KSR Today: The best sports weekend in a long, long time

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? That’s how we feel coming off the earliest bye week in the history of bye weeks. Who agreed on a break this early? It gives Cutter Boley some extended time to prepare for his first SEC start, but that doesn’t mean I have to like the wait. It may be all worth it, though, because we’re gearing up for one of the best sports weekends of the year, Cats and Cocks just the icing on the cake of everything else going on.

It starts today with the Ryder Cup, followed by absolute chaos in the MLB, college football and the NFL, plus some good stuff around Lexington beyond the football team’s trip to Columbia. Let’s get ready for it all this morning on KSR ahead of an all-time weekend.

Ryder Cup is underway at Bethpage Black

It’s the United States vs. Europe, 12 players from each side gathering in New York at the iconic Bethpage Black, battling for ultimate bragging rights. The Americans enter the event as the betting favorite at -145 according to our friends at BetMGM with Europe sitting at +160, odds of the first tie since 1989 being +1200.

For the U.S., it’ll be Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English, Ben Griffin, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young with Keegan Bradley serving as team captain. For Europe, it’s Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka with Luke Donald the team captain.

The 45th Ryder Cup runs through Sept. 28 and is one of the most exciting events of the year. Break out your stars and stripes and cheer for ‘Murica this weekend.

Final MLB weekend before postseason begins

There is a ton on the line in the baseball world over the next couple of days, including the local Cincinnati Reds — still alive for the final NL wild card spot, needing the Mets to lose and fighting off the Diamondbacks.

Overall, the Cleveland Guardians are battling the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central, the former winning 17 of their last 20 and the latter losing 11 of 13 for it to come down to the wire. The Guardians lead the division by two games and could clinch hosting the Rangers, the Tigers hoping for a miracle against the Red Sox. Or they could stay alive for the final wild card spot in the AL, sitting one game ahead of the Astros.

The AL East is up for grabs, too, with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees tied with the former owning the tiebreaker and hosting the Rays while the latter is hosting the Orioles.

It’s the appetizer ahead of the postseason entree and we’re here for it.

What a college football slate

We’ve gotten football all weekend for several weekends now, but this one feels a little different. Maybe it’s because the Cats are back on the schedule, but holy moly, everything else looks awesome out there.

No. 8 Florida State will take on Virginia tonight at 7 PM ET on ESPN, followed by No. 24 TCU at Arizona State at 9 PM ET on FOX to get us rolling Friday. Then Saturday features the following ranked battles:

• No. 23 Illinois vs. No. 21 USC – 12 PM ET (FOX)
• No. 13 Ole Miss vs. No. 4 LSU – 3:30 PM ET (ABC)
• No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 3 Oregon – 7:30 PM ET (NBC)
• No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 17 Alabama – 7:30 PM ET (ABC)

Elsewhere, we have the following ranked teams/SEC foes taking the field:

• Wake Forest vs. No. 16 Georgia Tech – 12 PM ET (ESPN)
• No. 22 Notre Dame at Arkansas – 12 PM ET (ABC)
• Utah State at No. 18 Vanderbilt – 12:45 PM ET (SEC Network)
• No. 1 Ohio State at Washington – 3:30 PM ET (CBS)
• Auburn at No. 9 Texas A&M – 3:30 PM ET (ESPN)
• No. 11 Indiana at Iowa – 3:30 PM ET (Peacock)
• No. 15 Tennessee at Mississippi State – 4:15 PM ET (SEC Network)
• Arizona at No. 14 Iowa State – 7 PM ET (ESPN)
• UMass at No. 20 Missouri – 7:30 PM ET (ESPNU)
• Kentucky at South Carolina – 7:45 PM ET (SEC Network)
• No. 25 BYU at Colorado – 10:15 PM ET (ESPN)

Don’t forget about the NFL

The headliner is obviously Micah Parsons’ return to Dallas, but the full schedule is a fun one:

• Vikings vs. Steelers – 9:30 AM ET (NFL Network)
• Commanders at Falcons – 1 PM ET (CBS)
• Saints at Bills – 1 PM ET (CBS)
• Browns at Lions – 1 PM ET (FOX)
• Chargers at Giants – 1 PM ET (CBS)
• Eagles at Buccaneers – 1 PM ET (FOX)
• Titans at Texans – 1 PM ET (CBS)
• Colts at Rams – 4:05 PM ET (FOX)
• Jaguars at 49ers – 4:05 PM ET (FOX)
• Ravens at Chiefs – 4:25 PM ET (CBS)
• Bears at Raiders – 4:25 PM ET (CBS)
• Packers at Cowboys – 8:20 PM ET (NBC)

Big Blue Madness tickets go on sale

Are you ready for BBM 2025? That’s scheduled for Saturday, October 11 at 6 PM ET on SEC Network+, but if you want to be there in person, you’ll have to buy tickets online starting today.

Once again complimentary, BBM tickets will be distributed via Ticketmaster.com and through the Ticketmaster app TODAY starting at 5 p.m. ET. Online orders will have a minimal service fee attached and there will be a limit of four tickets per household, all duplicate orders automatically canceled. Due to high demand, UK Athletics cannot guarantee that all fans will receive tickets. There will be no in-person ticket distribution.

What will be the big surprise at BBM this year? It’ll be tough to top the glass floor and Rick Pitino, but we’ll see what UK Athletics has in store.

Cheer on UK volleyball and women’s soccer

Craig Skinner’s Winners are ranked No. 3 in college volleyball, set to host Georgia at Historic Memorial Coliseum on Friday at 7 PM ET, live on SEC Network+. If you haven’t seen these Cats in action yet, what are you waiting for? In fact, it might just be the perfect time to check them out in person ahead of tomorrow’s long wait for kickoff in Columbia.

Elsewhere, the women’s soccer team is hosting No. 25 Alabama across campus at the Bell, starting at 7:30 PM ET and also on SEC Network+. If you’re watching at home, bounce back and forth on the stream — or go back and forth from Memorial to the Bell if you’re feeling frisky. We won’t judge you if you do, the more the merrier.

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Let’s have a weekend, folks. Enjoy it and get ready to beat the Cocks at Williams-Brice Stadium.