As excited as Notre Dame fans are about [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag], they want to look at a third potential star if they aren’t already. Freshman forward [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag] was inserted into the starting lineup during the Irish’s season opener and has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Through three games, Koval has a total of 40 points, 33 rebounds, eight assists and 15 blocks. According to OptaSTATS, only one other Division I freshman, men or women, has achieved at least that stat line over that span. That freshman is Anthony Davis, who did it in his final three games with Kentucky en route to the 2012 national championship.
Davis’ stat line objectively was better at 42 points, 41 rebounds, eight assists and 17 blocks. That won him the Most Outstanding Player award.
Only time will tell whether Koval can keep up this level of production. That she already is drawing comparisons to Davis this early though indicates that the Irish might have hit yet another home run with her.
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This would explain a lot of the poor shooting we saw in the Champions Classic
Last night in the Champions Classic, we saw Michigan State shoot 12-percent from three, Duke shoot 17-percent, and Kansas shoot 29-percent. According to Matt Jones of Ky Sports Radio, this could have been due to the use of a Spalding basketball in the games that teams don’t usually play with.
Even more interesting, Jones said that Kansas, who shot 40-percent from three last night, practiced with the Spalding ball all week. It seems like that foresight and practice paid off.
So, for Michigan State fans who are doom and gloom after watching the team shoot so poorly from three, there may have been some other factors in that. That being said, MSU hasn’t really shot well in any of their games this year, so take it with a grain of salt.
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The Champions Classic has been renewed through the 2028-29 season
The Champions Classic will continue. The annual event that features Michigan State, Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas in revolving match-ups has been renewed through the 2028-29 basketball season.
The news came the day of this year’s event, which included MSU vs. Kansas. Next year, the Spartans are scheduled to play Kentucky. This year, MSU was given some grief from fans of other teams for their inclusion in the event. This writer’s opinion is that this criticism is ridiculous.
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Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops recaps the Wildcats’ performance at Tennessee.
Mark Stoops is in his 12th season as Kentucky’s football head coach. Stoops and the Wildcats suffered their sixth loss of the season on Saturday at Tennessee.
The Vols scored 21 second-half points to defeat Kentucky, 28-18, at Neyland Stadium.
Stoops recapped the SEC contest in Week 10.
“It’s not the outcome that we were looking for at all,” Stoops said. “I really do appreciate the toughness that our team displayed just in preparation throughout this week and coming in here and really playing, really tough, and playing winning football in a lot of ways, in certain areas, that obviously we didn’t.
“Credit to them (Tennessee), that’s a very good team and we knew coming in here, in a tough environment, was going to be very challenging, but our team was up for it. I think we finished the game down 10 starters and it’s no excuse, it’s just a fact. I really do appreciate the effort of some of our other guys just stepping up, battling and giving us an opportunity in the fourth quarter to take the lead and it didn’t happen. So, again, not the outcome we’re looking for, but proud of the effort.”
Tennessee football moves up one spot in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll top 25 after defeating Kentucky in Week 10.
Week 10 of the 2024 college football season has concluded. Tennessee (7-1, 4-1 SEC) recorded its third consecutive rivalry win, defeating Kentucky, 28-18, on Saturday.
The Vols have defeated Florida, Alabama and Kentucky in three straight games.
Tennessee junior running back Dylan Sampson highlighted the Vols’ victory in Week 10. Sampson scored his 19th rushing touchdown in 2024, setting a Tennessee single-season school record. Gene McEver previously held Tennessee’s program record, scoring 18 rushing touchdowns in 1929.
Fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel is now 4-0 against Kentucky with the Vols.
Following Week 10 college football games, the latest US LBM Coaches Poll top 25 rankings were released. Tennessee is up one spot to No. 6 this week. Only Georgia and Texas are ranked higher, among SEC teams, than the Vols entering Week 11.
Tennessee will host Mississippi State on Saturday ahead of playing at Georgia on Nov. 16 in Week 12.
Photos of Tennessee’s win versus Kentucky in dark mode uniforms at Neyland Stadium.
No. 7 Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) defeated Kentucky (3-5, 1-5 SEC), 28-18, on Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Week 10. Rankings reflect the US LBM Coaches Poll.
Tennessee redshirt senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 28-of-38 passing attempts for 292 yards and one touchdown.
Junior running back Dylan Sampson totaled a career-high 27 rushing attempts against the Wildcats. He recorded 142 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns. Sampson also set Tennessee’s single-season program record for touchdowns (19).
Defensive back Will Brooks intercepted a Gavin Wimsatt passing attempt for 67 yards.
Tennessee ended the contest by scoring 21 of the game’s 29 second-half points.
The Vols are now 5-1 all time when wearing black uniforms. Below are photos of Tennessee’s win versus Kentucky in dark mode uniforms at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel recaps Tennessee’s win against Kentucky.
No. 7 Tennessee (7-1, 4-1 SEC) recorded its third consecutive rivalry game win on Saturday in Week 10. The Vols defeated Kentucky (3-6, 1-6 SEC), 28-18, at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee totaled 477 yards (292 passing, 185 rushing) and converted 4-of-8 red zone opportunities.
Fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel recapped the Vols’ victory after the game.
“Awesome environment again tonight,” Heupel said. “Crowd was a huge part of the night, and excited about the win. Don’t take any of those for granted. Still a lot left out for us.
“Just starting fast, offensively, special teams putting them through the uprights, all of the combination of the turnovers, penalties, sacks on the plus side of territory. Some of the shots we were close on. I mean, it just felt like we practiced really well. We’re continuing the game. We just got to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to go play our best football. It’s never going to be perfect either, but again, excited about the win, but there’s a lot of things that we can improve upon.”
The Wildcats led, 10-7, at halftime before the Vols rallied to defeat Kentucky for the fourth consecutive season. Tennessee has now trailed at halftime in each of its last four games.
Running back Dylan Sampson set the Vols’ single-season record for rushing touchdowns (19). He totaled 142 yards and two touchdowns on 27 rushing attempts.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 28-of-38 passing attempts for 292 yards and one touchdown.
Tight end Miles Kitselman, a transfer from Alabama, finished with six receptions for 97 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Tennessee running back Peyton Lewis recorded 24 rushing yards and one touchdown on eight attempts.
Final injury report: 16 players listed as out for Tennessee-Kentucky football game on Saturday
No. 7 Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) will host Kentucky (3-5, 1-5 SEC) on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Rankings reflect the US LBM Coaches Poll.
Kickoff between the Vols and Wildcats is slated for 7:45 p.m. EDT and will be televised by SEC Network. Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst) and Cole Cubelic (sideline reporter) will be on the call.
Josh Heupel will look to remain undefeated (3-0) against the Wildcats during his tenure as Tennessee’s head coach since 2021. Tennessee won at Kentucky, 45-42, in 2021, while winning at Neyland Stadium, 44-6, in 2022. Heupel and the Vols were victorious at Kentucky, 33-27, last season.
Beginning with the 2024-25 athletics calendar, Southeastern Conference schools will provide public reports on availability of student-athletes to participate in each conference game in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball.
Below are the status of Tennessee and Kentucky’s student-athletes for Week 10.
Tennessee Vols injury report
Jourdan Thomas (defensive back): Out
Keenan Pili (linebacker): Out
Edwin Spillman (linebacker): Out
Caleb Herring (defensive line): Questionable
Kentucky Wildcats injury report
Maxwell Hairston (defensive back): Out
DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum (running back): Out
DJ Waller Jr. (defensive back): Out
Jantzen Dunn (defensive back): Out
Quay’sheed Scott (defensive back): Out
J.J. Weaver (outside linebacker): Out
Jayvant Brown (inside linebacker): Out
Steven Soles Jr. (outside linebacker): Out
Darrion Henry-Young (defensive line): Out
D’Eryk Jackson (inside linebacker): Out
Gerald Mincey (offensive line): Out
Jordan Dingle (tight end): Out
Josaih Hayes (defensive line): Out
Nasir Addison (defensive back): Probable
Jourdan Thomas
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Thomas suffered a season-ending knee injury during fall training camp in August. He has appeared in 25 games, including one start, for the Vols since 2022, recording 28 tackles, two tackles for a loss and one block.
Keenan Pili
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Pili suffered a season-ending ACL injury against Florida on Oct. 12. He appeared in six contests for the Vols in 2024, recording 29 tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss.
Pili appeared in one game last season for Tennessee after transferring from BYU. He recorded four tackles and played 29 snaps in the Vols’ 2023 season-opening win versus Virginia. Pili suffered an upper-body injury and missed the remainder of last season.
Edwin Spillman
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Spillman has appeared in two games this season at Tennessee. He has totaled three tackles (one solo) against Kent State and Oklahoma. Spillman enrolled at Tennessee in March after graduating high school early and participated in spring practices.
Caleb Herring
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Herring has appeared in six games for the Vols this season, recording three tackles. He totaled one tackle against Chattanooga, North Carolina State and Alabama.
Mincey is listed as out for Kentucky at Tennessee on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. He has appeared in seven games, including seven starts, for the Wildcats in 2024.
