KSR Today: Final Four week for Volleyball and momentum for Basketball and Football

Good morning, KSR readers. It’s Monday, my back is in rough shape, and there’s a lot happening around UK Athletics as we push deeper into December. Basketball finally gave us a reason to smile over the weekend, but the calendar keeps moving, with volleyball gearing up for the Final Four, Mark Pope back on the radio tonight, movement in the rankings, and continued change around the football program. Let’s get into it while this heating pad keeps me upright.

Final Four week for Kentucky Volleyball

After punching its ticket on Saturday, Kentucky Volleyball now turns its attention to Kansas City and the NCAA Final Four. The Wildcats swept Creighton in the Lexington Regional final inside Historic Memorial Coliseum, and Sunday’s NCAA results reshaped the path ahead, with both No. 1 seeds, Nebraska and Texas, being knocked out in regional play. As a result, Kentucky will face No. 3 Wisconsin in the semifinals instead of a third run-in with Texas. The Wildcats are now the top remaining seed.

A national championship is now two wins away. The Wildcats will face Wisconsin on Thursday night at 9 p.m. in Kansas City, with a spot in the title match on the line.

We’ll hear from Mark Pope tonight

Fresh off his team’s first big win of the season, Mark Pope will host his weekly Monday night call-in radio show. Pope will join Tom Leach on the UK Sports Network to talk through the win and the week off, and take questions from fans as Kentucky looks to build on some positive momentum heading into the St. John’s game.

Tune in live on the UK Sports Network, or check back here for a rundown of Pope’s comments from the show.

Kentucky ranked No. 27 in the NET

Later today, we’ll see if Kentucky Basketball climbed its way back into the Top 25 polls. The AP and Coaches’ rankings will update around lunchtime. In the meantime, we check in on the NET Rankings, where Kentucky is up to No. 27, one spot behind Indiana.

Over at CBSSports.com, the Wildcats made it into the Top 25 and 1 rankings, coming in as the “and 1” at 26th.

Get to know the new football assistants

Kentucky Football‘s offseason overhaul is well underway, and new head coach Will Stein has already added a full slate of new assistant coaches to his first UK staff. If you’re trying to keep all the names, backgrounds, and connections straight, Adam Luckett has you covered. He put together a full bio breakdown of the latest hires, detailing where they’ve been, what they’ve coached, and why they fit into Stein’s vision for the program. Read it here: Bio Blast: What to know about Will Stein’s latest Kentucky assistant coach hires.

Tune in to KSR at 10 a.m.

Coming up at 10 a.m., Matt Jones and I will be live from the downtown Lexington studio, with a recap of Kentucky’s win over Indiana and lots more. Check back here for a list of affiliates, or go ahead and get familiar with WLAP.com, where the show streams online.