BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Most UK Coaches had an NCAA Tournament Rival Coach.....and Cal's is Huggins

by:Bryan13•03/26/15
majerus
Go back through the record books and you find a common trend amongst UK coaches.  They almost all (since Rupp) have a common foil in the NCAA Tournament as the opposing coach.  Calipari and Huggins will be meeting for the 3rd time in 6 tournaments, which seems like a ton of meetings.  But in fact, 4 UK coaches have faced the same opponent/coach 3 times over a 10 year span.  And surprisingly, Rupp was the only one with a losing record against his rival.  Take a look at the examples:

Adolph Rupp: Fred Taylor (Ohio State)
1961: Ohio State 87, Kentucky 74 (Regional Finals)
1962: Ohio State 74, Kentucky 64 (Regional Finals)
1968: Ohio State 82, Kentucky 81 (Regional Finals)

Joe B. Hall: Bob Knight (Indiana)
1973: Indiana 72, Kentucky 65 (Regional Finals)
1975: Kentucky 92, Indiana 90 (Regional Finals)
1983: Kentucky 64, Indiana 59 (Regional Semifinals)

Rick Pitino: Rick Majerus (Utah)
1993: Kentucky 83, Utah 62 (2nd Round)
1996: Kentucky 101, Utah 70 (Sweet 16)
1997: Kentucky 72, Utah 59 (Elite 8)

(Tubby Smith played Utah 3 times as well during his tenure, but Rick Majerus was only the coach in 1998 and 2003.  The 2005 Utah team was coached by Ray Giacolleti)

John Calipari: Bob Huggins (West Virginia)
2010: West Virginia 73, Kentucky 66 (Elite 8)
2011: Kentucky 71, West Virginia 63 (2nd Round)
2015: ?????????????

How high up on the rivalry list do we put Bob Huggins?  Is he Calipari’s 2nd rival behind Pitino?  And does tonight’s game decide who has the upper hand in the rivalry as it is the rubber match in NCAA Tournament matchups?

Discuss This Article

Comments have moved.

Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.

KSBoard

2024-04-17