With the early deadline this week due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday – the Saturday column is being banged out on the keyboard on the day before the annual feast day — I decided to say a few words about Kentucky football and their rivalry clash at Louisville Saturday afternoon, and a Kentucky basketball faceoff with a tough foe coming up in a few days.

Planning on taking a deeper look at the outstanding season put together by Kentucky’s most successful team on campus next week as well. That would be coach Craig Skinner and the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament champion volleyball team. With the 3-2 reverse sweep win in the title tilt vs. Texas on Tuesday night, the resilient Wildcats will take a 25-2 record into NCAA Tournament action next Thursday.

Before getting to the UK football and basketball notes, please bear with me as I present my annual observation on what is about to occur over the next three months or so. If you are one of my five or six loyal readers, or if you have just stumbled upon any of this nonsense in the past, you already know that the winter season is not – and never will be – my favorite time of the year.

I’ve often said that the only saving grace for wintertime is that it’s also basketball season. Many of us also celebrate the holiday season in December, so that should be added as a plus as well. The primary reason for my lackluster attitude concerning the next three months is the weather. I have to agree with my late father on this subject, and I can still hear him saying at the beginning of each winter, “The older I get, the more I hate cold weather.”

I suppose if I could relocate to a warmer, more pleasant environment until April or so, wintertime would be wonderful. But not so much here in the Ohio Valley. We seemingly get it all here in the so-called “center of the universe” and most of it is simply yucky. Blustery bone-chilling winds, mostly gloomy skies, long cold nights, and the threat of ice and snow makes the winter by far the worst time of the year.

All I can do is deal with it the best way I can, which involves staying as warm as possible until spring. Hope y’all do the same, and if you’re one of those kooks who adores frigid temperatures, more power to ya.

Will Kentucky upend their archrival?

The annual Governor’s Cup is scheduled to kick off at high noon Saturday afternoon at L&N Stadium in Louisville, and this may be one of the most impossible to predict matchups between the visiting Wildcats and the homestanding Cardinals in many years.

Neither team has exactly set the world on fire this season, but early in the campaign, it was looking like a rather easy win for the home team. Things have changed significantly in the past few weeks however.

A banged-up Louisville squad has dropped three in a row, with two of losses coming at home (29-26 to California and 20-19 to Clemson) before the bottom really dropped at SMU last week, where an uninspired bunch of Cardinals were drubbed 38-6.

Kentucky, losers of their first five of seven, were showing semblances of life with a three-game winning streak until last week’s 45-17 thrashing at Vanderbilt. Attempting to figure out which UK or U of L team shows up Saturday afternoon may give you a severe headache, and placing a bet on the outcome is a real shot in the dark. For what it’s worth, the latest I saw is that Louisville is a slight favorite.

The incentive factor appears to be in Kentucky’s favor; they need a win to qualify for a bowl game. Louisville enters with a 7-4 record, so they already know they’re going bowling. Another reason to like the Cats’ chances is the fact that the Cards have several key players on the sidelines, including quarterback Miller Moss, who also missed the game last week at SMU.

Both teams have endured more than their fair share of drama during the season, with rumors flying about the head coaches at both schools. The latest scuttlebutt says that UK coach Mark Stoops will be back next year, much to the chagrin of many Wildcat fans. Cardinals coach Jeff Brohm is being linked to several openings, but it feels like a bit of a stretch that the former U of L quarterback would leave his hometown.

Next real challenge arrives Tuesday

The basketball Wildcats will be hosting North Carolina on Tuesday evening in one of those late (for me anyway) ESPN games. Tipoff is slated for 9:30 p.m., and due to the early deadline today, I cannot even tell you the records of the two combatants. UNC took a 6-0 record into a clash with Michigan State (also 6-0) on Thanksgiving afternoon, a game that appears like it represents the first real test of the season for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina and Kentucky have squared off on the hardwood 43 times, with UNC holding a 25-18 advantage. The last time the two college basketball powers met was Dec. 16, 2023, an 87-83 UK win in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta.

There have been more than a few memorable moments during the series between the royal blue and baby blue, including a 121-110 Kentucky win in front of 19. 098 fans at Louisville’s Freedom Hall on Dec. 27, 1989. Mason County’s own Deron Feldhaus led the Cats in that shootout with 27 points, including a 5-for-8 night on 3-point attempts. He wasn’t the only Cat lighting up the scoreboard; Derrick Miller had 26 (8-for-16 from 3-point range), Richie Farmer tossed in 21 (4-for-9 on threes), and Reggie Hanson added 18.

The team, also known as Pitino’s Bombinos, fired up 48 shots from behind the arc, and sank 21. The Cats also rallied from a 64-47 halftime deficit by outscoring the Heels 74-46 in the second 20 minutes. The legendary Dean Smith was the UNC coach at the time, and their top players included King Rice, Rick Fox, and current Carolina coach Hubert Davis.

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“I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts.” – Mark Twain