NCAA Basketball: 25 best team rivalries heading into 2019-20 season

25. Indiana Hoosiers vs. Kentucky Wildcats

While the focus of this article is indeed looking at current rivalries, it seems important to bring this one up, even if the rivalry is no longer active. The two teams played annually in December for decades, but haven’t met in the regular season since 2011.

Since then, they’ve met twice in the NCAA Tournament, with Kentucky winning in 2012 and Indiana finishing the job in 2016. Are they spiraling towards another matchup in 2020?

Kentucky holds a 32-25 advantage in the series, though Indiana came out on top in the final regular-season meeting.

In that game, perhaps the most famous of the series, the Hoosiers knocked off the undefeated and top-ranked Wildcats on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Christian Watford. It was a shot and a win that turned the tide for Indiana in the coming seasons, even if Tom Crean never could take the Hoosiers on a deep tournament run.

With a deep history, there have been numerous exciting games in this rivalry. Back in 1993, Indiana knocked off top-ranked Kentucky, led by a superb effort by Damon Bailey.

The rivalry grew even more intense by 2002 when Kentucky prevailed in a game where Indiana coach Mike Davis publicly declared his hatred for the Wildcats and exploded onto the court in frustration after a missed call.

The rivalry has been pretty evenly matched throughout history, though the Wildcats are 17-6 in the last 30 seasons.

Historically, these are two of college basketball’s premier programs. John Calipari has Kentucky poised as a national title threat every season, while Archie Miller has work to do in Bloomington. They’ve met five times in the NCAA Tournament and this rivalry dates back almost 100 years. Sadly, they no longer play every year, or this would rank higher on the list.