune

Kentucky hasn’t missed a bowl game in eight years but that streak could be in jeopardy this season, considering a schedule that no longer includes permanent Southeastern Conference opponents such as Missouri and Mississippi State.

The Wildcats will play eight home games and just four road encounters in Mark Stoops’ 12th season at the helm. A quick glance at the schedule forecasts a 7-5 record and an ninth straight bowl appearance.

Keith Taylor

The following is a breakdown of what could be in store when the season kicks off against Southern Mississippi on Aug. 31 at Kroger Field.

SOUTHERN MISS, Aug. 31

Surprisingly, the Golden Eagles have played the Wildcats closer than expected in the previous two games between the two teams. Southern Miss stunned Kentucky 44-35 in 2016 and escaped with a 24-17 victory in Hattiesburg a year later in 2017.

Prediction: Kentucky 34, Southern Miss 13.

SOUTH CAROLINA, Sept. 7

Kentucky had a three-game wining streak against the Gamecocks snapped last season when Shane Beamer’s squad defeated the Wildcats 17-14 last year in Columbia for one of South Carolina’s five victories last season.

Prediction: Kentucky 28, South Carolina 20

GEORGIA, Sept. 14

It’s been 14 years since Kentucky defeated Georgia and the Bulldogs continually are one of the top teams not only in the Southeastern Conference, but in the nation. Kentucky surrendered 51 points to Kirby Smart’s squad last season and the Bulldogs are poised to make a run for the national title again and the Wildcats will likely have to wait to end the losing skid against the Bulldogs.

Prediction: Georgia 48, Kentucky 17

OHIO, Sept. 21

Kentucky will play the Bobcats in the last of four straight home games to open the season. Ohio has won 10 games in each of the past two seasons but will be hard pressed to continue the trend again. Kentucky lost to the Bobcats in 2004, but defeated Ohio 20-3 in the last meeting between the two teams in 2014.

Prediction: Kentucky 34, Ohio 13

At OLE MISS, Sept. 28

Lane Kiffin has the Rebels on the national stage and poised for a breakout season. Kentucky’s first road game of the season in Oxford won’t be an easy task in the SEC opener for Kiffin’s squad. Ole Miss has won three in a row over the Wildcats, all by three points or less.

Prediction: Ole Miss 41, Kentucky 24

VANDERBILT, Oct. 12

In the Commodores’ last visit to Lexington in 2022, Vandy stunned Kentucky 24-21 but the Wildcats returned the favor with a 45-28 win a year ago in Nashville. The Commodores went winless in the league last season and enters the season on a 10-game losing streak.

Prediction: Kentucky 42, Vandy 10

At FLORIDA, Oct. 19

For the longest time, Kentucky couldn’t beat the Gators, but ended a 31-game losing streak to Florida with a memorable 27-16 stunner in 2018. Since then, Kentucky has won three of the past five games and carries a three-game winning streak into this year’s contest in Gainesville.

Prediction: Florida 23, Kentucky 20

AUBURN, Oct. 26

The two teams haven’t played since 2020 and Hugh Freeze hopes to take the Tigers to the next level in his second season on The Plains. Auburn has won three in a row over Kentucky and 18 of the last 19 encounters between the two teams.

PREDICTION: Auburn 28, Kentucky 24

At TENNESSEE, Nov. 2

The Volunteers have scored at least 30 points in the past three games against the Wildcats and Volunteers coach Josh Heupel is 3-0 against Kentucky. Tennessee edged the Wildcats 33-27 a year ago in Lexington after surrending 89 points to Tennessee in the previous two encounters.

Prediction: Tennessee 31, Kentucky 21

MURRAY STATE, Nov. 16

The Racers will provide a relief for the Wildcats going into the final three games of the season. Kentucky is 2-0 against Murray State and defeated the Racers 48-10 in the last game between the two teams at Kroger Field in 2018.

Prediction: Kentucky 42, Murray State 14

At TEXAS, Nov. 23

The last time the Wildcats and the Longhorns played, Texas escaped with a 7-6 victory in 1951. The two teams will produce more scoring this time but the Longhorns will be too much for the Wildcats as Texas makes its first tour of duty through the SEC.

Prediction: Texas 38, Kentucky 13

LOUISVILLE, Nov. 30

Jeff Brohm guided the Cardinals to 10 wins last season and an appearance in the ACC Championship game in his first season as coach of the Cardinals, but Kentucky’s 38-31 win was the first of three straight setbacks by the Cardinals to end the season. Kentucky carries a five-game winning streak into the 30th anniversary of the series renewal between the two in-state foes.

Kentucky 34, Louisville 31

FINAL RECORD: 7-5.

Keith Taylor is sports editor of Kentucky Today, where this column first appeared.

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Kentucky

Vanderbilt baseball’s series win vs Kentucky revelatory

Published

10 minutes ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Vanderbilt baseball’s series win vs Kentucky revelatory

Entering the weekend, Vanderbilt baseball had gotten swept in its only SEC series in which it hadn’t won the first game.

So the Commodores had a tough task in a series they badly needed after dropping the opener 5-2 on a walk-off grand slam after Vanderbilt’s best healthy starter, Connor Fennell, pitched well.

But the Commodores (24-17, 9-9 SEC) rebounded to take the series with an 8-7 win in the second game and a 13-6 win in the finale April 19. They did that despite not having any pitcher go more than three innings in either game. Though the pitching was still shaky at times — they issued more free passes than strikeouts in both of the wins — they worked out of enough jams to let the offense go to work.

Here’s what we learned from the series.

Will Hampton proves an unlikely hero for the offense

Vanderbilt got strong performances from a few of its typical top performers, including Braden Holcomb (6-for-13, four doubles) and Brodie Johnston (4-for-12, two home runs, three walks). But one of the biggest hits of the series came from the unlikeliest of sources.

Logan Johnstone was held out of the finale after colliding with Mike Mancini in Game 2, and in his place coach Tim Corbin opted to go with redshirt freshman Will Hampton in left field. Hampton had recorded just six college plate appearances, all of which were in nonconference games.

But Hampton reached in all three of his plate appearances against Kentucky, first on a single, then a walk. In the sixth inning, with the score tied, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs and blasted a grand slam, giving Vanderbilt its first lead.

Tyler Baird learns the ups and downs of being a closer

Freshman Tyler Baird has been Vanderbilt’s closer for the past three weeks, recording his first save April 2 against Texas A&M. But he learned the pitfalls that can come with that role in Game 1 against Kentucky. Summoned for an eight-out save with the Commodores leading 2-1, he retired the first five batters, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out the next two batters but then gave up the walk-off grand slam.

Baird returned for Game 3, this time attempting a five-out save and coming in with runners on first and second and one out with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score, but kept the lead and then had a scoreless ninth inning after Vanderbilt scored three runs in the top of the inning.

Baird’s emergence has been key for the Commodores, and the Game 3 bounce-back was especially important.

Vanderbilt’s RPI shows improvement

On April 15, Vanderbilt was 95th in RPI, a mark that wasn’t going to cut it for NCAA Tournament selection. But with a road series win against a Kentucky team that started the week in the top 20 of RPI, the Commodores moved all the way up to 75th, according to Warren Nolan.

While Vanderbilt will need to keep moving up — a top-50 mark would be ideal — the series win did a lot. In the next two weeks, it will face two top-five RPI teams in Alabama and Texas, giving more opportunity to improve its standing.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.

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Missing on this PF in the transfer portal could be a good thing for Kentucky

Published

12 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Missing on this PF in the transfer portal could be a good thing for Kentucky

Power forward has been one of the positions that Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have to fill with Andrija Jelavic and Mo Dioubate gone. The two players that Pope has had on campus at the power forward position are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik. Both are really good players, but Freeman is better by a wide margin.

It has felt that entire time that Kentucky wanted Rancik as the backup to Freeman or a backup plan if they weren’t able to land Freeman. Well, Rancik just picked Florida State, so perhaps this is a sign that the Wildcats will land Freeman.

Feb 11, 2026; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Colorado Buffaloes forward Sebastian Rancik (7) looks to pass the ball against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first half at United Supermarkets Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images | Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

Big Blue Nation was torn on Rancik, but I do believe he would have been a really solid backup power forward. I personally didn’t want him to be the starting four for this team. It is clear that he wanted to go somewhere where he could be the guy at the four, so he will be heading to the ACC to play for FSU.

Now that Kentucky has missed on Rancik, it is very important that the Wildcats land Freeman soon. The problem with waiting on some of these players is the fact that the portal isn’t slowing down. If Pope targets two power forwards and misses on both of them, most of the good fours in the portal will be gone.

There will be some panic in Lexington if the Wildcats are not able to land Freeman, but I do believe the Wildcats are in a good spot to land the elite power forward. From the beginning, Freeman has been my top player for Kentucky in the portal, as he, plus Malachi Moreno, will give the Wildcats an elite frontcourt.

Mar 7, 2026; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Donnie Freeman (1) warms up prior to the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

If Pope is able to land Freeman and Tyran Stokes to pair with Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Moreno, and Kam Williams, this could be the start of a really good team in Lexington. Hopefully, an announcement for where Freeman will transfer comes soon, and hopefully, this will be to play for Pope at Kentucky.

Fans of rival teams will say Pope “whiffed” on Rancik, but if this whiff was because the Wildcats are set to land Freeman soon, then it was more than worth it for Kentucky. If the Wildcats are able to land Freeman, it will officially be time for Big Blue Nation to start getting excited about the 2026-27 season. I expect a decision from Freeman to come within the next day or two.

Rancik would have been a solid backup four in Lexington but Freeman has been the guy from the beggining for this staff so if Kentucky lands him all is well. If the staff misses on Freeman not landing Rancik will look bad.

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Kentucky

Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report

Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.

One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.

Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.

The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.

Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.

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