All KSR Wants For Christmas Is...

by:KSR•12/25/23

Merry Christmas from the KSR crew! After almost 20 years of delivering UK sports news in the most ridiculous manner possible, it feels like we’ve done every type of Kentucky-themed Christmas post imaginable. So, this year, we’re going with a simple wish list. Here are the things we want the most in the coming year minus the obvious stuff (Final Four, Gator Bowl victory, NCAA accountability, world peace, etc.). Hopefully, Santa will deliver.

A better offensive line for Will Levis

Tyler: Being a Titans fan is hard enough. Being a Titans fan while watching your favorite school’s former quarterback run for his life is even harder.

Will Levis slipping to the second round of the NFL Draft was unfortunate, but when the Titans traded up to pick him, it felt like Christmas for Kentucky fans who also cheer for the two-tone blue. However, if you follow the Titans closely, you also know that their offensive line is atrocious, the human equivalent of a ticking time bomb.

Seeing Levis step into the starting role following Ryan Tannehill’s injury and make believers out of even his biggest haters has been satisfying; however, it’s also terrifying because you know he’s only one play away from getting seriously hurt. Last week, it felt like we’d reached that inevitable moment when Levis’ leg was pinned under him when he was pulled to the turf for the seventh time. Thankfully, it was just a sprained ankle. But until he gets better protection, each game will be white-knuckled.

Here’s hoping the Titans’ dismal record results in some high draft picks and a new and improved Two-Tone Blue Wall next season so we get more of the awesome Will Levis we’ve seen in glimpses so far. Also, we need to come up with a better nickname for him because I can’t say “Billy Jeans” without cringing.

A 3,000-Yard Passer

Roush: It’s like sitting on Santa’s lap and asking for a candy cane. I don’t think I’m asking for too much, and yet Kentucky has not had a quarterback pass for 3,000 yards in a season since Mike Hartline in 2010.

How is that even possible? Football is a passing game and Kentucky has somehow exceeded the program’s expectations by defying the most basic norm around the sport. Mark Stoops has had playmakers at the position. Will Levis was less than 200 yards away from cross the 3,000-yard threshold in 2021. It was the best passing season in the Stoops era and that’s why it was one of the best seasons of the Stoops era.

We thought Devin Leary could defy this disappointing statistical trend. We were sadly mistaken. The NC State transfer was second in the SEC in touchdown passes but only completed 54.1% of his passes against SEC foes. Unlike Leary, Liam Coen’s next quarterback lacks significant in-game experience, but he has the tools and the pedigree to be a proficient passer. Brock Vandagriff has a ton of weapons in the wide receiver and tight ends room, and he’ll be throwing behind an offensive line that allowed the third-fewest sacks in the SEC in 2023.

Santa, please deliver the BBN a big debut season for Brock Vandagriff.

A Kentucky Football Spring Game

Roush: Once again, I don’t think I’m asking the big guy for too much here. Somehow, some way, the Big Blue Nation has only been able to watch one spring football game since 2019. That ended up being a messy disaster with a snowy, wintry mix raining down just hours before kickoff in April of 2022.

The pandemic eliminated two. Then turf replacement was used as an excuse to cancel last year’s spring game. I understand why the Kentucky coaches don’t want to have a spring game. They don’t want to give opponents more to see on tape, a concern that is not as significant as the injury concern.

Here’s a compromise for the paranoia: just host a practice at Kroger Field. They will be practicing regardless. Instead of making it a full game, let use see the small group drills, a little 7-on-7 and sprinkle in two 20-minute team periods. The Big Blue Nation is starving for football like never before. Please feed us this spring.

More Throwback Basketball Uniforms

Last season, Kentucky Basketball honored its 1993 Final Four team by wearing throwback uniforms from the ’93 season.

A year later, why not throw it back to 1994 with another 30-year throwback uniform? The 1993-94 team did not reach the Final Four, but those Apex One icicles belong in the uniform Hall of Fame.

I got Delk’s 00 jersey and the matching shorts for Christmas one year.

LED Lights At Kroger Field

Drew: I hope Santa has room on his sleigh for new LED lights for Kroger Field. It’s a big ask of the elves, but Kentucky Football needs new toys, like LED lights, to keep up with its friends, many of whom have had LED light shows for years.

Tennessee added light shows to Neyland Stadium in 2021, and the Vols are on the naughty list every year. South Carolina added the LED stadium lights in 2022. Big Blue Nation has seen what it’s like to go into those environments and the impact colorful light bulbs have on the experience.

The Wildcats and all of the fans of the program deserve LED fun, too; if for nothing else but to keep up with the times.

Transfer tackles

Luckett: The early signing period arrived and Kentucky did not sign any high school tackle recruits after coming up short in late run at Jonathan Daniels. The program only signed one true high school tackle in the 2023 cycle. Class of 2022 signees Kiyaunta Goodwin and Nikolas Hall look like they will never play a snap for Kentucky.

With Hall’s status in doubt for the 2024 season, Kentucky could be down to three true tackles on the roster next season with Marques Cox, Courtland Ford, and Malachi Wood. That is not good. Kentucky also did not add any tackles via the transfer portal yet.

That must change.

When looking at the Kentucky roster next season, tackle depth is a seismic concern. Kentucky could be forced to kick guards Ben Christman, Dylan Ray, or Aba Selm outside to provide depth. That is not how an SEC team should be operating. The Wildcats must find some help at tackle in the transfer portal after the Gator Bowl wraps up on Friday.

Better defensive numbers

Luckett: There is no denying that Kentucky basketball is fun again. John Calipari just led his team to two fun victories against North Carolina and Louisville in December. The Wildcats have shown flexibility as Calipari has gone all-in on pace-and-space. They may have the best offense in college basketball.

Kentucky can score, but concerns about the defense are valid at this point. Why is that notable? Because a team cannot win a national championship with a defense that ranks outside of the top 25 in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Wildcats currently rank No. 46 in adjusted defensive efficiency.

During the KenPom era since 1999, Baylor (2021) is the only team to claim a title ranking worse than 18th on defense. Teams don’t have to be top-five on that end of the floor but they need to be good. For Kentucky to make a true run at a national title in March, we need to see some real growth on the defensive end of the floor.

Add at least 1 more piece to the ’24 class

Zack: John Calipari’s 2024 recruiting class is shaping up quite nicely, but there’s one more gift (or maybe two) the Big Blue Nation is hoping to see under that tree. The present(s) in question? Five-star shooting guard VJ Edgecombe for starters. The No. 5 overall high school senior in the country would boost Kentucky’s already-talented five-man group to the top-ranked class in the country, surpassing Duke along the way.

Why not be greedy though? Let’s ask for two more gifts while we’re at it. In addition to Edgecombe, we’re hoping that Santa Cal brings us another present for the incoming recruiting class. Perhaps a reclass candidate from 2025? Darryn Peterson or Jasper Johnson would make for a great last-minute gift.

But even if we have to “settle” for just Edgecombe, that would still give Kentucky the No. 5, No. 8, No. 21, No. 22, No. 51, and No. 87 ranked seniors in the country. Not a bad Christmas.

To Focus on the Fun

Tyler: It’s been an exhausting few years to be a Kentucky Basketball fan. The program hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2015 or even the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019. Thankfully, this year’s team is helping us crawl back out from under the rock, but tensions from that tough stretch are still easily triggered.

Comments from John Calipari about lineup combinations or playing style resurrect old fears. Even the smallest critiques are seized upon by Calipari’s haters and his devotees, who passive-aggressively argue into oblivion. If you’re not 100% positive, you’re negative. If you’re not 100% negative, you’re a sunshine pumper. There is no in-between, which is just simply not realistic. The basketball school vs. football school comments from 2022 still creep up from time to time like a primordial ooze.

Worn out by it all, I gave myself a mission before the season began: to simply enjoy the team. I put my Calipari fatigue to the side (not easy when his mission seems to be proving everyone wrong, especially the media) and focused on the players. In his words, I’m not letting anyone steal my Kentucky Basketball joy. The fact that this group is really fun helps, but it’s made a world of difference. As we look forward to a potentially VERY fun 2024, I encourage everyone else to do the same; you’ll regret it if you don’t.

A second weekend in March

Jack: Now, before BBN attacks me for lowering expectations and accepting less than the gold standard at Kentucky, understand where I’m coming from — and also that ’no layups’ was mandatory for this exercise. Obviously, we all want a Final Four, and we’re inching closer toward expecting one. For me specifically, though, I just need to know what a second weekend in March feels like. Why? Well, I’ve never been.

I started interning at KSR in 2016 and was hired full-time in 2019, but didn’t take over the basketball beat until the 2020-21 season. Since then, a missed tournament, a historic opening-round upset to Saint Peter’s and a Round of 32 loss to Kansas State — one postseason win in three years. And one SEC Tournament win, too. Maybe I’m the problem?

I missed all of the early fun traveling to Final Four sites. For this year, I just want to see what a Regional feels like. Then we can all root for Phoenix together.

Sleep and snuggles

Jack: I’ll be honest, I don’t need a whole lot for Christmas. I got everything I asked for in October in the form of an 8-pound, 7-ounce lil man — now 13 pounds — named Billy Pilgrim. It’s been the coolest, most challenging, yet rewarding two months of my life full of sleepless nights and juggling a dozen things at once. This holiday season has been about enjoying every day and small stage of this whole keeping-the-kid-alive-at-all-costs process. If anything, I just want time to slow down a little bit and keep him this small forever.

Best Christmas ever.