In the end, the Kentucky Wildcats freshmen are the ones still standing

Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Media input on this game and rivalry is one thing.  Fortunately we also have access to what some Kentucky greats and their thoughts.  Rex Chapman was recruited by both UK and UL and he shares some of his stories on his recruitment and feelings on the rivalry.  

"Little did I know in March of 1983 that I was about to grow 7-inches over the next seven months – from about 5’8 to 6’3. But I did, and what ultimately resulted was a recruiting battle over the next few years between the school I’d always rooted for and the one everyone else always rooted-for – Louisville and Kentucky. Following the 1983 Midwest Region Dream Game , Kentucky governor John Y. Brown stepped-in and basically forced the hands of both UK’s and Louisville’s respective athletic departments to reach an agreement that would result in the two-shools playing one another 1-time each year.  Thank goodness for John Y. A couple of years had now passed and my recruiting process was coming to an end. During the fall of my senior year in high school I took official visits to both Kentucky and Louisville (as well as North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Western Kentucky). In the end I felt that Lexington was where I wanted to be – and I signed with the Big Blue. My high school buddies gave me more shit – because I’d grown-up worshipingDarrell Griffith and the ‘Cards. But they were also happy because most of them were were UK fans. By the time I arrived on campus in Lexington in the fall of 1986 UK and U of L were playing each other regularly. Another four games had taken place between the ‘Cards and ‘Cats  since the Dream Game in ’83- three regular season games and another NCAA Sweet-16 battle in 1984. The two schools had now played one another five times in four years – with UK leading the renewed series 3-games to 2. … Fyi, once the two schools began recruiting me I naturally started rooting for both of them to win. Just as I did the rest of the schools who were talking to me about their programs. My point? Once UK and U of L both wanted me to come and play for them I was no longer pulling for U of L to win the annual ‘Cats/’Cards match-ups. I was very torn."

Don’t sleep on the UCLA Bruins against Florida on Thursday night.  And around Christmas, we will get to see those Bruins up close and personal.  Kentucky and UCLA will be meeting in what  will be another annual “must see” event.  Got to hand it to John Calipari.  The man has taken scheduling to a whole new level.  

"Basketball blue bloods Kentucky and UCLA will square off the weekend before Christmas at Chicago’s United Center, while Ohio State will face North Carolina in the other half of the doubleheader, according to Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch. The four-team round robin will shift to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2015 and to Las Vegas in 2016, all on the weekend before Christmas."