Today on KSR: Tubby Smith returns to Rupp Arena

Tubby Smith will have a jersey retired in his honor at Rupp Arena on Friday, celebrating the coach’s 263 victories, five regular-season SEC championships, five SEC Tournament titles and one national championship during his 10-year stint at Kentucky.

Smith’s High Point squad will take on the Wildcats at noon ET, with the jersey ceremony set to begin at 11:40 a.m.

“It is with great pride, enjoyment and a sense of excitement that we add one more name to the list of people who will see their names in the rafters of Rupp Arena and that’s Orlando ‘Tubby’ Smith,” UK AD Mitch Barnhart said. “A national championship coach, National Coach of the Year, a gentleman who brought so much class, honor and excellence to UK, Tubby is special and so deserving. We are looking forward to honoring Tubby and (wife) Donna, who contributed so much to the fabric of the University of Kentucky and we want to thank them in a special way.”

Smith will be the 44th retired jersey to hang in the rafters of Rupp Arena, including fellow national championship coaches Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall and Rick Pitino.

“Tubby and I have been friends for years,” John Calipari said. “He is so deserving of this honor. He won big here and he did it with class. Tubby impacted so many people in and around this program and he is loved by the players who played for him and by this fan base. I can’t wait to see his banner raised.”

Smith finished his time at Kentucky with a 263-83 record, leading the Wildcats to at least 22 victories each year over 10 seasons. He was a three-time National Coach of the Year (1998, 2003, 2005) and three-time SEC Coach of the Year. The veteran coach was also a head coach at Tulsa, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas Tech and Memphis before taking over at his alma mater, High Point. He’s racked up 637 career wins as a head coach.

As for his current team, High Point comes in with a 6-7 overall record, with the team’s wins coming against Shenandoah, Howard, Chowan, Elon, Guilford and Florida Atlantic. The Panthers have fallen to the likes of Northwestern (95-60), Notre Dame (70-61), Georgia State (74-66), Furman (74-70), South Carolina State (67-66), UNC Wilmington (71-69) and Michigan State (81-68).

High Point averages 71.8 points per game while shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from three — good for 29th in the country — and 61.4 percent from the line. They also average 37.4 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 6.8 steals and 5.8 blocks per game while turning the ball over 13.0 times per contest. The Panthers are led by standout guard John-Michael Wright, who leads the Big South with 20.2 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting, 41.2 percent from three and 80.9 percent from the line. Forward Zack Austin (14.0 PPG) and guard Jaden House (11.8 PPG) round out the team’s double-digit scorers.

Kentucky (10-2) enters the game as a 26-point favorite.

Viewing and listening information can be found below:

When: 12:00 p.m. ET, Friday, Dec. 31
Where: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center (Lexington, KY)
Television: SEC Network with Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Jon Sundvold (analyst)
Streaming: WatchESPN and the ESPN app
Radio: UK Sports Network with Darren Headrick (play-by-play) and Mike Pratt (analyst)
Satellite Radio: Sirius (136), XM (191), SXM App (962)

Pregame listening and reading

KSR’s Sources Say Podcast broke down Kentucky’s blowout win over Missouri and discussed Tubby Smith’s legacy in Thursday’s episode. Make sure you fit the 38-minute show in before tip-off.

College Football Playoff (and other bowls)

All local eyes will be on Tubby Smith’s return to Lexington, but the national focus this afternoon and evening will be on the start of the College Football Playoff. No. 1 Alabama will take on No. 4 Cincinnati in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic starting at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by No. 2 Michigan taking on No. 3 Georgia in the Capital One Orange Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Alabama enters the Cotton Bowl as a 13.5-point favorite over Cincinnati, while Georgia comes in as a 7.5-point favorite over Michigan in the Orange Bowl.

Elsewhere, No. 17 Wake Forest will take on Rutgers in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl starting at 11 a.m. ET (ESPN), followed by Washington State taking on Central Michigan in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl at 12 p.m. ET to round out today’s bowl slate.

Thursday’s bowl schedule was also an impressive one, highlighted by Purdue’s 48-45 overtime victory over Tennessee in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl. No. 10 Michigan State later defeated No. 12 Pittsburgh 31-21 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, with South Carolina also taking down North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and Wisconsin defeating Arizona State in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl.

It’s all a lead-up to No. 22 Kentucky’s highly-anticipated matchup against No. 15 Iowa in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl on Saturday.

Two big days for the Kentucky basketball and football programs.