High School Football:   Area teams are making final preparations today for the second round of the Commonwealth Gridiron Bowl Friday night.

Christian County heads to Bowling Green to face a Purples squad who has won 26 games in a row. Kickoff from El Donaldson Stadium at 7, with the Heritage Bank pre game show at 6:35 on Newstalk 95.3 FM/1230 AM WHOP.

In 3-A action, Fort Campbell hosts South Warren at 7 pm. 2-A action includes Caldwell County hosting Hancock County and in Class A Russellville is at Kentucky Country Day.

College Basketball: Louisville finished up pre season play with a 65-46 win over Bellarmine, despite a poor shooting night. The Cardinals were led by freshman Montrezl Harrell with 16 points. Louisville opens the season Sunday, hosting former Christian County standout Donovan Kates and Manhattan.

Kentucky opens its season tomorrow night, meeting Maryland in the Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn. Maryland got some good news Wednesday as the NCAA ruled Xavier transfer Dez Wells eligible to play this season. Wells was dismissed from the Xavier team after an off the court incident allegedly involving sexual misconduct. No charges were filed in the case. Coverage of the game begins at 6 on Lite 98.7.

College Football: The Courier Journal reports former Tennessee football coach Phil Fulmer as saying despite its struggles right now, the Kentucky football coaching job does have an allure. When asked if he had an interest in the job, Fulmer said he had not had any conversations with anyone. Fulmer has not coached since being fired by Tennessee in 2008.

Meanwhile, the father of former Louisville and Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino tells the Courier Journal his son misses coaching and would love to return to the game. Bob Petrino Senior says his son is interested in the Kentucky job and wants to stay in the Southeastern Conference, as his goal was to be an SEC coach.

The actual number of tickets scanned at Saturday’s Kentucky-Vanderbilt game were about half of what was actually sold. WLEX-TV reports 18,885 tickets were scanned, though the attendance figure was announced at 40,000. Vanderbilt defeated Kentucky 40-0 and one day later Joker Phillips was fired as coach.

The Tennessean reports a member of Tennessee State University’s football team died after collapsing in practice Wednesday. 19-year-old walk on William James Jones collapsed during a non contract drill. Jones collapsed around 4 pm and was pronounced dead around 5:50 at Baptist Hospital. Jones had not played a game this season for the Tigers as he was being red shirted.

NFL: Barring any setbacks, Tennessee Titans coach Mike Munchak says Jake Locker will start at quarterback when the Titans meet the Miami Dolphins Sunday. Locker has been out since dislocating his non throwing shoulder in a game against Houston September 30^th.

Meanwhile, Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is appealing a fine of over $15,000 by the NFL for a horse collar tackle in last Sunday’s 51-20 loss to the Chicago Bears. Hasselbeck dragged Bears cornerback Kelvin Hayden down by the back of the jersey following a fumble by tight end Jared Cook in the 4^th quarter.

Thursday Night Football has the Indianapolis Colts at the Jacksonville Jaguars, with coverage at 7 this evening on Newstalk 95.3 FM/1230 AM WHOP.