HOOVER, Ala. — It's rare for an in-state clash of Kentucky teams — especially one that doesn't involve Louisville — to garner plenty of attention on the national radar.
But that will be the case on Aug. 31 when Kentucky takes on Western Kentucky in — of all places — Nashville, Tenn.
The reasons for the buzz are plentiful:
* Western Kentucky's Bobby Petrino makes his return to coaching, after taking a year off to handle some well-publicized personal issues.
* The game will mark the head-coaching debut for former Florida State defensive coordinator (and now Kentucky coach) Mark Stoops — at any level.
* And then there's the unresolved matter of Kentucky seeking revenge for losing to WKU at home last year (32-31), a setback that launched a string of eight straight defeats for former head coach Joker Phillips and the Wildcats.
"I'm not hiding from the fact that the Western Kentucky game is very important to us," said Stoops, while holding court on Wednesday at SEC Media Days.
A tireless recruiter, Stoops has already made inroads with talent-rich areas like Florida and Ohio, while also snagging two prominent in-state recruits last February (tailback Ryan Timmons, defensive end Jason Hatcher) — before overseeing a single down as a collegiate head coach.
"We need to expand recruiting, certainly beyond Kentucky," said Stoops, a Youngstown, Ohio native who played his collegiate ball at Iowa, under legendary coach Hayden Fry. "It's been my philosophy to branch out to Ohio."
Speaking of which ... Stoops, 46, has a chance to become the first Kentucky coach in 59 years, since Blanton Collier — the immediate successor to Paul 'Bear' Bryant in Lexington — to record a winning debut season with the Wildcats.
In that span, nine Kentucky head coaches (Charlie Bradshaw, John Ray, Fran Curci, Jerry Claiborne, Bill Curry, Hal Mumme, Guy Morriss, Rich Brooks, Joker Phillips) fell short of that threshold in Year 1.
"The educated fan knows where we're at, and knows we've got a lot of work to do," said Stoops.
