KSR Today: It's (high school) football time in the Bluegrass

Do you hear that, Big Blue Nation? It’s the hum of those Friday Night Lights warming up as student sections find their face paint and the marching band perfects the fight song with burgers and hot dogs sizzling on the grill. High school football in Kentucky is here, which means the start of college football and the NFL is immediately behind it — all scratching the itch we’ve been waiting all spring and summer for. In fact, all three will overlap this weekend as 100-plus HS games take place Friday and Saturday, followed by week zero of the CFB schedule kicking off Saturday with five FBS contests. Elsewhere, the NFL preseason has been rolling on for a few weeks now, but there’s good news in those games this weekend, too. After two games Thursday, four more on Friday and ten more on Saturday, it’s all over. Next up? Regular season action starting on September 4.

That’s right, folks, the dog days of summer are officially over and it’s time for football and basketball seasons to take over our lives this fall and winter. Put up those floaties and pull out the hoodies.

A loaded KHSAA kickoff schedule

Where do you need to be watching football on Friday night? We’ve got you covered with the full schedule, headlined by our KSR Game of the Week double-header: Bryan Station vs. No. 15 South Warren, followed by North Hardin at Lexington Christian Academy. In total, there are eight ranked matchups with 19 ranked teams in action.

You’ll also find KSR’s game predictions using the Massey Ratings, computer ratings based on historical trends and current-year stats. It’ll take a few weeks before those hit their stride, but it’s a fun tool to get some chatter started as the season begins.

Friday, August 22

TIME (ET)	MATCHUP	MASSEY PREDICTION
7:30 PM	Pleasure Ridge Park @ No. 1 Trinity	41-0 (Trinity)
7:00 PM	No. 3 Ryle @ No. 11 Covington Catholic	28-27 (Ryle)
7:00 PM	No. 5 Paducah Tilghman @ McCracken County	44-13 (Paducah Tilghman)
7:30 PM	No. 24 Owensboro @ No. 6 St. Xavier	42-12 (St. Xavier)
7:30 PM	Pikeville @ No. 7 Christian Academy-Louisville	44-10 (Christian Academy-Louisville)
7:00 PM	No. 8 Cooper @ Anderson (OH)	41-14 (Anderson)
7:30 PM	No. 9 Franklin County @ No. 19 Great Crossing	41-20 (Franklin County)
7:00 PM	No. 12 Frederick Douglass @ No. 10 Highlands	27-26 (Highlands)
7:30 PM	No. 14 DuPont Manual vs. No. 22 Central (@ Moore)	28-14 (DuPont Manual)
5:30 PM (eCampus.com Bowl)	RV Bryan Station vs. No. 15 South Warren (@ Lexington Christian Academy)	28-27 (Bryan Station)
7:00 PM	No. 16 Male @ Butler	41-0 (Male)
8:30 PM (eCampus.com Bowl)	North Hardin @ No. 18 Lexington Christian Academy	35-14 (Lexington Christian Academy)
8:00 PM	No. 23 Belfry @ East Carter	42-14 (Belfry)
7:00 PM	Graves County @ No. 25 Mayfield	31-21 (Mayfield)
7:30 PM	Raceland @ RV Ashland Blazer	35-14 (Ashland Blazer)
7:30 PM	RV Bell County @ Campbellsville	N/A
7:30 PM	George Rogers Clark @ RV Scott County	36-14 (Scott County)
7:30 PM	RV Lexington Catholic @ Ballard	34-14 (Ballard)
7:30 PM	RV Conner @ Madison Central	32-19 (Madison Central)

Saturday, August 23

TIME (ET)	MATCHUP	MASSEY PREDICTION
4:00 PM (Rafferty’s Bowl)	Bullitt East @ No. 2 Boyle County	42-7 (Boyle County)
7:30 PM (Rafferty’s Bowl)	No. 20 Owensboro Catholic @ No. 4 Bowling Green	39-14 (Bowling Green)
8:30 PM (Cumberland Falls Pigskin Classic)	Linton-Stockton (IN) @ No. 13 Corbin	42-8 (Corbin)
5:00 PM (Fort Harrod Bowl)	Fairdale @ No. 21 Woodford County	47-6 (Woodford County)
6:00 PM (Blue and White Boel)	RV Johnson Central vs. Letcher County Central (@ Shelby Valley)	39-14 (Johnson Central)
8:00 PM (Fort Harrod Bowl)	RV Tates Creek vs. Mercer County (@ Woodford County)	28-27 (Mercer County)
6:00 PM	RV Pulaski County @ Henderson County	35-21 (Pulaski County)

Week Zero CFB Matchups

Real-life college football will be played on Saturday, and there’s nothing like a ranked matchup in Dublin to kick things off. No. 17 Kansas State will take on No. 22 Iowa State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium, the first of five total FBS games throughout the day.

• No. 22 Iowa State at No. 17 Kansas State – 12 PM ET (ESPN)
• Idaho State at UNLV – 4 PM ET
• Fresno State at Kansas – 6:30 PM ET (FOX)
• Sam Houston at Western Kentucky – 7 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)
• Stanford at Hawai’i – 7:30 PM ET (CBS/Paramount+)

And for the real sickos out there needing just a little more college football in your lives, there will also be four additional FCS matchups — all televised.

• Incarnate Word at Nicholls – 1 PM ET (ESPN2)
• Tarleton State at Portland State – 4:30 PM ET (ESPN2)
• UC Davis at Mercer – 7 PM ET (ESPN)
• North Carolina Central at Southern – 7:30 PM ET (ABC)

BBNFL Preseason Concludes

We’re transitioning out of the starters and top backups portion of the preseason and into the fringe roster portion, players using this time to fight for their NFL lives with 53-man cuts coming next week. Keep that in mind as the bigger names rack up DNPs and the deeper bench guys fill up the stat sheet the rest of the weekend.

Thursday, August 21

• Steelers def. Panthers 19-10
  • Brandin Echols (PIT) – 3 TKL
  • Trevin Wallace (CAR) – DNP
  • J.J. Weaver (CAR) – 2 TKL (1 SOLO)
• Giants def. Patriots 42-10
  • Dru Phillips (NYG) – DNP
  • Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) – DNP

Friday, August 22

• Eagles at Jets – 7:30 PM ET
  • Darian Kinnard (PHI)
  • Justin Rogers (PHI)
  • Jamin Davis (NYJ)
• Falcons at Cowboys – 8 PM ET (NFL Network)
  • Zion Childress (DAL)
• Vikings at Titans – 8 PM ET (CBS)
  • Will Levis (TEN) – OUT
  • Bryce Oliver (TEN)
• Bears at Chiefs – 8:20 PM ET
  • Mike Edwards (KC) – OUT

SEC moves to 9-game schedule

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced Thursday that the league’s presidents had voted to add a ninth conference game starting in 2026, joining the Big Ten and Big 12 with such schedules. It goes against Mitch Barnhart’s desires for Kentucky — “There’s no mystery where I stand on eight-nine,” he said, “eight is better for (us)” — but that’s no longer the reality for the Wildcats.

It does, however, add revenue to conference members from ESPN as part of their media rights contract, crucial for budgets in the revenue-sharing era. This also allows UK to “(maintain) our historical rivalries,” as Barnhart put it in a follow-up statement to BBN Tonight’s Maggie Davis, meaning the Governor’s Cup will survive with the SEC requiring every team to schedule at least one additional high quality non-conference opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Notre Dame each year.

KSR’s Nick Roush and Adam Luckett broke down the massive news late Thursday evening:

• What a 9-Game SEC Schedule Means for Kentucky
• Projecting what Kentucky’s future SEC schedule will look like in new 9-game model

Make sure you read Mrs. TT’s feature on Jasper Johnson

As we wrap up this morning and get ready for the weekend, make sure you pour another cup of coffee and check out Tyler Thompson’s feature on Jasper Johnson and the larger-than-life Johnson family football dynasty. It’s the best thing you’ll read all month, highlighting Jasper’s grandfather, Alvis, and his legendary career dating back to the 70s, his father and uncle’s rise to fame in the 90s and his own transition from football to basketball, leading him to Kentucky as a Wildcat today.

She published the longform written feature, followed by the video version on YouTube. Read the former, then watch the latter if you want a good start to your Friday.

Take a look:

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Enjoy the start of football season, BBN. There is truly nothing like it.