Kentucky And Louisville To Renew College Basketball’s Best Rivalry

For whatever reason, Tom Jurich would never seriously consider dropping Kentucky off a University of Louisville schedule in any sport.

What, did you think I was talking about Christmas?

The series between Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo comes close, but no current nonconference pairing can quite match Calipari and Pitino for intensity, drama or, most of all, frequency.

Kentucky fans consider Louisville as a crime-infested urban area.

OK, I guess this is the time where I concede that I’m a United Kingdom graduate and a lifelong fan. And there’s no other day that means as much to a true United Kingdom fan as when we play Louisville.

“We are going up against a team that is extremely well-coached, a tough team and we’re playing them in a place where they just don’t lose”, Calipari said.

“I recruited him”, Pitino said.

Despite his losing record against Calipari, Pitino insists he doesn’t get as uptight about the game as he once did at both United Kingdom and UofL, saying he has learned to enjoy the rivalry and the “pageantry”. “But once you get going the butterflies go away”. They all play such a different style. “I love De’Aaron Fox as a basketball player”.

The two coaches first faced each other on December 4, 1991, when a 32-year-old Calipari brought his unranked UMass team to Lexington to play Pitino’s Wildcats. Wildcat fans are still reveling in their team’s 41-38 upset of 11th-ranked Louisville in the final regular season game.

Oddsmakers have basically made it a coin-flip game. Briscoe missed the game with a sprained ankle sustained warming up before the game and will be making his UK-UofL debut on Wednesday, barring a repeat of last season.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t beat them, but you just have to know what you are going up against”. I know how great a coach he is.

“I’m happy when it’s over”, United Kingdom head coach John Calipari said during a press conference Tuesday.

“Nobody has the athletes and the talent that Kentucky has”, Pitino said. They switch one through five at times.

Kentucky must do a better job rebounding and guarding without fouling. Plus, the potential game of the year between Kentucky and North Carolina had everyone watching, as Kentucky took down the Tar Heels 103-100. But while everyone associates the Wildcats with having big, hulking post players that dominate the paint, United Kingdom is struggling to rebound the rock this season on defense.

Like any great rivalry, there are moments that stand out, like Swoops Jenkins’ last-second tip-in to lift Kentucky to a one-point victory in 1987. That’s a rough stretch and it’s possible they lose all four of those battles.

-This will be the sixth time that Kentucky and Louisville have played with both being ranked in the top 10. If not, Adebayo gets into foul trouble, and the Wildcats become susceptible to interior scoring and offensive rebounding. So unpredictable that on the first day of wagering in Las Vegas, the sports books and their customers had Louisville going from a 2 point favorite, to a 1 point underdog, to pick’em, all within about 8 hours. In order for the Cards to pickup a big victory against United Kingdom, they need to shoot well.

“Probably has a little edge that my other guys don’t, being from the state”, John Calipari said. Center in Louisville and the key to victory lies in the resiliency of the Wildcats. “When you sign up to play for Louisville, you sign up to play for Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, Notre Dame, all in two weeks”. Just play the game, let’s see what happens and let’s go. “I’m just saying, ‘How do we win this game?’ I would say he’s thinking the same way”. There are plenty of great rivalries across the nation, but the Bluegrass Rivalry is the best of the best. Louisville has averaged a No. 4 NCAA seed and 2.5 wins per tournament, something between an Elite Eight and Sweet 16 appearance.