The NCAA Tournament has ARRIVED!

Good morning, folks! The First Four matchups are fun (welcome to the Round of 64, Miami!), but nothing beats the first real day of the NCAA Tournament — and that day is today.

16 men’s college basketball games will grace our screens beginning at lunchtime and continuing until midnight. 12 straight hours of March Madness have arrived. It’s nice knowing that (7) Kentucky doesn’t play (10) Santa Clara until Friday, so we can all enjoy today’s buzzer beaters and the upsets with clear eyes and open hearts before waking up to nervous puking tomorrow morning. Go ahead and fill out those last-minute brackets now.

If you’re someone who made the trip down to St. Louis to watch the Wildcats in action, you can get a sneak peek of Mark Pope‘s group later today. Kentucky will host an open practice at the Enterprise Center from 11:45 a.m. CT to 12:25 p.m. CT, with a press conference and locker room interviews mixed in along the way for media members. The KSR crew arrived yesterday to gear up for what will hopefully be a long weekend for the ‘Cats. As always, check back here (and the KSR YouTube channel) throughout the day for immediate updates and reactions to everything Jack Pilgrim, Tyler Thompson, and Steven Peake see and hear.

It’s going to be a jam-packed day of hoops, not just on the college scene, either. Check out today’s NCAA Tournament schedule below before we dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes. If you haven’t made up a good excuse to skip out on school/work, there is still time to make that happen. That Fireball Bucket at KSBar sounds like it would taste even better before noon on a Thursday.

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Day two at the Boys Sweet 16

Four first-round games down, four more to go. On Wednesday, the opening day of the 2026 UK HealthCare Boys Basketball Sweet 16, the state’s No. 2 team (Covington Catholic) went home early, while the defending state champions (Great Crossing) moved on. All four games were decided by nine or more points — we’ll be hoping for closer competition today. Four top 10 teams will be in action, headlined by North Oldham and its star eighth grader, Pierre Rondo.

I’ll be at Rupp Arena all day long to bring you the coverage. If you missed what happened yesterday, click the link here to dive into our game recaps. Below is today’s schedule, an updated bracket, and a video recap of top-ranked St. Xavier’s big win over Cov Cath.

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Bat Cats begin series @ Ole Miss

A top-25 three-game series begins later today in Oxford. No. 15 Kentucky is in the Magnolia State to take on No. 19 Ole Miss. The Bat Cats (18-2) opened SEC play last week with a sweeping of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nick Mingione’s squad has won 13 straight games despite battling through early-season injuries. But this series will easily be the toughest challenge yet. Game one is set for this evening at Swayze Field.

Thursday, March 19 (8 p.m. ET)
Probable Pitcher – LHP Ben Cleaver (1-0, 1.84)
TV: SEC Network; Radio: UK Sports Network

Friday, March 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Probable Pitcher – RHP Jaxon Jelkin (4-0, 3.38)
TV: SECN+; Radio: UK Sports Network

Saturday, March 21 (2:30 p.m.)
Probable Pitcher – RHP Nate Harris (3-1, 4.03)
TV: SECN+; Radio: UK Sports Network

Kentucky WBB gearing up for James Madison

The NCAA Women’s Tournament really kicks off on Friday, and Kentucky doesn’t begin its run until Saturday, but we were able to chat it up with a couple of Wildcats yesterday to get their thoughts on the postseason. Sharpshooters Asia Boone and Amelia Hassett took some time to answer questions from the media. They talked about setting UK’s single-season three-point record, the challenges of the NCAA Tournament, and what it will take to survive and advance.

Kentucky earned a 5-seed in the Big Dance. 12-seeded James Madison is the first opponent on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU) in Morgantown, WV. Click the video below to hear everything Boone and Hassett had to say.

Get pumped up with spring practice highlights

If 16 games of NCAA Tournament basketball won’t get your juices flowing this morning, perhaps the Kentucky football program can lend a helping hand. Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan was Mic’d Up for the Wildcats’ second spring practice. Not only did we get a taste of what’s happening on the turf, but we also saw what’s happening behind the curtain. The Ric Flair reference was just the icing on the cake.