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KSR Today: Michigan State Eve to start Vanderbilt Week

Tyler-Thompsonby: Tyler Thompson5 hours agoMrsTylerKSR
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Photos via KSR and Avery Deweese, UK Athletics

It was a great weekend to be a Kentucky fan. The school’s most prominent teams — Men’s Basketball, Football, Women’s Basketball, and Volleyball — won in resounding fashion. The only team to come up short was the women’s soccer team, which was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by Louisville in a shootout. After last week, it’d sure be nice to get some revenge against the Cards, wouldn’t it?

The football team will have a chance to do that soon. In the meantime, we’ve got plenty to discuss on another busy crossover week. Let’s get to it.

Denzel Aberdeen, Malachi Moreno preview Michigan State

The Cats took care of business in the championship of the BBN United Tipoff Classic on Friday night, beating Eastern Illinois by 46 points. It was the bounce-back win that Kentucky needed, although Mark Pope’s comments about the pregame incident at Louisville still cast a weird pall on it all. Tomorrow night, the Cats have a chance to ease the BBN’s concerns against No. 17 Michigan State in the Champions Classic (6:30 PM, ESPN).

The team leaves for New York today. Before departure, Denzel Aberdeen and Malachi Moreno will chat with reporters. In fact, those conversations begin not too long from now, so check the site later this morning for the players’ thoughts on the matchup vs. the Spartans. We’ve yet to get an update on Jaland Lowe‘s shoulder, specifically, whether or not he’s electing to have surgery or trying to make it through the season without; either way, Aberdeen will likely start tomorrow at point guard. Thank goodness for the Florida transfer.

New polls

Kentucky was No. 9 in the first AP Poll of the regular season. We’ll see if the voters punish the Cats for the loss at No. 12 Louisville around lunch. The Spartans got bumped up to No. 17 in the AP Poll after beating Arkansas. They only played once last week, a 79-60 win over San Jose State, so I would expect them to move much in the polls.

We’ll also get a line for tomorrow night’s game at some point today on BetMGM. It’s already listed in some books, with Kentucky a 5.5-point favorite. KenPom likes Kentucky by seven, 80-73, while Bart Torvik predicts a 76-64 win. ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives the Cats a 77.9% chance of victory.

Tennessee Tech vs. Kentucky football on 11/15/2025 – Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio/On3

Stoops previews Vanderbilt

It was also a feel-good weekend for the Kentucky Football team, which moved to 5-5 with a 42-10 win over Tennessee Tech. You couldn’t have asked for more from Mark Stoops’ squad on Senior Day. Cutter Boley was magnificent, Seth McGowan rushed for three touchdowns with his grandmother in the stands, and Waka Flocka Flame helped rescue some fans stuck in an elevator. The road’s about to get tougher, yes, but for one beautiful Saturday, the Cats and BBN could exhale.

This week, Kentucky puts that momentum to the test at No. 12 Vanderbilt (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Commodores (8-2, 4-2 SEC) are coming off a bye, and it’s Diego Pavia’s Senior Day at the newly renovated and oh-so-hip FirstBank Stadium. Can Cutter and the Cats pull off the upset to secure bowl eligibility? Kentucky opened as a 9.5-point underdog on BetMGM.

Mark Stoops will meet with reporters at noon to preview the matchup. After getting the Cats back to .500, Stoops’ seat is cooler, but winning one of the last two games would certainly push him into even safer territory. This week’s game at Vandy seems like a tougher ask than next week’s at Louisville, but who am I to argue with a Kentucky team that is undefeated in November?

We’ll hear again from Stoops on his call-in show at 6 p.m. ET on 630 WLAP, affiliates across the state, or iHeart Radio.

SEC Nation at Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt hosted College Gameday ahead of its game vs. Missouri last month. This week, SEC Nation is coming to town for the Kentucky game, the Cats’ first appearance on the pregame show this season. The show will take place on Alumni Lawn from 10 a.m. to noon ET, Saturday, Nov. 22, on the SEC Network. It will be preceded by Marty & McGee, which runs from 9-10 a.m. ET. The Paul Finebaum Show will be live from there, too, on Friday afternoon.

Kentucky is 5-13 in SEC Nation games since the show began in 2013. Vanderbilt is 0-6. We’ll take all the historical trends we can get.

Louisville game time

The Governor’s Cup is right around the corner; today, we’ll find out when it kicks off on Nov. 29. It feels like Kentucky vs. Louisville is always a noon kick. We’ll find out for certain around lunchtime.

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KSR Football Podcast at 2 p.m. ET

Can Kentucky pull off the upset in Music City? The KSR Football Podcast crew will convene today to break down the matchup starting at 2 p.m. ET on the KSR YouTube Channel. Drew Franklin will be in the car on the way home from Buffalo, but Nick Roush, Adam Luckett, and Van Hiles will be live to recap Kentucky’s dominant win over Tennessee Tech and what the Cats must do to win at Vanderbilt. Go ahead and prepare yourself to hear them discuss the outrageous beer prices on Broadway and the Recession Special at Robert’s.

Kentucky Volleyball wins 9th straight SEC title

The No. 2 Kentucky Volleyball team won twice this weekend, beating Oklahoma 3-2 on Friday and sweeping Arkansas 3-0 on Sunday, Senior Day. The latter was especially sweet because it secured Kentucky’s ninth-straight SEC regular-season championship, the longest such streak in Power Four conference volleyball. The Cats finished the regular season 15-0 in SEC play and 22-2 overall.

In her final match at Historic Memorial Coliseum, Eva Hudson was spectacular, hitting .438 and leading all players in the match with 15 kills on 32 swings and only one error. Teammate Brooklyn DeLeye wasn’t far behind, with 13 kills on 27 swings.

Now, it’s time for the postseason. Kentucky is the No. 1 overall seed in the SEC Tournament, which starts Friday in Savannah, GA. The Cats have a double bye into the quarterfinal round and play their first match Sunday at Noon ET on the SEC Network.

KSR coming home from Buffalo

It was a big day for the Cover Zero crew. Matt Jones, Drew Franklin, Billy Rutledge, and Mario Maitland went to Buffalo to cover the Bills’ game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and witnessed a great one, a 44-32 Buffalo victory. You can hear about their experience on the latest Cover Zero podcast, but you know there will be stories to share on today’s Kentucky Sports Radio. Tune in to hear about it all — or, if they’re eager to get on the road, Ryan Lemond and Shannon the Dude holding down the fort.

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2025-11-17