Kentucky’s athletic programs faced setbacks Saturday and Sunday, with the football team falling to Alabama in the SEC opener and volleyball dropping a match to SMU in the Paradise Invitational. Lexington campus Keeneland September Yearling Sale opens with 4,642 prospects — Keeneland’s 83rd S eptember Yearling Sale opens Monday with 4,642 prospects cataloged across 12 sessions through Sept. 26, building on last year’s record-breaking $531.7 million gross and debuting the new Paddock Building facility. Sports Kentucky volleyball: No. 8 SMU defeats No. 3 Kentucky 3-1 in Paradise Invitational — No. 8 SMU defeated No. 3 Kentucky volleyball 3-1 in the Paradise Invitational opening round in Nassau. The loss drops Kentucky to 6-2 on the season. Kentucky football: No. 12 Alabama defeats Kentucky 45-17 in SEC opener — No. 12 Alabama defeated Kentucky 45-17 on Saturday at Kroger Field after a dominant second-half performance, with the Tide scoring 28 unanswered points to overcome a 17-13 halftime deficit. Kentucky football: No. 12 Alabama defeats Kentucky 45-17 in SEC opener — Kentucky football lost to Alabama 45-17 on September 12, dropping to 1-1 on the season. Coach Will Stein cited defensive struggles with short fields and offensive execution issues, particularly on third downs, while noting the team remains early in development with opportunities to improve before facing Texas AM. Kentucky football: No. 12 Alabama defeats Kentucky 45-17 in SEC opener — No. 12 Alabama defeated Kentucky 45-17 on September 12, 2026, extending its winning streak in the series to nine straight games. Despite the loss, the Wildcats showed defensive intensity and offensive weapons led by their tight end group and rookie wide receiver Kenny Darby. Full versions of every item are on feeds.lexingtonky.news. Sources UK Athletics: No. 8 SMU stuns No. 3 Kentucky volleyball in Paradise Invitational UK Athletics: No. 12 Alabama dominates second half to rout Kentucky 45-17 UK Athletics: UK football falls to Alabama 45-17 in Stein’s SEC debut UK Athletics: No. 12 Alabama routs Kentucky 45-17 in SEC opener Keeneland: Keeneland September Yearling Sale opens with 4,642 prospects This digest was assembled by The Lexington Times from articles published on feeds.lexingtonky.news over the previous day. The headline and introduction were drafted by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001); each item’s summary is reused from its underlying article, which is itself an AI rewrite of the cited source or a licensed republication. Full versions, with sources, are linked from every item. View in feeds Republishing: This is original Lexington Times reporting, licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. You may republish this article, in full and unaltered, for free — including commercially — with credit to The Lexington Times and a link to the original.The post Kentucky briefs, Sept. 13: Alabama routs Kentucky football 45-17; No. 8 SMU upsets No. 3 volleyball appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less