Collegefootballnews.com has picked Alabama to defeat Kentucky 31-10 this week. Click below to read a summary of the prediction.

\’Bama-UK prediction

In a letter to the editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Florida football coach Urban Meyer and athletics director Jeremy Foley thanked the University of Kentucky for its assistance following quarterback Tim Tebow’s concussion suffered during the third quarter of the Gators’ 41-7 win over UK on Saturday.

The letter read as follows:

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank the University of Kentucky Athletics Department for its generous assistance and overwhelming support extended to the Florida football program and in particular, Tim Tebow and his family during our visit to Lexington this past weekend.

From the moment Tim was injured on the field, the Kentucky support team
moved into action. The game operations’ staff, medical and athletic
training staff, as well as the police and emergency personnel, were all
quick to respond and operated as one efficient unit.

Mitch Barnhart and his staff should be commended for their
professionalism and commitment to excellence during this time. In
addition, a special thanks should be made to Coach Rich Brooks and his
staff.

The exceptional care and service we received at Commonwealth Stadium
was also extended by the staff at the University of Kentucky Medical
Hospital. We are very grateful for their efforts in making sure Tim and
his family was taken care of.

A heartfelt thanks to the University of Kentucky, the local community
and the entire Wildcat family, whose outpouring of support was very much
appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Foley                            Urban Meyer
Athletics Director                    Head Football Coach
University of Florida                University of Florida

The Oct. 10 UK-South Carolina game has been selected for a 12:30 broadcast on Fox Sports Network.

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks and the UK players all say they’re ready to take on No. 3 Alabama and put up a better showing than they did in Saturday’s 41-7 loss to top-ranked Florida.

It will be the highest-ranked back-to-back opponents for Kentucky in school history and a chance for the Wildcats to regain some credibility after the Florida blowout.

We don’t to lose our fan support; we want to keep our fans in it,” said junior defensive tackle Ricky Lumpkin. “Our fans, we love them, they love us. But there’s time where people might think ‘Uh-oh, here comes the old Kentucky’ after a game like that, and we don’t want anybody to think that. We keep talking about competing, but we’ve got to show it and stop losing to the same teams over and over again. We have to change that starting this week against Alabama.”

Brooks called the Florida game one of the most disappointing in his lengthy coaching career.

“Not the loss, but the first 15 minutes,” Brooks said. “We’re a much better football team that that. I thought we were past that kind of crap, but we’re still not past it. I’ve got better players than to have that happen.”

The Southeastern Conference has decided to take a six-day window for its Oct. 10 television schedule, meaning the kickoff time for the Kentucky-South Carolina game won’t be announced until Monday, Oct. 5. The league did announce that the Florida-LSU game will be an 8 p.m. prime time kickoff on CBS. CBS will also televise another game that day. The other options include Alabama at Ole Miss, Georgia at Tennessee, Auburn at Arkansas, and UK-South Carolina.

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks spoke with the media via his weekly Sunday teleconference following his team’s 41-7 loss to Florida on Saturday.

Some quick notes:

Brooks is still blaming himself for the team’s poor start against the Gators. The Cats have been slow getting out of the gate several times offensively in the past two seasons and Brooks said he’s considering changing some things up.  He’s considering altering UK’s pre-game routine and letting the first-team offense face the first-team defense more in practice this week.

Brooks also said he thinks he still has a good football team despite the debacle

and noted that several good teams have laid eggs around solid performances such as Georgia Tech,  which got blasted by Miami two weeks ago before rebounding to blow out then No. 22 North Carolina Saturday; Florida State who walloped BYU, which beat Oklahoma, before coming back and lost to South Florida at home. California, ranked No. 6, was spanked 42-3 by an Oregon team that looked horrible in a season-opening loss to Boise State.

Also, four players are questionable for Saturday’s game against No. 3 Alabama with injuries: cornerback Paul Warford (quadriceps strain), linebacker Sam Maxwell (turf toe), right tackle Justin Jeffries (achilles strain) and running back Moncell Allen (MCL strain).

Freshman linebacker Ridge Wilson has been reinstated to the Kentucky football team, Coach Rich Brooks announced before the Kentucky-Florida game. Wilson had been suspended indefinitely after being charged with fourth-degree assault after allegedly hitting a girl in the face earlier this month.

“Ridge WIlson has been reinstated to full status with the University of Kentucky football program,” Brooks said in a statement released by UK. “Situations liek this are totally unacceptable on our football team, but at the same time, this is the first incident of any negative nature he has had while on campus since last summer. He will be given counseling as well as the understanding that any transgression in the future will be met with dismissal from the football team. We are in the process of trying to take young men from teenagers to responsible adults and I take that task very seriously. We understand there will be ongoing legal deliberations in this case as well as pending University student conduct discussions. We expect to comply fully with all of their findings. There will be no further comment until all the legal issues are resolved.”

The University of Kentucky picked up a commitment from Tyler Robinson, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound tight end from Alcoa (TN) High School, the same school that produced UK receiver Randall Cobb. Robinson had received offers from Virginia Tech and Middle Tennessee State.  Rivals.com reported that Robinson visited for the UK-Louisville game last weekend. Robinson is the 10th commitment for UK’s 2010 class.

ESPN.com reports that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was among three players who flew separately from the team on the flight to Lexington for Saturday night’s game with Kentucky due to illness. Sources told ESPN.com that the illness is not the flu and that Tebow, cornerback Joe Haden and safety Major Wright are all expected to play against the Wildcats.

Tebow sick

The Orlando Sentinel reported that starting wide receiver Riley Cooper was also on a separate flight to Lexington for Saturday’s UK-Florida game with the other three players.

Cooper is Tebow’s roommate and Florida’s most experienced receiver. The Gators are already thin at the receiver position with senior Carl Moore and freshman Andre Debose out with injury. Another starter, Deonte Thompson, is battling a hamstring injury but is expected to play.

Haden’s father, Joe Haden Sr., told the Sentinel that the players weren’t feeling well but expected to play.

Sick Gators expected to play

Brooks and UK coaches participating in “Coach to Cure MD” at Florida Game

Coach Rich Brooks and the Kentucky coaching staff are participating in the nationwide “Coach to Cure MD” program sponsored this week by the American Football Coaches Association.

The goal of the weekend is to raise awareness and research funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the most prolific genetic killer diagnosed in childhood.

During games this weekend, the UK staff and other coaches will wear a “Coach to Cure MD” logo patch on their shirt sleeves and football fans will be invited to donate to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.

Cat Walk

The Cat Walk for the UK-Florida is set for 3:45 at Gate 1 of Commonwealth Stadium.

Help Cats “Sack Hunger”

Kentucky football fans are asked to help the “Cats Sack Hunger” at Saturday’s football game against Florida.

As part of the annual Southeastern Conference food drive, there will be a cash collection on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.  The UK Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is coordinating the event, which will benefit God’s Pantry Food Bank in Lexington.

Fans may participate by donating cash or checks (payable to God’s Pantry) to the SAAC representatives, who will be in the parking lots and at the stadium gates prior to the 6 p.m. kickoff.

In additions, fans may participate by:

• Dropping off canned goods in collection bins at any Kroger in Fayette County
• Making an on-line donation at www.godspantry.org
• Bring canned food or money to the UK Volleyball game on Friday night

“One Great Season” Visits Lexington: University of Kentucky football is being visited this week by John P. Wise, a New York-based writer who is chronicling the 2009 college football campaign in a book to be entitled “One Great Season.”

Wise is visiting one campus each week of the season, then covers the game on Saturday.  His weekly schedule to this point has been Georgia at Oklahoma State, Southern California at Ohio State, Michigan State at Notre Dame and now Florida at Kentucky.

Wise is blogging about his journey on www.onegreatseason.com while he writes his book.