Roman Harper was a star safety at Alabama from 2002-05, and the current analyst for SEC Nation bleeds crimson and white.
But during the Saturday morning pregame show in the leadup to Week 6, Harper had Big Blue Nation on his mind during a rant that was all about the disrespect he felt Kentucky football was getting in the early weeks of the Will Stein era.
The Wildcats haven’t been perfect, falling in Week 2 at home to Harper’s alma mater, Alabama, but otherwise it’s been a mighty impressive run for Stein and the Cats in Year 1 of a new coaching regime.
Kentucky followed that Bama loss with a stunning victory at Texas A&M, and last week the Wildcats stunned South Carolina this time, pulling off a 1-point overtime victory in Columbia that improved UK to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the SEC.
But all that thrilling road win did was drop Kentucky out of the AP rankings the next day, as the Wildcats fell out of the poll after being ranked 24th coming into the South Carolina game. With Lane Kiffin and No. 10 LSU heading to Lexington for a primetime matchup on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), Harper declared on Saturday morning that Kentucky needs to be taken very seriously.
“I want to get to Kentucky, and nothing about on the field stuff either. I’m talking about the Big Blue Nation being disrespected this week. How you go on the road, steal a win, in the SEC, and this is the best conference in all of sports, and all of a sudden I drop out of the top 25,” Harper said. “How does that even happen? The disrespect of Kentucky must stop today. And if I’m the Big Blue Nation, I’m standing up, pounding my chest to let everybody else know, it’s our time. We belong, and we’re going to have to go out and do it again today, and if we have to beat LSU to do it, then LSU I feel bad for you.”
While Harper is calling out people for disrespecting Kentucky, the Wildcats will have a chance to end that narrative once and for all on Saturday night when LSU comes to Lexington. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the chances for Stein and Kentucky to take down the Tigers on national TV:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
