Cats, Cardinals set to tip-off rivalry once again

It’s the big game, the one that fans circle on their calendar once the schedule is released and where the intensity in the stands and on the court is palpable. It’s UK (14-0) vs. Louisville (10-3).

The commonwealth will be split blue and red, the chants and heckles from the stands will take on new meanings and bragging rights for a year will be on the line.

“The atmosphere is going to be twice as crazy as it has been all year long,” junior forward Patrick Patterson said. “… (It’s going to be) just an all out battle against Louisville. I’m sure the players are going to play extremely tough, they’re a very physical team and it’s probably just one of the best rivalries out there.”

That rivalry has picked up a notch this year with the addition of UK head coach John Calipari. Calipari and Louisville head coach Rick Pitino have had a long history against each other in the college game and in the NBA, and don’t have a very good relationship. Calipari said the game is all about the players, though.

“They’ve got terrific players who are good people, and so do we,” Calipari said. “And it should be about them. I just keep coming back to that.”

Calipari said he believes he and Pitino’s relationship gets over played a bit and that all of their games against each other have been good games and wars.

Despite it being a rivalry game that some national pundits have called the biggest game of the entire college basketball season, Calipari said the approach to the game is the exact same as any other game on the schedule.

“He knows how I coach and I know how he coaches,” Calipari said. “There are no surprises.”

For UK, the game will be somewhat of a new experience. Though Calipari and Pitino have gone head to head numerous times, it will of course be the first time for Calipari at UK. For many of UK’s top players, the UK-Louisville rivalry will be a new experience. Calipari said because they’re freshmen – or in the case of sophomore Darnell Dodson, a junior college transfer – and many of them are not from around Kentucky, they won’t truly know how big the rivalry is and how important it is.

“They’re going to play a basketball game and that’s why I want them to play well, and if that’s not good enough or the other team is playing out of their minds, you move on to the next game which is a league game,” Calipari said.

Patterson has experienced two of these games though, both losses, and said it’s the biggest game on the schedule and he does understand the intensity of it.

“We understand it’s a hatred between Louisville fans and Kentucky fans,” Patterson said. “Kentucky fans hate Louisville and Louisville fans hate Kentucky.”

The Cardinals have entered this game as the favorite in the last couple years, but the roles have been reversed this season. The Cats are ranked No. 3 in the country and Louisville is outside of the top 25.

The Cardinals lost three of four games during one stretch, including a 22-point drumming at home by Charlotte and an eight-point loss at home to Western Carolina. However, the Cardinals have won their last five games by an average of 25.2 points per game. Calipari said he has no doubt that Louisville’s players will play their best game all year on Saturday.

“I think they’re playing as well as anybody we’ve played on our schedule to this point,” Calipari said. “Whether it’s Connecticut, whether it’s Indiana, whether it’s North Carolina, they are playing better than anybody we’ve played.”