LOUISVILLE, (WDRB) -- After what will be a 14-year gap, the Indiana-Kentucky men's college basketball rivalry will return to the regular season schedule at Rupp Arena in Lexington for the 2025-26 season.
The Wildcats and Hoosiers have agreed to the following four-game arrangement:
- 2025-26 season at Rupp Arena in Lexington
- 2026-27 season at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
- 2027-28 season at Rupp Arena in Lexington
- 2028-29 season at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Bloomington
"This is a great day for our program and our fans," Indiana Coach Mike Woodson said in a news release Tuesday. "Indiana-Kentucky is one of the best rivalries in college basketball, with so many great games over the years. We worked hard to get this done, and I could not be happier to be playing Kentucky once again."
The programs have not played a regular season game since Indiana upset the top-ranked and eventual national champion Wildcats, 73-72, in Bloomington on Dec. 10, 2011, on Christian Watford's buzzer-beating three-pointer.
That shot set off an epic court storm that perturbed UK headcoach John Calipari and led to the cancellation of the series. Calipari has talked about never returning to Bloomington.
But Calipari has a friendship with Woodson and has softened his stance in recent seasons.
"This is a really important rivalry to our fans and the game of college basketball and we’re happy to bring it back," Calipari said in a news release Tuesday. "Mike and I have been friends for years and I have the utmost respect for him as a coach and as a man. Let’s do this!"
The schools have played twice since that game. Kentucky defeated IU during the 2012 NCAA Sweet Sixteen in Atlanta, and the Hoosiers won the last meeting during the Round of 32 of the 2016 NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
Kentucky leads the all-time series, 32-25.
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