KSR Today: Transfer Portal opens, Gonzaga aftermath, Kentucky WBB vs. Queens

Good morning, friends. Everyone catch up on the sleep they lost on Saturday night cheering for the Cats? Despite a very busy Sunday, I certainly tried. We’ve got another busy week ahead of us with more departures coming for the football team now that the transfer portal is officially open, the men’s basketball team preparing for games vs. Colgate and Louisville, and the volleyball team getting ready to take on Missouri in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh. It’s also gameday for the Kentucky Women’s Basketball team, which hosts Queens.

Lots to do, so let’s get to it, starting with the most chaotic item on the agenda.

The Transfer Portal is officially open for football

Announcements have been coming out for almost a week, but starting now, the transfer portal is officially open for business. It won’t close until Dec. 28, meaning players have 20 days to tell their current schools they’re interested in leaving; beyond that, they have however long they like to commit to the school of their liking.

So far, 15 of Kentucky’s scholarship players have announced they intend to enter the portal. There will be more; Nick Roush estimated that 35 players from the 2024 roster will enter the portal when all is said and done.

• DL Keeshawn Silver
• DB Avery Stuart
• LB Jayvant Brown
• LS Walker Himebauch
• TE Tanner Lemaster
• TE Khamari Anderson
• TE Jordan Dingle
• OL Courtland Ford
• OL Ben Christman
• DL Tommy Ziesmer
• WR Dane Key
• WR Barion Brown
• WR Anthony Brown-Stephens
• EDGE Tyreese Fearbry
• EDGE Noah Matthews

Who will Kentucky pursue in the portal? That will be changing by the minute as new players go in, but Roush outlined Kentucky’s biggest areas of need in his Transfer Portal preview last night. If you’re a KSR+ member, you can go even deeper with Adam Luckett’s scholarship distribution breakdown.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. Keep closer tabs on the Cats with our staff-only sticky thread on KSBoard, which will have updates on departures and targets throughout the offseason.

Jon Sumrall is staying put at Tulane

One more quick football note: despite being one of the hottest names in the coaching carousel, Jon Sumrall is staying put. According to Pete Thamel, Sumrall will not pursue any of the open jobs this offseason, electing to stay at Tulane. Sumrall has had a wildly successful first season with the Green Wave and was mentioned as a candidate for the North Carolina job, but instead, is going to sit this cycle out, leaving the dream of him returning to Kentucky one day on the table.

Kerr Kriisa will undergo foot surgery; out indefinitely

The biggest news on Sunday was that Kerr Kriisa will be out indefinitely with a foot injury suffered vs. Gonzaga. Kriisa came up limping after a turnover with about eight minutes to go in the second half vs. the Bulldogs. At the time, it appeared to be just cramps, but Kriisa never returned to the game and afterward, was captured in a locker room video in some pain. He underwent testing on Sunday, and according to Jeff Goodman, has a Jones fracture in his foot, the recovery from which has a timetable of 3-6 weeks. He is scheduled to have surgery in the coming days.

Lamont Butler was close to returning vs. Gonzaga after suffering an ankle injury in the Clemson game. With Butler and Kriisa out, Jaxson Robinson stepped in at point guard and led Kentucky to the comeback win vs. the Bulldogs. The Cats host Colgate on Wednesday night. The Raiders are 2-8 and No. 272 in KenPom, by far the worst team left on Kentucky’s schedule. Even if Butler is capable of playing Wednesday, I’d expect to see a healthy dose of Robinson and Travis Perry at point guard.

We’ll hear from Mark Pope on his call-in show

With football season and the Early Signing Period officially over, Mark Pope’s radio show will move to its normal Monday night home of 6 p.m. ET. Tune in tonight for the latest on Kriisa and Butler, Pope’s reflections on the Gonzaga win after a day of film study, and much more. The show airs on 630 WLAP in the Lexington area, UK Sports Network affiliates across the state, and on iHeart Radio. We’ll have a recap of the big talking points on the main site and live updates as they happen on KSBoard.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Where will Kentucky land in the new AP Poll?

It was another wild week for AP top 10 teams. Tennessee will likely be the new No. 1 team in the country after Kansas and Auburn lost. What does that mean for Kentucky, which lost at Clemson but notched a huge resume win vs. No. 7 Gonzaga? We’ll see around lunchtime.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	LAST WEEK
1	Kansas	7-2	Losses at Creighton and Missouri
2	Auburn	8-1	Loss at No. 9 Duke; Win vs. Richmond
3	Tennessee	8-0	Win vs. Syracuse
4	Kentucky	8-1	Loss at Clemson; Win vs. No. 7 Gonzaga
5	Marquette	9-1	Loss at No. 6 Iowa State; Win vs. No. 11 Wisconsin
6	Iowa State	7-1	Wins vs. No. 5 Marquette, Jackson State
7	Gonzaga	7-2	Loss to No. 4 Kentucky
8	Purdue	8-2	Loss at Penn State; Win vs. Maryland
9	Duke	7-2	Win vs. No. 2 Auburn, at Louisville
10	Alabama	7-2	Win at No. 20 North Carolina

Kentucky Women’s Basketball hosts Queens

No. 14 Kentucky WBB (7-1) is back in action tonight, eager to get the taste of last Thursday’s 19-point loss to No. 16 North Carolina out of their mouths. The Cats host Queens University of Charlotte tonight at 6 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum. The Royals are 5-3 this season, two of those losses coming to Ole Miss and LSU. They’re coached by Jen Brown, who used to play for Kenny Brooks and coached on his staff at Virginia Tech.

Tonight’s game will stream on SEC Network+ starting at 6 p.m. If you’re going to the game, the theme is Monday Night CATS, a spinoff of Monday Night RAW. Fans are encouraged to enter to win a Kentucky Wildcats World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Legacy Title Belt at the entrance; doors open at 5 p.m. ET.

Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison will be there to capture the action. Follow their updates on the KSR LIVE BLOG starting at 5 p.m. ET.

Kentucky Volleyball on to the Sweet 16

For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, Kentucky Volleyball is headed to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 3 seed Cats punched their ticket with a win over Minnesota on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum. On Thursday, Kentucky will face No. 7 seed Missouri at 1 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh. The Cats swept the season series vs. the Tigers this year, winning six of the seven sets played, including the match in Columbia Thanksgiving week, which clinched the outright SEC title.

If Kentucky wins, they’ll face the winner of Oregon and Pitt in the NCAA Regional final on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.

2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship
Pittsburgh Regional Schedule

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

• (3) Kentucky vs. (7) Missouri – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
• (4) Oregon at (1) Pittsburgh – 30 minutes after (ESPN2)

Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024

• Winner match 1 vs. Winner match 2 – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

College Football Playoff set

In case you were under a rock, the field for the first 12-team College Football Playoff was set on Sunday. There was some drama, as the committee elected to give the final spot to SMU instead of Alabama. That leaves three SEC teams that made the cut: Georgia (No. 2 seed), Texas (No. 5 seed), and Tennessee (No. 9 seed).

College Football Playoff Schedule

All times Eastern

• First round (Dec. 20-21)
  • Friday, Dec. 20: No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
  • Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State | 12 p.m. | TNT/MAX
  • Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas | 4 p.m. | TNT/MAX
  • Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
• Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)
  • Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU winner | 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 | ABC/ESPN
  • Peach Bowl: No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas/No. 12 Clemson winner | 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
  • Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee winner | 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
  • Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Notre Dame/No. 10 Indiana winner | 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
• Semifinals (Jan. 9-10)
  • Orange Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 | ESPN
  • Cotton Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 | ESPN
• CFP National Championship
  • 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 | ESPN
  • Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

SEC Bowl Schedule

Obviously, Kentucky isn’t going bowling. What about the rest of the league’s teams? As you know, Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia made the College Football Playoffs. From there, ten other teams from the league earned bowl invites, including Vanderbilt, who will play Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. Kentucky is one of just three SEC teams staying home this postseason alongside Mississippi State and Auburn.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAMES

• CFP First Round Game – Clemson at Texas (Austin) – Dec. 21 – 4 pm ET – TNT and MAX
• CFP First Round Game – Tennessee at Ohio State (Columbus) – Dec. 21 – 8 pm ET – ESPN and ABC
• Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) – Georgia vs. Indiana/Notre Dame winner – Jan. 1 – 8:45 pm ET – ESPN

SEC-AFFILIATED BOWLS:

• Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa) – Florida vs. Tulane – Dec. 20 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN2
• Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth) – Oklahoma vs. Navy – Dec. 27 – 12 pm ET – ESPN
• Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham) – Vanderbilt vs. Georgia Tech or Big 12 – Dec. 27 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN
• AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis) – Dec. 27 – Arkansas vs. Texas Tech – 7 pm ET – ESPN
• SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas) – Dec. 27 – Texas A&M vs. USC – 10:30 pm – ESPN
• TransPerfect Music City Bowl (Nashville) – Missouri vs. Iowa – Dec. 30 – 2:30 pm ET – ESPN
• Reliaquest Bowl (Tampa) – Alabama vs. Michigan – Dec. 31 – Noon ET – ESPN
• Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Orlando) – South Carolina vs. Illinois – Dec. 31 – 3 pm ET – ABC
• Kinder’s Texas Bowl (Houston) – LSU vs. Baylor – Dec. 31 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN
• TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) – Ole Miss vs. Duke – Jan 2 – 7:30 pm ET – ESPN

Mondays with Myron are back as the KSR crew travels home

The KSR Road Trip to Seattle was successful, culminating in a wild postgame show following Kentucky’s comeback win vs. Gonzaga. The gang heads home today, and while they travel, some familiar voices will fill in. Myron Medcalf and Billy Rutledge will host the show, while Jack Pilgrim will join Billy on the KSR Preshow. The fun starts now on 630 WLAP, affiliates across the state, or iHeart Radio.