Kentucky-Louisville

Dubbed the Battle of the Bluegrass, the college basketball rivalry between same-state teams University of Kentucky Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals materialized during the teams’ first meeting in 1913. The two teams did not go up against each other from 1959 to 1982 but the rivalry was reignited when the Wildcats and Cardinals met in the 1983 NCAA tournament.

In that tournament game, the Cardinals beat the Wildcats in overtime 80-68 and propelled them to the NCAA Final Four. The next fall in their first regular-season meeting in 61 years, Kentucky returned the favor to Louisville by scoring a 65-44 thrashing of the Cardinals. The rivalry has been kept alive as the two teams manage to meet every year despite competing in separate conferences. To date, the Kentucky Wildcats have the overall rivalry series lead with 30 wins to the Louisville Cardinals’ 14 victories. The most recent is Kentucky’s 69-61 win over the Cardinals in last year’s Final Four match-up. The Wildcats moved on to win the National Championship.