Kentucky and Louisville will play their storied basketball rivalry on a Tuesday in November. The November 11 date is the earliest the game has ever been played in this series. It doesn’t matter which side you cheer for, this is downright disrespectful.
Many arguments could be made on when the game should be played. Super Bowl Sunday has always sounded fun. Nobody was happy when the game was shoehorned in between bowl games on a weeknight. For most of my adult life, it was played on a Saturday in December. That’s when everything feels right.
Before my rage forces me to break buttons on my keyboard, I’m not too naive to understand the current state of college sports. There are more games on the college basketball conference schedule than ever before, giving programs fewer opportunities to schedule marquee non-conference opponents. Kentucky added Indiana to the December schedule, making things even more complicated. TV executives make most of the decisions. Ratings will be better for a football game than a basketball game.
The move to early November makes sense in my brain. Hell, they’ll even get a nice ratings bump paired alongside a CFP Rankings Show. I don’t care. My heart is filled with rage.
They Finally Got It Right
For the first time in a long time, last year’s Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry game felt like the rivalry game. Two new coaches injected energy back into each fanbase. Things got chippy. It was a game with great shooting that ultimately ended in a Kentucky win.
Most importantly, the game was played on a Saturday in December. The day after the Cats’ win, I wrote this:
Growing up as a Kentucky fan in the city of Louisville, there was no bigger game on the calendar year. You spent your weekdays arguing about the Cats and Cards in the school cafeteria. When that special Saturday arrived, Cats and Cards fans all watched under one roof. Friendly barbs were exchanged until one side got to celebrate and received bragging rights for the year.
I can’t accurately describe how much that atmosphere means to me as a sports fan. My wife and I’s courtship started with her wearing Louisville red, losing a bet to this Kentucky fan at one of these big game parties. They felt like a Super Bowl party, but even better because everyone had a stake in the game…
…Yesterday we got this back. Kentucky and Louisville played on a Saturday evening. It was a standing-room only crowd at the Roush house, where I stood side-by-side with Cats and Cards fans, watching each team go shot-for-shot till the battle was won. It’s a rare feeling you can only experience while watching Kentucky and Louisville play basketball. The rivalry is officially back.
This is the game that made me fall in love with sports. For the first time in a long time, it felt like it actually mattered to everyone, even the most casual fan.
That will not be the case on a Tuesday in November 2025. There are still THREE more football games after Kentucky plays Louisville in basketball, even the Governor’s Cup. By the time we start looking at bracket projections in February, this game will just be another note on a resume, rather than a rivalry game that means everything.
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