Louisville, Kentucky set for 47th installment of Red v. Blue

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Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will play host to the past two national champions Friday, March 28th as the 4th-seeded Louisville Cardinals and 8th-seeded Kentucky Wildcats square off in the 47th installment of the Battle for the Bluegrass. It’s the 47th overall time these two heated rivals have  met but only the sixth time they’ve met in postseason play.

The Cardinals began their title defense with a 71-64 win over a game Manhattan team led by head coach Rick Pitino‘s former right-hand man, Steve Masiello, in the second round. UL then took down Atlantic 10 power Saint Louis, 66-51 in the round of 32 to advance to their third straight Sweet Sixteen. A win over their in-state rival would help them get to their third straight Elite Eight as well.

For the Wildcats, their path was a little more tedious. They beat No. 9-seed Kansas State 56-49 in a game which saw UK shoot just 38 percent from the field. Then came the signature win for head coach John Calipari and his young and oft-inconsistent Wildcats, a 78-76 victory over previously unbeaten Wichita State to set up a game with the Cardinals.

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Four months ago to the day of this coming Friday’s meeting, Kentucky defeated Louisville 73-66 in Lexington thanks to a quartet of talented freshman who combined for 63 points that afternoon. Russ Smith, Louisville’s all-everything guard, put up 19 points on just 7-for-20 shooting and 0-for-5 from behind the arc.

Before getting into the game at hand, let’s look at the history into this rivalry. As far as college basketball rivalries go, it’s probably second only to the Duke–North Carolina.

The first meeting between these two was in 1913, a game won by UK, 34-10. After their second meeting of the 1922 season, they called it quits and played just three more times before renewing the rivalry in earnest thanks to a matchup in the Elite Eight during the 1983 NCAA Tournament. Louisville won that matchup but is still trailing in the overall series, 31-15. Adding fuel to the fire, after a brief stint as head coach in the NBA, Louisville hired Pitino as its head coach in 1991. Pitino had served as an assistant at UK from 1989 to 1997.

The beautiful thing about rivalries is that you can throw records out the window. Throw Kentucky’s win at Rupp Arena in December out the window. It’s Kentucky-Louisville. Blue versus Red. For those who live in the Bluegrass State, this is the game and this installment comes on the biggest stage in college basketball, where the winner advances and the loser goes home. The last time these two met in the postseason was in the 2012 Final Four when Louisville, a 4-seed, fell to Wildcats 69-61 at the Superdome in New Orleans. UK then went on to defeat Kansas in the national championship game, 67-59. While there was more at stake in that game, this one is sure to entertain.

The AP’s preseason No. 1, Kentucky has had an up and down season despite their 26-10 record and second-place finish in the SEC. They lost three times to the Florida Gators, which isn’t exactly a kiss of death since the Gators are the odds-on favorite to win the national title. They were swept by the Arkansas Razorbacks. The lost to a pitiful South Carolina team earlier this month. But as Calipari stated after the win over the Shockers, “This team and what people said about this team, all we have done all year is continue to get better.” They sure picked the right time to hit their stride.

Louisville, on the other hand, has beaten four ranked teams but every one its five losses have been to a ranked opponent. At 31-5, it’s surprising they’re just a 4-seed, but the committee felt the AAC was weak, and perhaps for good reason as 5-seed Cincinnati was bounced in the second round by Harvard and Memphis was sent packing following a blowout loss to 1-seed Virginia in the third round.

How much do fans of both programs look forward to this matchup? Louisville fans were actually, gasp, pulling for a Kentucky upset over Wichita State.

So what exactly is at stake, besides the obvious trip to the Elite Eight?

For the Cardinals, who according Vegas’ RJ Bell are a 5-point favorite, it’s another step towards their title defense while Kentucky will look for a season sweep of their archrival and a shot at another national title with a another roster packed with talented freshman.

Even if you’re not a fan of either team or aren’t from the Bluegrass State, this is the game of the Sweet Sixteen.

Tune in CBS at approximately 9:45 pm EST next Friday to catch the next bloodletting.