Sunday Headlines: Christian Collins Watch, and is Mark Stoops’ job saved?

A big win for Kentucky and Mark Stoops last night, and some interesting recruiting news

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What is the story about?

What a night last night!

After trailing 7-3 at the end of the first quarter, the Kentucky Wildcats dominated the remainder of the game en route to a 38-7 win over the Florida Gators at Kroger Field, the first SEC win in Lexington since September 30, 2023.

It was a much-needed win for Kentucky and for Mark Stoops. A loss at home to a reeling Florida team that had already fired its head coach this season could have been the final nail for Stoops’ tenure at Kentucky.

Now? Who knows what the future holds,

but Stoops certainly lives to fight another day with the win.

The Cats take on Tennessee Tech next Saturday before wrapping up the season with road games at Vanderbilt and Louisville.

Did Mark Stoops save his job with last night’s win? It’s certainly possible.

We’ve also got some basketball recruiting news we’re following today.

For a while, it seemed very likely that five-star forward Christian Collins would be staying out west to play college basketball. The California native is down to Kentucky, USC, and UCLA, and while Kentucky was an early favorite, momentum really shifted toward USC, as those in the recruiting world believed Collins wanted to stay in California.

Now, it seems like Kentucky might be starting to regain the momentum in this recruitment. ON3’s Jacob Polacheck and Joe Tipton both logged a prediction for Collins to land at Kentucky yesterday.

This would be a big get for Mark Pope and Kentucky if they can make it happen. Collins is ranked as the 7th overall prospect in the class in the 247 Sports Composite rankings and is viewed as one of the prospects with the highest upside in the class.

This has obviously been a back-and-forth recruitment, so nothing is set in stone yet, but certainly some good news for the Cats on the recruiting front.