Matt Jones saying that Stoops is set to bring back his entire staff minus Dakail Shorts! No coaching changes coming. Youngstown Mafia lives to fight another day!!! 🤣

Pony up? Lol, we make as much as UT and we go 4-8.






While collective funding is low, Kentucky has been a top 20 athletic program in total revenue, partly thanks to being a school that profits from its basketball program. Looking ahead to 2025, Kentucky is expected to stay in the top 20 nationally in athletic revenue, fifth in the SEC by bringing in an estimated 131,139,792. Ahead of programs like Georgia, LSU, Florida, and Tennessee.

Since we know Stoops and Bush H will be back, what changes do you think need to be made? I think a change in the Oline, and Special teams/RB need be made. also think a few on the D side need to get changed out. I feel Stoops has built a coaching staff like Joker had, a lot of his buddies, and not a lot of coaching. Seems like it is just the BIG DOG doing the heavy lifting on the recruiting trail. I would cut Mike Stoops, and Frank Buffalo loose, and maybe AS. Not a lot of push from the D line, and they seem to be taking plays off. With the above changes, that would be 3 of the Youngstown boys gone, and not a lot of recruiting. WVa has an O-Line coach that has put up some good numbers every stop he has had. and he is like a step-son to UK. He played under Hal at Valdosta and has worked under Brown a number of years and is an outstanding recruiter.

We've got, what, 15 or so, that have indicated they're in the portal. But, I've read multiple articles that speculated we'd have closer to 30 total. Seems like it's been pretty quiet the past few days. Is that to be expected or are we not going to see the mass transfers we anticipated?

Probably won't mean a lot in the event UK has an opening in a year.

Link

Duke is currently giving Incarnate Word University all they can handle. 12-8 Duke with 9 min in 1st half.

Mark Stoops was this close to becoming Texas A&M's next head coach, but that didn't quite work out, so he returned to Lexington and had an utterly disappointing season that had some wondering whether he should retire. Yikes. Kentucky upset Ole Miss in late September but the Wildcats followed that up with four consecutive losses, including two to unranked teams. The offense was abysmal, ranking 119th in scoring (20.6) and the turnover margin didn't help either (109th). The 4-8 record is Stoops' worst since his first season, when he was 2-10 in 2013. Grade: F

SEC grades for 2024 season: Texas gets 'B+' in first season, Florida earns 'A-' for navigating tough schedule

Grading each SEC football team now that the 2024 regular season has come to a close

www.google.com

For the past 20 seasons a team ranked in the top 12 in this AP Poll has won the Title. Kentucky is in the Top 12. One of these teams will win it.

Tennessee
Auburn
Iowa St
Duke
Kentucky
Marquette
Alabama
Gonzaga
Florida
Kansas
Purdue
Oregon

Having this done tomorrow morning. Anyone had this done recently? How was the post-op recovery? Much discomfort? Any advice?

** Kentucky extended an offer to UCONN WR Brock Montgomery but I am told he's a wait and see guy. Kentucky will apparently be bringing in a number of visitors this weekend and I get the sense perhaps some receivers. This offer is very big for him. He's got Duke and Michigan State showing interest as well.

** I get the sense that UK has a lot of work to do at WR. Not only starters but some backups. That is why they can probably be more aggressive with some of these offers early.

** One issue they are facing is the wide receivers they are recruiting want to know who the quarterback is going to be.

** On that point, he is not in the portal yet, but I am interested in Incarnate Word quarterback Zach Calzada. There's been talk he could be going back into the portal. Previously at Auburn and Texas A&M. He is someone I will be paying attention to. Has talent and schools will be interested.

Anybody know what's up with Brock? Figured he would be one of the first players in the portal after Stoops' Louisville post-game comments and his body language on the sideline....but nothing so far.

Just not the leadership in the athletics department or HC positions. That’s the truth.

Login to view embedded media
Still get goose bumps watching this clip.

Atleast not KU or NC

This is only to do with the financials argument about Stoops "convincing" or "being the cause" for UK Football financial investment. And/or any concern that investment would fall if he is gone.

Facts:
In 2012 the SEC was ranked 4th in TV revenue among power conferences according to Forbes. And 5th in per-school TV revenue. Yes, the SEC was that bad in TV revenue then.
Per school, per year:
Pac-12: $20.8 million
Big Ten: $20.7 million
ACC: $17.1 million
Big 12: $15 million
SEC: $14.6 million

The SEC. was lagging that badly back then until the SEC boom. Then what happened? in 2013, Stoops first year, the SEC Network was created and the TV contracts were renegotiated. In 2013 it was announced the new contracts would result in a likely 50% revenue increase over the next few years alone.

And even before that, SEC revenue payout had almost DOUBLED Stoops first year from just 5 years prior.
Average SEC per-team payout:
2008: $11.1 Million
2013: $20.8 Million

By 2015, teams were receiving $31.5 Million. A 50% increase in revenue in Stoops first 2 seasons.

And the big jumps will continue:
Prior to 2020, CBS was paying $55,000,000 a year for SEC premium TV rights;
Now Disney/ESPN is paying $300,000,000 a year for the same rights after a deal made in 2020. An absolutely insane statistical increase. Over 500% more TV revenue each year.
When Texas and Oklahoma joined, the deal was altered to add another $42 million per year. Making it now around a 600% increase in revenue from just 2020.

In 2024 the SEC distributed $55 Million from 2023 to each school. A 250% increase from Stoops first year. Total SEC revenue jumped over $100,000,000 in 2023 from 22; with revenue likely to heavily spike for 2024 with the inclusion of Texas and Oklahoma.

This idea that Stoops is even close to the main reason the program started investing in football has always been hogwash. The plans for our stadium upgrades were announced after his 2-10 season and right after revenue started jumping heavily after the inclusion of A&M & Mizzou and a new TV contract deal. Everyone in the SEC has done $100+ million upgrades during Stoops tenure, and it was solely because of the new influx of money, as well as the expected continued growth of CFB itself. Just tired of seeing this fallacy spread. It was something we all convinced ourselves was true back then to help hype the program (and it worked), but it was never reality and it is just a bad argument to add in to keeping Stoops. Kentucky was going to start investing regardless; just like other SEC teams that have come out of the woodwork and started doing. It's because of the money that is now in college football. Did Stoops do some good things? Yeah, but he also had some absolutely beautiful timing for taking over a CFB program. Vanderbilt is finishing up a likely $100+ million upgrade that was started during their absolutely horrible seasons, Indiana (Big Ten also booming) recently finished a $100 million facility that was started when they absolutely stunk. These investments have been happening EVERYWHERE since Stoops took over, regardless of who the coach of the program is.

Gorney is apparently reporting that Dane Key is visiting UofL. Just an unbelievably embarrassing look for our program right now, in my opinion

After the UT game concludes, a matchup that appears more competitive on paper will tip, at which point Calipari will need to guide the Razorbacks to an upset of Michigan or else they'll drop to 7-3 on the season, including 0-3 against top-85 opponents at BartTorvik.com.

Needless to say, that would not be ideal for Calipari considering Arkansas was ranked 16th in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll — but also because the third loss would come to a fellow first-year coach at a new school whose team wasn't supposed to be as good as Calipari's, and also because the third loss would come just three days after Calipari's old school, Kentucky, upset Gonzaga and improved to 8-1 with its own first-year coach, Mark Pope, who now has UK ranked fifth in the AP Top 25 poll.

The popped up on Facebook.

David, thanks for the reviews you post as I've really enjoyed the analysis. I've followed basketball and the Cats for 60 years but never played the game at a high level. Nonetheless, I felt as though I could at least follow the game with some degree of confidence. But the terminology being used now is getting the point that I really don't know what anyone is talking about. Zoom Action, REM cut, NASCAR cut, and these are just a few of the new terms being thrown out. I love Pope's press conferences but I'm lost every time he talks about specifics.

Would it be possible for you to put together a list of terminology being used now with Pope with a brief explanation of what they mean? Either that or just a brief note on the terms you use in your reviews as I'd like to try and follow along with more understanding.

Thanks your your consideration.

This'll be hairy without Butler. Hoping for the best.

The fourth matchup is between the number two seed, A Christmas Story, and the 10 seed, A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Based on the humorous writings of author Jean Shepherd, this beloved holiday movie follows the wintry exploits of youngster Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), who spends most of his time dodging a bully (Zack Ward) and dreaming of his ideal Christmas gift, a "Red Ryder air rifle." Frequently at odds with his cranky dad (Darren McGavin) but comforted by his doting mother (Melinda Dillon), Ralphie struggles to make it to Christmas Day with his glasses and his hopes intact.

The Muppets perform the classic Dickens holiday tale, with Kermit the Frog playing Bob Cratchit, the put-upon clerk of stingy Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine). Other Muppets -- Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear and Sam the Eagle -- weave in and out of the story, while Scrooge receives visits from spirits of three Christmases -- past, present and future. They show him the error of his self-serving ways, but the miserable old man seems to be past any hope of redemption and happiness.