Hurricane Helene arrived Thursday, striking Florida as a Category 4 storm before being downgraded upon hitting landfall, now considered Tropical Storm Helene. Three million are left without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas with winds up to 140 mph upon initial impact and life-threatening flooding on the horizon with rainfall accumulations of 6-12 inches — with isolated totals pushing 20 inches.
In case you haven’t looked outside yet this morning, that’s all impacting us here in Kentucky, as well. The rain has started and it’s not slowing down anytime soon with a projected 2-4 inches by Sunday night with wind gusts up to 35 mph.
That’s why many districts canceled school and pushed their football games up to Thursday night, hoping to beat the weather before shutting things down for the weekend. Barren, Estill, Fleming, Harrison, Harlan, Jackson, Jefferson, Laurel, Lee and Marion Counties are among those out of school on Friday while over three dozen football games took place Thursday — highlighted by No. 18 CAL’s massive 35-10 upset win at No. 6 Manual.
Needless to say, stay safe out there, folks, especially those driving to Oxford for Kentucky’s matchup at No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday. It’s a mess and will stay that way for the next 48 hours-plus, so plan and adjust accordingly.
Mark Stoops previews Ole Miss
How about the matchup itself in Oxford? Will the rain impact things at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 12 PM ET — 11 AM local? The forecast is actually somewhat clear during the game with a 25 percent chance of rain and 0.00 inches of expected precipitation Saturday morning. As things stand now, it’ll be cloudy and 68 degrees at the opening kick — perfect football weather.
Mark Stoops is keeping an eye on things, but anticipates smooth sailing as the team travels down today to prepare for a top-10 opponent a little over 24 hours from now.
“It’s been a solid week of practice, I feel like the guys’ energy and spirits are good. We look to improve in certain areas and are excited about the opportunity,” he said Thursday evening. “We’ve got to get on the plane (Friday) — hopefully we don’t have any weather issues or things like that. We’ll get down there and get ready to play a very good football team. Here we go again.”
Chip Trayanum has been ruled OUT
As for some bad news, Kentucky will not be getting its starting running back healthy in time for kickoff. Stoops said to start the week Chip Trayanum had been medically cleared after breaking his hand this offseason and missing the team’s first four games, but his status remained up in the air against the Rebels. And after listing him on the injury report as doubtful on Wednesday, the Ohio State transfer was ultimately downgraded to out on Thursday.
Trayanum is one of seven Wildcats ruled out at Ole Miss while Maxwell Hairston was added to the report as questionable.
How are things looking with the Rebels? Lane Kiffin isn’t showing his hand, listing a whopping 26 players on the initial report and keeping them all the same on Thursday. Eight have been declared out while two more are doubtful and another two are questionable. The other 14 on the list are probable.
Kentucky Pro Day scheduled for Oct. 7
Ready for some Kentucky basketball on your televisions? We’re just 10 days away from our first look at the Wildcats as the program’s annual Pro Day has been scheduled for Oct. 7 from 6-7:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network+ with Dick Gabriel and Goose Givens on the call.
Representatives from all 30 NBA teams will be in attendance to see Mark Pope’s first squad in Lexington go through measurements, agility drills and scrimmages. All eyes are on Jaxson Robinson, the top draft prospect on the team, while Koby Brea, Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr all tested the waters this past cycle, as well. Maybe there are some surprises, too — Collin Chandler and Brandon Garrison are high-upside picks who could have sneaky good days in front of scouts.
That’ll all take place at Memorial Coliseum, the first official event of Kentucky basketball season.
Big Blue Madness tickets go on sale today
Speaking of the start of basketball season, the unofficial tipoff at Rupp Arena is scheduled for Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. ET. And you can purchase your tickets for the annual event starting today.
With campout canceled once again this year due to ongoing renovations at Memorial, Big Blue Madness tickets — all free — will be distributed exclusively online at Ticketmaster.com and through the Ticketmaster app starting at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 27.
All patrons require a ticket for Big Blue Madness, regardless of age. Online orders will have a minimal service fee attached, and there will be a limit of four tickets per household. All duplicate orders will automatically be canceled. Due to high demand, UK Athletics cannot guarantee that all fans will receive tickets.
Meanwhile, tickets for Club Blue’s Blue/White Preseason Event scheduled for Friday, Oct. 18 at Memorial Coliseum are available now.
Hard to believe we’re already here, BBN.