First meeting on the hardwood in 1924, the Kentucky-Indiana basketball rivalry has been one of the most historic out-of-conference rivalries in college sports. Unfortunately, it's been some time since we've seen it.
Thankfully, that's now about to change.
On Wednesday, the two programs announced that they had agreed to renew the rivalry matchup with a four-game series that will begin with the first meeting in the 2025-26 college basketball season. Per UK Athletics, each team will host two home games in the series, with one of Indiana's home games being played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
This will mark almost a decade since the two rivals have played as their last meeting came in the Second Round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Indiana won that game, 73-67. This will be the first time the two programs have met in the regular season since 2011.
Kentucky basketball fans celebrate return of Indiana rivalry matchup
Naturally, especially with the recent return to prominence for the Hoosiers, the announcement of this renewed rivalry spawned a great deal of excitement among Kentucky fans and college hoops fans at large.
Finally! Cal should not have terminated the long standing basketball rivalry with IU. IU was a rival long before the he arrived and will be after he leaves UK.
— dhnashville (@dhnashville1) October 3, 2023
— 3rd in a line of Mackies (@Sandlapper843) October 3, 2023
Well, at least I don’t have to hear Indiana fans (wrongly) exclaim that Kentucky is scared to play them anymore when I go back home. https://t.co/zGZNdNP7tE
— Michael Whitlow (@couldbelikemike) October 3, 2023
Indiana-Kentucky DID matter. It was the best non-conference rivalry in the sport in the 70s, 80s and a lot of the 90s
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) October 3, 2023
Then you guys decided to be terrible for 25 years. So it doesn’t matter now https://t.co/Jf2eXWpg85
I need Tom Crean on the call for Indiana-Kentucky like I need air to breathe
— crimson quarry (@crimsonquarry) October 3, 2023
Cal asserting dominance by refusing to give Indiana a true 2 home-and-home series is why he's the best. Another win for Kentucky. https://t.co/uuMq4damoB
— Bobby Reagan (@BarstoolReags) October 3, 2023
The pause in this rivalry stemmed from a dispute between Kentucky head coach John Calipari and former Indiana head coach Tom Crean, who were unable to agree upon whether the games should be played at Rupp Arena and Assembly Hall, each program's home court, or at a neutral site. A meeting for the 2012-13 season was canceled and a proposal for future meetings was then rejected.
But now it's coming back into the fold and should be absolutely big time. Indiana fans have long stated in the rivalry's pause that Calipari and Kentucky are scared to play in Bloomington. Wildcats fans, contrarily, have often called this rivalry beneath the stature of their program given a drop-off for the Hoosiers in the early-to-mid 2000s.
None of that will matter when one of the best rivalries in college hoops, a matchup where Kentucky leads the all-time series 32-25, is back on our TV screens.