Kentucky would like to get one more win at Louisville so it could end the regular season 7-5. (Vicky Graff Photo)
If Kentucky doesn’t beat Louisville Saturday — and I think the Cats will have to play their best game of the season to have a chance to do that — then two words that UK coach Mark Stoops said when he got a bit irritated on his weekly radio show will haunt him the entire offseason.
You remember after the Georgia loss when UK was never in the game and a caller to the radio show asked Stoops why his team was so overmatched. That’s when Stoops responded to “pony up” to give UK more NIL money to attract better players.
“I really don’t want to talk )about it). I want to move past that,” Stoops said at his weekly press conference when asked if he would like a do-over on that comment. “You have to listen to the whole conversation. Everyone takes a piece of something you say and (they) act like you’re making an excuse.
“Please go back and listen to the one-minute conversation. That’s at my radio show. It’s a little more laid back. We can just discuss and talk.”
Stoops said he was “very up front” with the caller and does not get offended or defensive with callers who might criticize him.
“I may defend our program or our players or say things that we need. But as far as that goes, that was nothing. It was something I light-heartedly said that that person can do something—that is a way they can do something,” Stoops said.
“Outside of that, I make no excuses. You know I haven’t for 11 years. I’m not going to start now. I’ll tell you facts and I’ll tell you reality.”
The reality is many UK fans are still upset with the “pony up” comment and Stoops’ Cats need to “pony up” at Louisville to get a win to end the season 7-5. However, UK is only 1-4 since the “pony up” comment and is a 7-point underdog going into Saturday’s game.
