For entertainment (and a little prestige) college football game(s) of the year in Kentucky are at hand?

On Saturday Western Kentucky hosts Louisiana-Monroe for Hilltoppers homecoming. Western has won five of six and four in a row, the Warhawks (4-2) average 42-plus points a game.

A Western Kentucky win would catapult the Hilltoppers into, ready for this, post-season bowl consideration.

I hope ESPN schedulers recognize this could be a Barnum-and-Bailey show.

Following, six nights later (Friday, Oct. 26 on ESPN), unbeaten and 14th ranked Louisville hosts No. 18 Cincinnati (5-0) at Papa John’s Stadium.

A Louisville win could make Charlie Strong’s Cardinals a major bowl contender.

No downside to this lineup, right? Wrong.

More exposure for UofL and WKU means hotter pursuit of coaches Willie Taggart and Charlie Strong by football factories like Arkansas, Tennessee and others when the Coach Carousel opens for business after Thanksgiving.

THEN … KENTUCKY

Joker Phillips took his beleaguered team to Fayetteville last week. By a little past nine o’clock local time, the four touchdown underdog Wildcats were down by five touchdowns, then six, then seven scores.

The scene brought to mind an exchange from the motion picture Forrest Gump.

Forrest: “No shrimp.”

Lieutenant Dan: “Where the hell’s this God of yours?”

Forrest: “It’s funny Lieutenant Dan said that ‘cause right then … God showed up.”

In Fayetteville the other night the clock said 5:08 (in the third quarter) when God showed up. A lightning storm put an end to a 49-7 Arkansas shelling of hapless Kentucky.

We who have served up optimistics and ‘maybe(s)’ for decades in support of the idea Kentucky CAN compete in the Southeastern Conference, are left to wonder anew this sunny autumn week: Is God (of Football) ever going to show up in Lexington?”

A look around…

Louisville was a basketball school until God, uh, Howard Schnellenberger showed up in 1985.

Bluegrass neighbors? No. 15 West Virginia is a coaches poll perennial, No. 18 Cincinnati is 5-0 this season, and Middle Tennessee (4-2) is on the rise.

Farther out, Northwestern’s Wildcats (6-1) are bowl eligible this week; and one-time UK homecoming patsy, Rutgers, is 6-0.

So, Kentucky. Where’s the shrimp, Lieutenant Dan?

Big stadium, flashy scoreboards, spiffy uniform combinations, indoor practice facility, Keeneland up the road. Geography in autumn that makes central Kentucky into New England of the South.

There must be answers to …

Why, beyond in-house arrogance, UK dumped Blanton Collier, snubbed Roy Kidd, then Howard Schnellenberger, did not so much as flirt with Florida assistant coach Charlie Strong.

Why instead, UK hired Charlie Bradshaw, John Ray and Hal Mumme.

Why a director of athletics (C.M. Newton) would lecture disgruntled fans ‘if you don’t like our program, go somewhere else.’

Why heavy-hit recruiter Tee Martin left this year for Southern Cal.

Why a list of unproductive defensive coaches is decades long all the way to Rick Minter.

Why Mitch Barnhart shamelessly raised ticket prices squeezing out fans with no deep pockets, which essentially cuts his football coach off at the knees.

Why a coach at Kentucky would brain hiccup: “you’re either with us or against us.”

And, finally, why migration of our state’s best high school prospects, particularly in Jefferson County, has brought “anywhere but UK,” back into vogue.

ANSWER: Perpetual incompetence and worship of basketball.

As vastly successful as Kentucky hoops has been for seven decades and counting, decisions for football reflect an astonishing combination of no vision, coattail complacency to Alabama, Florida, LSU etc., and a disgusting disregard for Wildcat football fans who keep coming back for more.

In a nutshell, this is largely why …

There ain’t “no shrimp!”, Lieutenant Dan.

BASKETBALL

Big Blue Madness packed Rupp Arena last week. Highlights, lowlights?

HIGH. Court lighting. Gorgeous.

HIGH. Inclusion and introduction of players from past NCAA championship teams.

LOW. Wah Wah Jones, bless him, should have been introduced for applause, but the once 6-4, 220-pound All-American should not have been trotted out to center court.

LOW. Player introductions become a dance step contest. Does a one-and-done scholarship requirement include a lame dance routine? The dance-step introduction thing was cute … once.

HIGH. Precedent established to invite back players from other NCAA title winners. For instance, John Crigler and Johnny Cox from 1958,

JUST WONDERING.

Nerlens Noel served up a flying dunk over Sam Malone’s head. Is this show-off move to impress visiting recruits worth risk of serious injury before the kid so much as plays a Blue-White scrimmage?

THIS … IS WINNING

Kansas coach Bill Self has been awarded the John R. Wooden Award.

The honoree is selected based on character, success on court, graduation rates of his program and coaching philosophy.

Self’s Jayhawks have won eight straight Big 12 regular season titles and a Sweet 16 in six of nine years, including an NCAA championship and runner-up.

Kansas has achieved an Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of a perfect 1,000 in each of the last six years.

In the Bill Self era, Kansas has had 25 Academic All-Big 12 selections, which is best in the conference, and 26 of 27 four-year players at KU have earned their degrees.

PARTING SHOT

At Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness, why did women’s coach Matthew Mitchell do an introduction rap dance?

Mitchell’s uncool show brought to mind late great comedian George Carlin who said, “You’re never going to be as cool as black guys. You’re white and you’re lame.”

Mitchell should return to his ride-in-on-a-motorcycle dressed in black routine.

And so it goes.