The following is being written and submitted three days before it’s published due to the early deadlines because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Here’s hoping that everyone is staying warm and grateful, while you enjoy the long weekend with family and friends.

As the temperatures plummet while we head into December, the sports world is heating up, with tons of action on the gridiron and the hardwood as well.

We will have the Kentucky high school football championship games next weekend, college football is enjoying Rivalry Weekend today, and the NFL is featuring teams fighting to get into the playoffs.

As this blurb is being banged out on the keyboard, we’re also smack dab in the middle of what has been termed “Feast Week” by ESPN, as the network – along with FS1, the CBS Sports Network and even TBS — are airing college hoops tournaments from coast to coast and beyond. The always highly anticipated high school basketball season is set to tip off Monday as well.

So, without further ado, following are several items concerning teams in the region, including the UK basketball and football squads, as well as the NFL team down the river.

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WILDCATS TOPPLE TOPPERS – The basketball game played on Tuesday night in Rupp Arena was far from a thing of beauty.

The good news for Kentucky fans was that the Cats improved to 6-0 with the 87-68 win over a scrappy bunch of Hilltoppers from Western Kentucky. The not-so-great news was that UK was less than sharp and crisp for the majority of the foul-plagued contest.

The flow and pace of the game was marred by the incessant whistles stopping play all evening long. The stripes called 49 total fouls, which sent the teams marching to the free throw line for 71 attempts. Kentucky was less than efficient at the stripe, making 29-of-42 for 69 percent, while the Toppers made 22-of-29 for 75.9 percent.

WKU utilized a physical style of play and stayed fairly close the entire way. Their transition defense kept the Cats from running the break the way they like to, and UK had an off-night shooting from the field as well. Kentucky made just 25 of their 62 attempts from the floor (40.3 percent) shot a subpar 27.6 percent from 3-point range on 8-of-29 from behind the arc.

Still, the Cats persevered and won a grind-it-out type of game, which may just benefit the team down the road. They will likely see more and more of this type of

strategy used against them, and having an opportunity to play a physical Western team should be a lesson learned.

Coach Mark Pope and his staff will be taking a close look at the videotape, correct a few obvious errors, and find ways to counter teams that will try to bully the Cats in future games. A few offensive adjustments also need to be made, with the most egregious one being 7-footer Amari Williams on the perimeter trying to be a guard, while committing six turnovers. He did grab 10 rebounds and block four shots, which shows why Williams needs to play on the post.

There were a few other positives as well for UK. Andrew Carr produced a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Otega Oweh continues to impress with his driving ability and he scored 16 points, and point guard Lamont Butler was again solid, finishing with 14 points, five boards, four assists and zero turnovers.

Kentucky hosted Georgia State on Friday night, after this was written, which should push the record to 7-0 heading into a more difficult stretch in early December. The Cats head to Clemson on Tuesday in an ACC/SEC Challenge matchup. The Tigers improved to 7-1 with a 75-67 win over Penn State and will likely enter the UK game at 8-1 after playing Florida A&M last night. Clemson advanced to the Elite Eight last year before falling 89-82 to Alabama.

The biggest test of the season to date will be next Saturday, when the Wildcats travel to Seattle to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs, currently the third-ranked team in the country.

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EXTENDING STREAK WILL BE A CHALLENGE – The Kentucky Wildcats football program is seeking its sixth consecutive victory against its rivals to the west, with the annual clash commencing at noon in Lexington.

The Louisville Cardinals bring a 7-4 record into the game, while the Cats have struggled to a 4-7 mark, which means UK will not be playing in a bowl game for the first time since the 2015 season.

While the Cards will be seeking redemption, Kentucky will be looking for a positive sign heading into the offseason by getting another unexpected win over Louisville.

The running game will likely be a point of emphasis for both teams, with temperatures hovering near the freezing mark all afternoon. Without sounding overly obvious, controlling the line of scrimmage and avoiding costly miscues will be keys to winning what appears to be a tight game as well.

UK fans are also intrigued by the play of true freshman quarterback Cutter Boley, who will be making his first start, following an eye-opening performance last week at

Texas. It will be imperative for Boley to show his poise against a UofL defense that will likely be coming at him early and often.

On the other side of the ball, the UK defense will have to contain Louisville’s 25-year-old quarterback, Tyler Shough, and the weapons at his disposal in both the running and passing games. Shough has thrown for 3,067 yards and 23 touchdowns in his sixth college football season. The ground game has been led by freshman Isaac Brown, who has rushed for 896 yards while averaging 7.4 yards per carry to go with nine scores.

It’s always risky picking a winner in a rivalry game like this one, but revenge may just be in the cards for the Cards.

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BENGALS TRY TO KEEP FAINT HOPES ALIVE – What promises to be a cold Sunday afternoon in Paycor Stadium will play host that resembles a last stand for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Men in Stripes arguably need to win their final six games of the season to make an appearance in the postseason, and the odds are against that occurring.

The first of the hoped-for winning streak for Who Dey Nation features AFC North foe Pittsburgh, a team that has found a way to win eight of their 11 games this season. On paper – and we know all too well that games

aren’t won on paper – the Steelers don’t appear to be all that imposing. But on second look, their defense gets the job done more often than not, while the offense scores enough to pull out close games.

It will come down to the Bengals offensive line giving Joe Burrow the protection he needs to find open receivers so he can pick apart the Pittsburgh defense and even get an explosive play or two. That is something the O-line has struggled with all season long and you can bet the Steelers will be bringing the heat.

Cincinnati also needs to play solid defense for 60 minutes, something that has eluded the 4-7 Bengals in nearly every game they’ve played this year. But the Pittsburgh offense hasn’t been exactly a scoring machine, so perhaps Cincy can eke out a win and continue its desperate pursuit of a berth in the playoffs.

Despite the season records for the teams heading into the game, the homestanding Bengals are favored by three points. I don’t know about you, but that comes as a rather big surprise.

Perhaps Vegas knows something?

********** “Gratitude is something that we have, but it’s something we have to practice. If you are great at being grateful, by definition, you will 100 percent be happy. Ungrateful people have a really tough time being happy.

It’s interesting. You see rich people that are happy and rich people that are sad. You see famous people that are happy and famous people that are sad. You see poor people that are sad and poor people that are happy.

You see people in any type of circumstance – it doesn’t matter the circumstance, it matters the gratitude that you bring with it.” — Mark Pope

********** “Cold! If the thermometer had been an inch longer we’d all have frozen to death.” — Mark Twain