KSR Today: Final Four, McDonald's, Staying or Going, Win Streaks, and More
Good morning and welcome to the last week of the NCAA Tournament, when four teams are heading to Houston for the Final Four, and if you accurately predicted all of them on your bracket, then you, my friend, are a liar.
Because over the weekend, the tournament decided its four universities that will play for our country’s college basketball national championship, and the group includes three schools that are in the Final Four for the very first time in Florida Atlantic, a No. 9 seed; San Diego State, a No. 5 seed, and Miami, another five. The fourth is UConn, another surprise participant in 2023 but a familiar name at this stage of the Big Dance.
All four teams were unranked to start the season.
Next Saturday, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic will play for one spot in the title game, followed by Miami versus UConn in the other semifinal. We’ll have a champion a week from today.
But right now, we have more pressing things to discuss on this morning of Monday, March 27.
Kentucky at the McDonald’s All-American Game
In Kentucky, many basketball fans have already moved on to next year’s team and John Calipari’s next crop of talent, some of whom are at the McDonald’s All-American Game this week down in Houston with the Final Four. The 2023 running of the McDonald’s game is set for tomorrow night, and it will feature four future Kentucky Wildcats: Justin Edwards, DJ Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw, and Reed Sheppard.
On Sunday, Kentucky Sports Radio attended one of the McDonald’s practices. See next year’s Kentucky freshmen warming up for Tuesday night’s game:
You can also read Jack Pilgrim’s takeaways from Sunday’s practice in Houston.
As for the actual game, it tips off Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN. Tonight, you can watch the Powerade Jam Fest and the 3-point shooting contest at 7:30 p.m. on the same network.
KSR will have plenty more from the scene, too.
Updates on Chris Livingston, Daimion Collins, Antonio Reeves
While at the McDonald’s All-American Game festivities, Jack Pilgrim spoke with some folks around the Association to hear what they’re hearing about Kentucky Basketball‘s current roster and the directions some of the players are leaning regarding their futures. He heard about three players specifically–Antonio Reeves, Chris Livingston, and Daimion Collins–and the speculation around two of the three isn’t great for fans wanting them to return. According to Jack’s sources, Livingston and Collins are closer to leaving than coming back. Read more on the stay-or-go decisions.
No more Monday nights with Calipari
The 2022-23 season of John Calipari’s Monday night radio show concluded last week, so you will have to find something new to do with your Monday evenings.
Calipari is busy recruiting. He was in Indiana watching a five-star center in the 2024 class over the weekend.
Kentucky Football’s spring practice continues
On the gridiron, Kentucky Football will resume spring ball tomorrow with another practice over at the Joe Craft Football Training Center. Today, they may still be feeling Mark Stoops’ frustrations out of Saturday’s practice when Stoops voiced his disappointment in his Wildcats.
“I’m a little pissed off,” Stoops said of Saturday’s work. “I don’t have a lot to say today. I’m a little frustrated, a little disappointed, a little pissed, to be totally honest with you. It’s been lackluster the past couple of days.”
You can hear all of Stoops’ comments below:
Have you signed up for KSR+?
We’re still running our spring special for KSR+, where Matt Jones made his first post on KSBoard just a few days ago. You should consider joining the KSBoard conversations and reading some of the insider recruiting stories from Jacob Polacheck or the nerdy football stuff from Adam Luckett. Bring your scuttlebutt.
Kentucky Baseball’s streak ends at 17 in a row
They say all good things must end, and that was the case for Kentucky Baseball‘s win streak, the longest in the entire country until it ended Sunday. The Wildcats already won the road series at Alabama with victories on Friday and Saturday but fell short of the sweep with a 4-3 loss in Game 3 in Tuscaloosa.
Unfortunately, Alabama scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to end Kentucky baseball’s 17-game winning streak. Still, Kentucky is 2-0 in its first two SEC series and 21-3 overall.
The streak was the fourth-longest in school history.
Kentucky Softball scored ten runs in a top-25 win
Back in Lexington, Kentucky Softball run-ruled No. 24 Texas A&M by scoring ten runs in John Cropp Stadium to beat the Aggies, 10-2. The victory kept A&M from sweeping the Wildcats in the three-game weekend series that needed a Saturday doubleheader due to Friday’s weather.
In Sunday’s game, Kentucky scored eight of its runs in the first inning, including a three-run bomb by Taylor Ebbs to go up 8-0.
Kentucky hosts LOUISVILLE Wednesday night.
Tune in to KSR at 10 a.m.
Coming up at ten o’clock, the KSR radio program returns to the radio airwaves for another week of two-hour mornings. Tune in and Go Cats.
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