The Wildcats’ head coach was asked about the upcoming series against the Hoosiers during Kentucky’s Sweet Sixteen prep.
Indiana and Kentucky are set to resume their decades-old rivalry with a four-game series beginning next season with a game on December 20 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
The series was scheduled years ago when the programs were led by Mike Woodson and John Calipari, respectively. Now both will be led by new coaches, Darian DeVries for Indiana and Mark Pope for Kentucky.
The two programs first met in 1924 in Lexington to begin a four-year series. The teams met in the regular season every year between 1969-2011 before negotiations broke down and the series ended. The last matchup took place in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament with Indiana emerging with a 73-67 victory.
For Mark Pope, the rivalry means a little extra. He lived it from the vantage point of a player from 1994-1996 under Rick Pitino.
He was asked about the rivalry and resuming the series during his media availability ahead of Kentucky’s Sweet Sixteen matchup with Tennessee and had the following to say:
“So I have such beautiful memories of Kentucky-Indiana in the RCA Dome and looking up in the arena and seeing the aisleway where it was split, where it was all blue/white all across the arena on one side and all red and white on the other side of the stadium.” Pope said. “And I love everything about it. I think these rivalries are really special in college basketball. I think this rivalry has incredible history. I think it’s great for college basketball. There’s nothing about it that’s not great. I’m really excited about it”