Louisville vs Kentucky Basketball Rivalry Will Be Just As Intense Under Chris Mack

With the departure of Rick Pitino, it is easy to surmise that the intensity of the Battle of the Bluegrass could drop off. But, new Louisville head coach Chris Mack could bring a different kind of flare to the rivalry.

Aside from the intangibles that Rick Pitino brought to the table at the University of Louisville, he also brought a history with a familiar school down the road. Pitino was the coach at Kentucky from 1989-1997, and brought UK back from national irrelevancy to a 1996 National Title, a 1997 national-runner up, and helped build a Tubby Smith-coached team who won the title in 1998.
Louisville and Kentucky have been long-time rivals on the court.

Even in the years prior to 1983- when the teams only met in neutral site games or were forced to meet in the post season- the two schools had a fervent hatred for one another.

However, the rivalry certainly heated up upon Pitino’s arrival in 2001. Pitino coaching the hated arch rival of Kentucky was certainly confusing and disheartening to the majority of their fan base. For the most part, the rivalry intensified upon Pitino’s arrival, and escalated to ridiculous proportions in 2009 when John Calipari arrived.

Pitino and Cal had a distain for each other going back to the 80’s. And, although Calipari largely had Pitino’s number in their 9 match ups, the bitterness between coaches and fan bases alike increased over the course of the eight year stretch.

The narrative from the national media will be that the rivalry has dropped down a notch in intensity, but I believe the exact opposite will happen in 2018. Louisville coach Chris Mack brings a new attitude and a new mantra to Louisville. He is, in large part, the reason why Louisville-Kentucky will be just as intense of a rivalry for years to come.

There are a lot of factors that play into the building up and sustaining of a high caliber rivalry. But there are a few that separate the good rivalries from the great.

Close Proximity

First and foremost, fans, players, coaches, and those around the programs have to have daily interaction with each other. It’s great to say that the Celtics and Lakers have a top-notch rivalry (they certainly have a wild history) but it’s rare that you are going to find a Boston fan and an LA fan debating low-post match ups around the water cooler. Most of the greatest rivalries: Red Sox-Yankees, UNC-Duke, and, yes, Louisville and Kentucky, build and intensify leading up the the game because these fan bases interact with each other on a daily basis.

Louisville and Kentucky fans live in the same houses, work in the same places, go to the same schools, and often times bitterly hate each other because of their unwavering allegiance to the “other.” Don’t get me wrong, it is possible to peacefully intermingle, but when Louisville and Kentucky are playing in any sport (especially basketball) one side’s week will be ruined, while the other’s year will be made.

Great Moments

One rival’s disdain for the other increases astronomically when the other team wins in an extremely memorable fashion. That is how the modern UofL-UK rivalry began, after all.

After decades of Louisville pushing for a yearly match-up, and Kentucky continually refusing, the two teams were finally forced to meet in the Dream Game in the 1983 Elite Eight. The Cards famously defeated the Cats in an overtime battle, sending Louisville to the Final Four.
That was the game that changed everything. Without that game, the rivalry wouldn’t be what it is today.

LEXINGTON, KY – DECEMBER 29: Quentin Snider #4 of the Louisville Cardinals shoots the ball against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on December 29, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Other moments that have built the rivalry include the Samaki Walker triple double game, the Patrick Sparks game, the Edgar Sosa shot, and the 2012 Final Four.
Every great rivalry has those moments. The thrilling wins for the victor, and the losses that make the other side physically ill. Louisville-Kentucky has had all of the moments, and all of the emotions, since 1983.

Fervent Fan Bases

This goes hand-in-hand with close proximity, but there’s a reason Vanderbilt and Tennessee coexist peacefully and Louisville and Kentucky don’t. Both fan bases have their fair share of absolute crazy people.
Louisville sports radio is chalked full of dozens of shows that cover nothing but college sports from the time you get up until the time you go to sleep. People in the area are passionate about their teams.

Louisville has an ever-growing fan base, and despite their untraditional ways, they lead the NCAA year in and year out in profit margins. They love to indulge in an adult beverage- or 14- and are uniquely passionate for all sports teams, but also compassionate and appreciative of coaches and players.

Kentucky is a whirlwind of Big Blue insanity. I am barely joking when I say that a solid chunk of their fan base owns nothing but blue and white clothing. Especially the ones who never attended the university. It’s a passion that draws top names like Rick Pitino, John Calipari, and Mark Stoops to the program.

Regardless of the rivalry, the fans are the ones who ramp up the intensity. Louisville and Kentucky certainly have enough crazies to go around on both sides.

Coaches Who Are Invested

As mentioned previously, Rick Pitino and John Calipari flat out do. not. like. each other. Now that Pitino is gone, the rivalry will definitely see some changes.

Coach Chris Mack definitely brings a new dynamic to the table for the rivalry. However, just because Pitino is gone doesn’t mean the rivalry will lack the same luster that in had in the last several years.

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Mack has been in this situation before. He has been on the big stage in rivalry games for years.
As head coach at Xavier, he never shied away from a pretty underrated rivalry with Cincinnati in the Crosstown Rivalry. Although Mack and Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin are friends, they didn’t mince words when talking about each other’s teams after games.

Mack was a pretty solid 6-3 against the Bearcats in his time at Xavier. His team’s style of play will always bring intensity to games, but it often pushed it to “rivalry intense” in the Crosstown Rivalry.
In the game in 2011, the teams infamously got into a brawl that ended the game a minute early, and sent the rivalry to new heights. Again, in 2017, there was tension when Cronin got into it multiple times with Xavier Senior JP Macura.

Mack is not scared of rivalries, and stirring the pot. In years past, he has sent out tweets making fun of Kentucky, or trying to push UK fans’s buttons.

Living in Northern Kentucky, coach Mack was quite familiar with the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry, and he is ready for the annual big game.

Most of all, Mack is ready to win against Kentucky. It is a sore subject for Louisvillians, but Pitino was only 2-7 against Calipari. He only won 5 games total against Kentucky in his time in the Ville, and every time it was when his team was simply better.

This seems to be an indication that it was a tough mental hurdle for Pitino to ever get past the thought of beating UK. Unlike Bobby Petrino, Dan McDonnell, or Jeff Walz, it didn’t seem like a huge priority for Pitino to win against UK. If there was one thing that was unsettling in his 16 years in Louisville, it was this- Although Pitino tended to treat it like just another game, the fans did not.

That is something that will stop while Chris Mack is at the helm. He has proven that he likes the controversy, and he embraces what comes with an intense rivalry game.

Mack not only talks a big game, but he tends to back it up. He wants his players to fight for every loose ball, grab every rebound, and do all of the little things that make rivalry-ing so much fun.
It’s a new era for Red vs. Blue. In some ways it is nostalgic, but in others it will be refreshing to see a new face and a new energy that can take this rivalry to the next level.

Matt Norlander at cbssports.com wrote that “UNC-Duke is college basketball’s biggest rivalry, and Louisville-Kentucky might be its “best” one — but Xavier-Cincinnati is undeniably the most volatile and vicious in college basketball.”

With Mack at the helm in Louisville, and Kentucky primed for years of success, we may look back a decade from now and that this rivalry is all three. Mack and his staff bring the fierceness, the fans and players bring the greatness, and together that will make this rivalry grow into the biggest.

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Look for Louisville-Kentucky to grow into an even bigger monster in the years to come.