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One of the more heated rivalries that used to be a staple on IU's calendar could be on its way back.
Indiana head coach Mike Woodson joined CBS Sports Insider Jon Rothstein on his podcast "College Hoops Today," in which Woodson and Rothstein previewed the upcoming Hoosier basketball season.
During the interview, Woodson was asked about the potential reignition of the rivalry between Indiana and Kentucky. In his response, Indiana's second-year foreman didn't rule anything out.
"That can possibly happen in the future," Woodson said. "I just think that (John Calipari) and I and the ADs and the administration -- we have to just come to some common ground and see what happens. I know that our fans would love to see it and I'm sure Kentucky fans would love to see it as well."
As to what those terms would be, that is likely where the gray area exists. It's well-documented that Calipari-coached teams have generally struggled when walking into opposing gyms throughout the entire state of Indiana, so there may be a path that exists where neutral sites such as Indianapolis arise as potential suitors for the matchup.
However, with the significance and history behind the two teams and their relation with one another, it feels as if it would only be right for the series to return to the campuses.
Indiana and Kentucky haven't met since their tussle in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, a game the Hoosiers won 73-67. Before that, the two meetings during the 2011-12 season, one in the NCAA Tournament and the other the infamous matchup in Assembly Hall, were the last time the two programs had seen each other.
With such a loaded non-conference schedule that features matchups with the likes of North Carolina, Arizona, Kansas and Xavier, Woodson has answered the fans' clamors for a tougher non--conference schedule to help prepare for the Big Ten season.
Woodson is right, though. The series between the two schools is one that Indiana fans have been pushing for to comeback ever since it went away. With two rich basketball programs so close to each other, many never understood why it disappeared in the first place, theorizing reasons why the schools haven't picked the series back up.
However, as Indiana and Kentucky both look poised to be preseason favorites in their respective conferences, energy is high surrounding both programs. With both schools now firmly back in the national limelight of the college basketball landscape, it may finally be the right time for the Hoosiers and Wildcats to return to their annual battles on the court.
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