Kentucky Basketball: Time to Play the Feud

Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

On December 27, this coming Saturday, the University of Kentucky Men’s Baksetball team will take it’s #1 ranking on the road. Head Coach John Calipari will take his players on their first true road game of the season. The Wildcats are traveling about 70 miles west along I-64 to the KFC Yum Center, home of intrastate rival and the #4 ranked University of Louisville Cardinals. Nevermind the rivalry angle, this annual matchup has become one that college basketball fans all around the country have circled on their calendars. For the last three seasons, the NCAA title has gone through the Cards or the Cats and this season figures to be no different.

Much has been made about the Wildcats and their dominance over their competition this season, particularly after the 83-44 dismantling of college basketball blueblood UCLA this past Saturday. Throw in the embarrassing defeat of Kansas (72-40), victory over North Carolina (84-70) and the grind it out win over Texas (63-51) and the Big Blue Nation aren’t the only people pondering if the Cats are build to do something that no team has done since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers: run the table and capture the national championship.

With the SEC being down, most basketball pundits have determined that the might Cardinals are the best chance for the Cats to drop a game before the postseason. With Head Coach Rick Pitino, All America candidate Montrezl Harrell and frenzied fans, this Battle of the Bluegrass has all the makings of Kentucky’s toughest challenge of the year. It’s foolish to think that the Cards will wilt like the Jayhawks and Bruins. It’s naive to think that the Cards will give up transition baskets like the Tar Heels did. As all of us in the Big Blue Nation should know, Coach Pitino is a great tactician and will have a plan in place to give his team the best chance to win.

Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

But.

It’s going to take near perfection to beat these Kentucky Wildcats. Even with junior Alex Poythress lost for the year with a torn ACL, the Cats are still 9 quality players deep. They still have the starting backcourt that lead the team to the 2014 final game. They still have three quality 7 footers to control the paint. They still have a sparkplug point guard that can come of the bench and maintain the offensive and defensive pressure. They still have quality players and a coach with a resume nearly as decorated as the Cardinals’ head man.

No matter the outcome of Saturday’s contest, both teams figure to go into March with their sights set on another Final Four finish. Neither team’s season will end with a loss. But the winner? The winner will be able to ride that momentum into the conference season. The winner will have a high quality nonconference win that could come into play during the NCAA Selection Committee’s seeding process. Most importantly in the Bluegrass, the winning team’s fan base will have the all important bragging rights that comes with victory.

What the rival fan bases should realize is that the rivalry should be a good thing. For the first time, both schools are enjoying high level of on court success at the same time. This will be the second time in the last 4 years that both teams will enter the game with a top 5 ranking, a feat that has never been done before. With recent Final Four appearances and NCAA titles, the Cats and the Cards are slowly becoming THE college basketball rivalry, replacing that Duke/North Carolina nonsense.

With a greater national visibility, however, comes a greater responsibility to behave better. UK fans, stop using the word “Tard” to describe UL fans. UL fans, stop going to the “illiterate, redneck” well to describe UK fans. Everyone knows that John Caliapari has had two Final Four appearances vacated by the NCAA. Everyone knows that Rick Pitino had some marital fidelity issues. Not every Card fan drinks Crown Royal and not every Cat fan is a ranting and raving racist. All of us should do better and just cheer our teams and let the teams play be enough.

That being said, the Cats should and will win. They’re too talented and too focused. Coach Cal has the team on a mission and a victory over the Cardinals is just one step in realizing that ultimate goal. Go Cats, beat the Cards.