Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Sorry ‘Cats Fans But Duke Is Not a Rival

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Not much is happening around Kentucky basketball right now, making it a tad difficult to write about Kentucky basketball. So instead, enjoy this piece I wrote at the end of 2012 for my own blog.

On Saturday, 29 December, the University of Kentucky will square off against the University of Louisville in what many (myself included) proclaim to be the greatest rivalry in all of college basketball. By Saturday night, one fanbase will be coming up with reasons why the game doesn’t matter after all, and attempting to rationalize the loss by repeating over and over, “The important thing is what happens in March.”

It is an accepted fact by the fanbases of both schools, sportswriters around the country, and college basketball fans from all over that UK and UofL are, indeed, rivals. And it is not a friendly rivalry. It is one of the bitterest, most intense rivalries in all of sports. Friendships and relationships have been known to end because of it; families have been known to stop talking to one another for long periods of time because of it; neighbors have been known to threaten to vandalize one another’s homes because of it.

Rivalries in sports are common, this is not up for dispute. But what is debatable is what makes a rival? Why are some teams considered rivals but others are not?

Last month, in early November, UK and Duke played one another in Atlanta as part of ESPN’s “Champions Classic”. During the game, I made the comment that I didn’t consider Duke to be one of UK’s rivals, a comment that led to a heated discussion on Twitter. Then (and now), I contend that UK has only a few true rivals in college basketball, and Duke is not one of them. What I failed to do then was establish a set of criteria for sports rivalries.

This is my attempt to establish that criteria (in no particular order):

1) Geographic Proximity
Great sports rivalries often arise because of the geographic proximity of the two fanbases. Think Yankees-Red Sox; Notre Dame-Michigan; Arsenal-Tottenham. When you live near and among  your rivals’ fans, the outcome of the game takes on greater importance. When you live near and among your rivals’ fans, the opportunity to stoke the fires of hate and dislike abound. This is, among other factors, what makes the UK-UofL rivalry so intense, a fact noted by ESPN’s Dana O’Neil. Think about the great sports rivalries across the sporting landscape and then think about how close, geographically, those teams are to one another.

Durham, NC and Lexington, KY are separated by 470 miles. And although Duke can claim “national” fanbase, most of the fanbase is really located in the Northeast. Large contingent of UK and Duke fans simply aren’t living among each other.

2) Mutual Hatred
A rivalry cannot be one-sided. BOTH fanbases have to have mutual hatred (or at least disrespect) for each other.

Here’s a funny thing about UK fans: for some reason, many UK fans think they have the exclusive right to hate Duke more than any other fanbase, the lingering after-effect of the 1992 Eastern Regional Final. What a lot of UK fans fail to realize is that fans from a dozen or more schools hate Duke just as much, if not more, than UK fans do. Yes, I completely understand the effect “The Game” and “The Shot” had on UK fans’ psyche in 1992. I wrote about it earlier this year. But as incredible–and as important–as that game was, UK exacted their revenge 6 years later.

But Duke fans could care less about UK, or most any other fanbase for that matter. They just don’t give a shit about most other schools. So, if one side (UK) hates the other more (Duke), it’s not really a rivalry as much as it’s some weird obsession for the other team. And sadly, that’s what it often sounds like when some UK fans start talking about Duke–some weird obsession.

3) Frequently Opponents
Prior to 1983, UK and UofL had not played one another since 1959. Ask any UK fan from back then and I’m willing to bet no one would have said UofL was a rival. Why? Because they hadn’t played each other in 24 years! If you don’t play an opponent in 24 years, it’s hard to characterize them as a rival. This is, perhaps, my most important criterion for what determines rivalries.

The Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox would, at first glance, appear to be rivals. After all, they meet both the geographic proximity and mutual hatred criteria. But, prior to Interleague play, aside from Spring Training, the teams never played one another. And in absence of playing one another, you’re left with rhetorical arguments over which team is better with no way of proving such arguments.

Since 1992–the moment I would claim is the “birth” of this myth that Duke is a rival–the two teams have played a total of 5 times (including the 1992 game). Prior to November 2012, UK and Duke had not played one another in 11 years. In those 11 years, UK played Kansas 5 times! Yet, I’ve had some UK fans argue that Duke–and not Kansas–is a bigger rival.

4) Games That Mean Something
Of course, frequently playing each doesn’t mean too much if those games aren’t meaningful. After all, UK and Notre Dame have played each other 63 times, including 24 years straight from 1958-1982. And Lexington and South Bend aren’t THAT far apart from one another (about 320 miles). But most of these 63 match-ups have been relatively meaningless affairs. Only 3 times have they met in post-season play (twice in the NCAA Tournament, once in the NIT).

This is the one area I’m willing to concede to the folks who believe Duke is a rival. Of the 22 times UK and Duke have played each other, 5 of those contests were in the NCAA Tournament. Another 5 times were regular season games specifically designed for these two teams to play one another.

A team that isn’t in close geographic proximity can easily become a rival if there are frequent contests between the two and the outcome of many of those games is meaningful.

In my opinion, UK has 3 true rivals (UofL, IU, and Tennessee) and 3 sort-of rivals (North Carolina, Kansas, Florida). And the rest? Merely teams standing in the way of another championship–Duke included.