Not long after he arrived in 1971, Denny Crum began an aggressive, self-promoting campaign to get UK to schedule his team. The media bought it and joined in, along with what few UofL fans there were at the time. Of course, the Dream Game in '83 finally brought the two together, and though the Cats lost that day, it led to the initiation of the annual series, which began with a 21-point Kentucky blowout in the opening game of the 1983-84 season.
If ever there was a cautionary tale of "be careful what you wish for," this series has been it. Louisville seemed ascendant at the time, having been to 3 of the previous 4 Final Fours, while UK suffered some big tourney upsets and hadn't been back to the Final Four since the '78 title. Many predicted that UofL would dominate the series, and everyone else thought it would be at least even.
Wrong. Since the Dream Game:
*UK leads the series by an incredible 26-12 count
*UK actually leads the series at Louisville, 9-8
*UK has beaten Louisville in all 3 NCAA meetings- 1984, 2012, 2014
*UK has recorded blowout wins of 34, 30, 29, 23, and 21 points, as well as three more 20-point margins
*By contrast, UofL has only one such win... by 22 points, while UK was on probation in 1988
*UK has dominated 2 HOF coaches: Crum (6-13 vs. UK) and Pitino (6-12)
Anyone here who can remember the Crum years, and his rise to power, can surely remember how shrill the demand became for UK to schedule them... and how confident their fans were of how it would turn out. Now, some of them are so ignorant of their own history that they claim "it's more important to UK," when UK never wanted the series in the first place.
After a decade of badgering, they finally got the Cats, and for the last 3 decades, they've continued to get us... right between the eyes.
If ever there was a cautionary tale of "be careful what you wish for," this series has been it. Louisville seemed ascendant at the time, having been to 3 of the previous 4 Final Fours, while UK suffered some big tourney upsets and hadn't been back to the Final Four since the '78 title. Many predicted that UofL would dominate the series, and everyone else thought it would be at least even.
Wrong. Since the Dream Game:
*UK leads the series by an incredible 26-12 count
*UK actually leads the series at Louisville, 9-8
*UK has beaten Louisville in all 3 NCAA meetings- 1984, 2012, 2014
*UK has recorded blowout wins of 34, 30, 29, 23, and 21 points, as well as three more 20-point margins
*By contrast, UofL has only one such win... by 22 points, while UK was on probation in 1988
*UK has dominated 2 HOF coaches: Crum (6-13 vs. UK) and Pitino (6-12)
Anyone here who can remember the Crum years, and his rise to power, can surely remember how shrill the demand became for UK to schedule them... and how confident their fans were of how it would turn out. Now, some of them are so ignorant of their own history that they claim "it's more important to UK," when UK never wanted the series in the first place.
After a decade of badgering, they finally got the Cats, and for the last 3 decades, they've continued to get us... right between the eyes.
